The Verdict (1982)

A lawyer sees the chance to salvage his career and self-respect by taking a medical malpractice case to trial rather than settling.

Director:

Sidney Lumet

Writers:

Barry Reed (based upon the novel by), David Mamet (screenplay)

Stars:

Paul Newman, Charlotte Rampling, Jack Warden

Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Paul Newman	...	Frank Galvin
Charlotte Rampling	...	Laura Fischer
Jack Warden	...	Mickey Morrissey
James Mason	...	Ed Concannon
Milo O'Shea	...	Judge Hoyle
Lindsay Crouse	...	Kaitlin Costello Price
Edward Binns	...	Bishop Brophy
Julie Bovasso	...	Maureen Rooney
Roxanne Hart	...	Sally Doneghy
James Handy	...	Kevin Doneghy
Wesley Addy	...	Dr. Towler
Joe Seneca	...	Dr. Thompson
Lewis J. Stadlen	...	Dr. Gruber (as Lewis Stadlen)
Kent Broadhurst	...	Joseph Alito
Colin Stinton	...	Billy

Storyline

Frank Galvin was once a promising Boston lawyer with a bright future ahead. An incident early in his career in which he was trying to do the right thing led to him being fired from the prestigious law firm with which he was working, almost being disbarred, and his wife leaving him. Continually drowning his sorrows in booze, he is now an ambulance chasing lawyer, preying on the weak and vulnerable, and bending the truth whenever necessary to make what few dollars he has, as he has only had a few cases in the last few years, losing the last four. His only friend in the profession is his now retired ex-partner, Mickey Morrissey, who gets Frank a case, his fee solely a percentage of what his clients are awarded. The case should net Frank tens of thousands of dollars by settling out of court, that money which would at least get him back on his feet. It is a negligence suit brought on behalf of Deborah Ann Kaye by her sister and brother-in-law, Sally and Kevin Doneghy, against St. Catherine...

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Plot Keywords:

reference to arizona | court | lawyer | archdiocese | hospital | 

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Taglines:

Frank Galvin Has One Last Chance At A Big Case.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 December 1982 (USA)

Also Known As:

Será justicia

Filming Locations:

Kaufman Astoria Studios - 3412 36th Street, Astoria, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$16,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$54,000,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

129 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

James Mason was anxious to work with Sidney Lumet again, and although the actor was offered the part eventually played by Jack Warden, Lumet didn't believe he wanted to do it. At the prompting of his wife, Mason called the director and, fortuitously, Burt Lancaster, who was set to play Concannon, dropped out, and that opened up the role for Mason.

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Goofs

In the climactic courtroom scene, when Frank calls Kaitlin to the stand, Concannon is flustered and confers with one of his lawyers. We then see the lawyer leave the courtroom, presumably having been given some direction by Concannon. Later, after Kaitlin has been questioned by Frank and cross-examined by Concannon, the lawyer returns with a book containing the case Concannon cites to get the judge to disallow the admittance of the photocopy of the hospital admission form as evidence. However, at the point at which Concannon calls the lawyer over and then, presumably, sends him out to "find" this book/case, he doesn't even know about the existence of the photocopy because he hasn't yet questioned Kaitlin; it's during his questioning of Kaitlin that she reveals she has a photocopy of the form. So there's no way the lawyer would have known to go out and find a case regarding the inadmissibility of a photocopy.

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Quotes

[as he's closing his door]
Judge Hoyle: I've no sympathy for you.

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Alternate Versions

NBC edited 33 minutes from this film for its 1985 network television premiere.

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Connections

Featured in AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers: America's Most Inspiring Movies (2006)

User Reviews

One of the Best Courtroom Dramas of Cinema History

In Boston, the former successful lawyer Frank Galvin (Paul Newman) is presently a divorced and decadent alcoholic ambulance chaser, searching funerals in the obituary to get new clients.

His friend and former professor Mickey Morrissey (Jack Warden) brings one client to Frank, Deborah Ann Kaye (Susan Benenson), who reports that her sister lost her baby in the delivery and had brain damage in the St. Catherine Labouré Hospital due to the medical malpractice.

Frank meets Dr. Gruber (Lewis Stadlen), who tells that the woman received wrong anesthetic and drown in her own vomit due to negligence of Dr. Marx and the anesthetist Dr. Towler (Wesley Addy). Further, he offers to witness in court and Frank sees the chance of going to trial against the Archdiocese of Boston and win the case.

Frank goes to the hospital to take pictures of Deborah's sister and he is affected by the vegetative state of the woman. Out of the blue, Bishop Brophy (Edward Binns) summons Frank and offers an endowment of US$ 210,000.00 to drop the case. However Frank sees the chance to bring justice to the family; save his career and earn respect and he does not accept the small fortune.

Frank calls Mickey to help him in the investigation, but he finds difficulties, since his unethical opponent Ed Concannon (James Mason) anticipates his actions and Dr. Gruber mysteriously travels to the Caribbean to spend a week on vacation and Judge Hoyle (Milo O'Shea) tries to force him to accept the settling. Meanwhile Frank meets the gorgeous Laura Fischer (Charlotte Rampling) in a bar and they have a love affair. But when Mickey seeks cigarette in her purse, he makes a discovery that will hurt Frank.

"The Verdict" is one of the best courtroom dramas of cinema history with one of the best performances of Paul Newman. Directed by Sidney Lumet, "The Verdict" is also the third work of the talented David Mamet that wrote the great screenplay with an unusual (open) end for an American movie.

I saw this film in the 80's in the movie theater; than on VHS and today I have just seen on DVD and I realize that after almost thirty years, this film has not aged. The magnificent cast has top-notch performances and I love Charlotte Rampling in this film, who is also very elegant and beautiful. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "O Veredicto" ("The Verdict")