Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

Director:

Otto Preminger

Writers:

Wendell Mayes (screenplay)
John D. Voelker (based on the novel by)

Release Date:

September 1959 (Austria)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

In a murder trial, the defendant says he suffered temporary insanity after the victim raped his wife. What is the truth, and will he win his case?

Plot Keywords:

Attorney | Murder | Rape | Temporary Insanity | District Attorney

Awards:

Nominated for 7 Oscars. Another 9 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

James Stewart	...	Paul Biegler
Lee Remick	...	Laura Manion
Ben Gazzara	...	Lt. Frederick Manion
Arthur O'Connell	...	Parnell Emmett McCarthy
Eve Arden	...	Maida Rutledge
Kathryn Grant	...	Mary Pilant
George C. Scott	...	Asst. State Atty. Gen. Claude Dancer
Orson Bean	...	Dr. Matthew Smith
Russ Brown	...	George Lemon
Murray Hamilton	...	Alphonse Paquette
Brooks West	...	Dist. Atty. Mitch Lodwick
Ken Lynch	...	Det. Sgt. James Durgo
John Qualen	...	Deputy Sheriff Sulo
Howard McNear	...	Dr. Dompierre
Alexander Campbell	...	Dr. W. Gregory Harcourt
Ned Wever	...	Dr. Raschid
Jimmy Conlin	...	Clarence Madigan
Royal Beal	...	Sheriff Battisfore
Joseph Kearns	...	Lloyd Burke
Don Ross	...	Duane 'Duke' Miller
Lloyd Le Vasseur	...	Court Clerk
James Waters	...	Army Sergeant 1st Class
Joseph N. Welch	...	Judge Weaver
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Duke Ellington	...	Pie Eye (uncredited)
Irv Kupcinet	...	Distinguished Gentleman (uncredited)
Mrs. Joseph Welch	...	Juror (uncredited)

Directed by
Otto Preminger

Writing credits
Wendell Mayes		(screenplay)
John D. Voelker		(based on the novel by) (as Robert Traver)

Produced by
Otto Preminger	....	producer

Original Music by
Duke Ellington

Cinematography by
Sam Leavitt		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Louis R. Loeffler

Production Design by
Boris Leven

Makeup Department
Del Armstrong	....	makeup
Harry Ray	....	makeup
Myrl Stoltz	....	hairdresser
Madine Danks	....	hairdresser (uncredited)
Norman Pringle	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Henry Weinberger	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
David Silver	....	assistant director
Hal W. Polaire	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Ray Taylor Jr.	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Howard Bristol	....	set dresser
Saul Bass	....	poster designer (uncredited)
Wallace Carr	....	assistant set dresser (uncredited)
Irving W. Sindler	....	props (uncredited)
Ken Walton	....	props (uncredited)

Sound Department
Jack Solomon	....	sound
Bill Flannery	....	boom operator (uncredited)
Harry Foy	....	recordist (uncredited)
Don Hall	....	sound effects (uncredited)
Al Yaylian	....	cable (uncredited)

Special Effects by
George Harris	....	special effects (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
James Almond	....	lighting technician
Leo McCreary	....	key grip
Irving Rosenberg	....	camera operator
Bert Chaliacombe	....	best boy (uncredited)
Gjon Mili	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Al St. Hilaire	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Bob Uhl	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Hope Bryce	....	costume coordinator
Vou Lee Giokaris	....	wardrobe
Michael J. Harte	....	wardrobe (as Michael Harte)
Paula Giokaris	....	wardrobe (uncredited)
Norman Martien	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Editorial Department
John Loeffler	....	assistant editor (uncredited)
Michael Vittes	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Richard Carruth	....	music editor
Duke Ellington	....	musician: piano (uncredited)
Johnny Hodges	....	musician (uncredited)
Billy Strayhorn	....	musician: piano (uncredited)
Clark Terry	....	musician (uncredited)
Britt Woodman	....	musician (uncredited)

Other crew
Saul Bass	....	title designer
Kathleen Fagan	....	script supervisor
William T. Hurtz	....	director: animated titles
Otto Preminger	....	presenter
Max Slater	....	assistant to the producer
Robert E. Blair	....	dog trainer (uncredited)
Dave Golding	....	publicist (uncredited)
Jim Merrick	....	publicist (uncredited)
Nat Rudich	....	publicist (uncredited)
John D. Voelker	....	technical advisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Carlyle Productions (An Otto Preminger Film)

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1959) (USA) (theatrical) (distributed by) (as Columbia Pictures Corporation)
• Columbia Film-Verleih (1959) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Columbia International Films (1959) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1970) (USA) (TV)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (1986) (USA) (VHS)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (1999) (Germany) (VHS)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2001) (Germany) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2012) (USA) (DVD)
• International DVD Group (2010) (Argentina) (DVD)
• LK-TEL (2003) (Argentina) (DVD)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

160 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (1959) | Sweden:15 | UK:12A (re-rating) (2005) | UK:12 (video re-rating) 2001) | UK:15 (video rating) (1988) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:Unrated | West Germany:16 (f) | Iceland:12 | Australia:M | Canada:R (Nova Scotia) | Netherlands:18 (original rating) | Germany:16 (DVD rating) | USA:TV-PG | Spain:13 | Australia:PG (TV rating)

Filming Locations:

2nd Floor, Marquette County Courthouse - 234 W. Baraga Avenue, Marquette, Michigan, USA

Company:

Carlyle Productions

Trivia:

Otto Preminger disliked the use of flashbacks; hence there are none in the film.

