A murder case that can't be won is assigned to a young defense attorney. He asks his old ailing friend, a legend among attorneys, for help on the case as his consultant.A murder case that can't be won is assigned to a young defense attorney. He asks his old ailing friend, a legend among attorneys, for help on the case as his consultant.A murder case that can't be won is assigned to a young defense attorney. He asks his old ailing friend, a legend among attorneys, for help on the case as his consultant.
- Nominated for 2 Oscars
- 3 nominations total
Don 'Red' Barry
- Judson Elliot
- (as Donald Barry)
Leon Alton
- Courtroom Spectator
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn response to his unexpected nod in the Best Supporting Actor category, Nick Adams launched one of the highest-profile campaigns in the history of the Academy Awards. By Oscar night, Adams was considered the front runner simply by virtue of the massive exposure his publicists had achieved for him in the short time between the nominations and the awards ceremony. When veteran actor Melvyn Douglas, who hadn't campaigned at all, was announced as the winner for Hud (1963), Adams was left shell-shocked, and the public embarrassment of the episode led to a swift decline in film offers. The actor, who had always suffered from depression, would ultimately commit suicide based on the cumulative effects of his stalled career.
- GoofsIn the flashback of Ben and Laura Mae hitchhiking along the lonely road in New Mexico miles from town, Cole Clinton drives up in his Imperial convertible and offers them a ride. The convertible has a rear view mirror clearly showing attached to the front windshield in the camera's wide shot point of view. In the next closeup scene with the point of view from the front of the car and the windshield centered in the frame, the rear view mirror is missing. In the next scene, a wide shot of the car driving into the hotel parking lot, the rear view mirror is mysteriously re-attached back onto the windshield.
- Quotes
Judge James Tucker: Mr. Mitchell, examine the witness, don't undress her.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Censura: Alguns Cortes (1999)
Featured review
Twilight of Claude Rains
OK courtroom drama from Perlberg-Seaton, with MGM capitalizing on Richard Chamberlain's TV success by casting him as a rather Kildare-like defense attorney. He's recently widowed, and he's given the unenviable job of defending sleazy-but-polite Nick Adams, who's already confessed, twice, to murdering Pat Buttram, a well-liked local politico who was trying to make time with Adams' sluttish wife, Joey Heatherton. Chamberlain's OK, and so are the courtroom exploits, with a screenplay that seems to delight in pushing the envelope a bit in terms of sexual conversation circa 1963. There's discussion of impotence, sleeping nude, and prostitution, and several sequences of Joey Heatherton twitching luridly next to a jukebox. But the best reason to watch is Claude Rains, as Chamberlain's former professor and current legal adviser. He looks genuinely unsteady and hasn't many good lines, but it's a beautiful, modest, underplayed performance. Joan Blackman is on hand as his daughter, to provide the rather tepid romantic interest, and Jeanette Nolan is good (when wasn't she) as Buttram's protective widow. The flashback format is unwieldy, and Boris Sagal directs it like it's a big TV show, but it keeps your interest pretty steadily, especially as a barometer of what was and wasn't permissible on screen in1963.
helpful•110
- marcslope
- Feb 23, 2015
- How long is Twilight of Honor?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime1 hour 44 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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