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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Jerome Lawrence (play)
Jerome Lawrence (screenplay)
more
Release Date:
21 August 1981 (USA) more
Tagline:
In the Supreme Court, there are only eight of them against all of her.
Plot:
For the first time in history a woman is appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, where she becomes a friendly rival to a liberal associate. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for 2 Golden Globes. Another 1 nomination more
User Comments:
Terribly Dated more (11 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Walter Matthau | ... | Dan Snow | |
| Jill Clayburgh | ... | Ruth Loomis | |
| Barnard Hughes | ... | Chief Justice Crawford | |
| Jan Sterling | ... | Christine Snow | |
| James Stephens | ... | Mason Woods | |
| Joshua Bryant | ... | Bill Russell | |
| Wiley Harker | ... | Justice Harold Webb | |
| F.J. O'Neil | ... | Justice Waldo Thompson | |
| Charles Lampkin | ... | Justice Josiah Clewes | |
| Lew Palter | ... | Justice Benjamin Halperin | |
| Richard McMurray | ... | Justice Richard Carey | |
| Herb Vigran | ... | Justice Ambrose Quincy | |
| Edmund Stoiber | ... | Committee Chairman | |
| Noble Willingham | ... | Nebraska Attorney | |
| Richard McKenzie | ... | Hostile Senator |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
98 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Metrocolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Iceland:L | Sweden:11 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | UK:15 (video) | Norway:16 | UK:AA | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 | USA:R
Filming Locations:
Inyo National Forest - 351 Pacu Lane, Bishop, California, USA more
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The airport that Justice Loomis (Jill Clayburgh) flies into when she returns to Orange County, California actually is John Wayne/Orange County Airport as it existed prior to undergoing major improvements in the late 1980s. more
Quotes:
Justice Dan Snow:
She wants me to disqualify myself because I won't go down there and sit through that pile of crap?
Chief Justice Crawford:
Uh, well, uh...
Justice Dan Snow:
So its crap. What if it is crap? That's not the point. Crap's got the right to be crap.
Chief Justice Crawford:
Drop the legal language, Dan.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Jeopardy!: (#26.23)" (2009) more
FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (11 total)
Message Boards
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Related Links
| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| IMDb Comedy section | IMDb USA section | Add this title to MyMovies |

Lighthearted and fluffy, "First Monday In October" tackles the issue of the first woman appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court. The film was topical when released in 1981, but now seems terribly dated. Grumpy but witty Justice Dan Snow (Walter Matthau), a liberal, spars with the new justice: Ruth Loomis (Jill Clayburgh), a conservative.
The plot is slow and a bit cloistered, no doubt the result of the film's origin as a play. The plot does advance, but not until near the end. Most of the "action", especially in the middle Act, consists of witty dialogue among the various justices, especially between Snow and Loomis. The dialogue is so witty that it seems unnatural. Each character immediately responds with some clever come-back line. The script could easily have been converted to an episodic TV sitcom of the early eighties. Mercifully, it wasn't.
The story has no real substance, apart from the rather obvious theme that any argument requires opposing points of view. And so, Justice Snow makes his point about a dinner menu. And Justice Loomis makes a counterpoint, showing how a reasoned debate can be applied even to life's most trivial moments.
The film does have very good production values. And the performances of Matthau and Clayburgh are certainly credible. Viewers who like these two actors will no doubt like this film.
My reasoned judgment of "First Monday In October" is that it is not a bad film. It's just very dated, and a tad fatuous.