Goofs:

Continuity: The position of Paul's hat changes on the antler rack while he was in talking to Laura.

Quotes:

Parnell Emmett McCarthy:[eyeing an empty liquor bottle] You fought this soldier by yourself. You've been drinking alone, Paulie. I don't like that.
Paul Biegler:Drop the stone, Counsellor. You live in a glass house.
Parnell Emmett McCarthy:My windows have been busted a long time ago, so I can say what I please.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Portrait of an Actor (1971)

A Spot-On Courtroom Drama

Anatomy of an excellent movie:

Begin with an extremely tight and well written script, from the novel by the same name. While reportedly the story is based on a real-life case it is nevertheless a timeless story, almost biblical, presenting age-old questions of human conflicts and human dilemmas.

Add to that a sensational cast, starting of course with the leads, Jimmy Stewart, George C. Scott, Lee Remick, and Ben Gazarra, but also the rest of the cast, filled as it is with numerous accomplished and veteran stage actors and radio performers from days of yore. Character parts played by actors Arthur O'Connell, Eve Arden, Ken Lynch, Joseph Kearns, and Howard McNear. Someone paid careful attention to the casting for this film.

Perhaps the most masterful stroke as far as casting goes was the casting Joseph Welch as the judge. Welch was an experienced and renowned lawyer in real life. Welch turns in a very good and a very believable performance.

With the collision of those elements, a great script and a great cast, adding Otto Preminger as director, an overseer who knew exactly what to do with it all, you then have a very fine film.

More than any other movie or play, including modern day presentations like the television series Law & Order, this 1959 movie, Anatomy of a Murder, even though it is now 46 years old, is by far the most realistic and technically accurate courtroom drama ever produced. The conduct of the trial, the examination of the witnesses, the colloquy and bantering back and forth between the lawyers and between the lawyers and the judge, is spot-on. Every bit of it. Every question from the lawyers, every objection, every ruling by the judge, every admonishment from the judge, and the testimony of the witnesses, every bit of it, is realistic and believable, lines that were accurately written with care, and then flawlessly delivered.

Beyond the technical accuracies of the legal proceedings, some other aspects of the overall story were also spot on. The ambiguous ambivalence of lawyers, their motivations, their ethics, their relative honesty. Nothing is all black or all white. Shades of gray abound. Legal cases as sport. Being a "good lawyer" means pushing the envelope too far, bending the rules until you're told to stop. Not for justice. No, not that. To win. That's why. To win. Then sanctimoniously telling themselves that the system really works better this way. The movie accurately captures the fact that real-life legal cases are very often comprised of upside down Alice in Wonderland features. Innocent people are guilty, and guilty people are innocent. Good is bad, and bad is good. Everything is relative. Some call it cynicism. Others, cynically, call it realism. Anatomy of a Murder captures all of these and more.

I've read the criticism that Lee Remick was not believable, that as an actress she failed at nailing the portrayal of how a true rape victim would appear and behave, and that her character, Laura Manion, just didn't seem to have the proper affect nor strike the right emotional chord of a woman who had been raped. All I can say is that such criticism misses a humongous part of the point. It is almost mind-boggling that there are viewers out there who, after viewing this film, somehow managed to miss it. Let me clear it up: we the viewers WERE SUPPOSED to have serious doubts about whether Laura Manion had actually been raped. The question of whether she was really raped or not is central to the plot and story line. That's why Lee Remick played the part the way she did. And then, in turn, it was part of the story for the Jimmy Stewart character, Paul Biegler, to recognize this problem, and the problem that it presented to his defense. He worried that the jury would see it and would also doubt that she had been raped, and so that's why he propped her up in court, dressed up all prim and proper, with a hat over her voluptuously cascading hair, and with horned-rim glasses. So, yes, Lee Remick nailed it. Bull's eye.

Speaking of Lee Remick, some say that this was the movie that put Lee Remick on the map. She was stunningly beautiful here, at the ripe young age of 24. Even though the film is in black and white, her red hair, blue eyes, and porcelain skin still manage to jump right off the screen and out at you. Has any other actress ever played the role of the beautiful and sexy lady looking to get laid any better than Lee Remick? It was a woman she reprised several times in her career, sometimes with greater subtlety and understatement than others. This was her first rendition of it, and it may have been the best.

Anatomy of a Murder is a very complex movie, with multitudes of layers and texturing, where much is deftly explored, but precious little is resolved. It's a movie that leaves you thinking and wondering. I highly recommend it.