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Anatomy of a Murder

1959

Otto Preminger

James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, Arthur O'Connell ...

8.0

19,664

Drama An Army Lieutenant, Frederick Manion (Ben Gazarra), is accused of murdering a man, Barney Quill, for allegedly raping his beautiful wife, Laura Manion (Lee Remick). Manion’s lawyer, Paul Biegler (James Stewart), is assisted by his friend, Parnell McCarthy (Paul O’Connell), an alcoholic lawyer. They oppose the district attorney, Mitch Lodwick, and a state assistant attorney general, Claude Dancer (George C. Scott). Judge Weaver (Joseph ... [+]

	Author	Review
United States	Bosley Crowther The New York Times	"[It] hews magnificently to a line of dramatic but reasonable behavior and proper procedure in a court (...) It is the best courtroom melodrama this old judge has ever seen."	POS
United States	Jaime N. Christley Slant	"Preminger’s shrewdly attenuated sense of balance (...) was achieved by the way his camerawork and cutting would invariably seek to deemphasize, rather than punch up, the emotional dominance of any one voice (…) Rating: ★★★★½ (out of 5)"	POS
United Kingdom	Kim Newman Empire	"It's simply the best trial movie ever made, showing that lawyers have to be not only actors but stars, performing for their 12-man audience (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Scott Tobias AV Club	"'Anatomy Of A Murder' respects the audience enough to turn us into the jury, and trusts that we, too, can consider the facts like adults."	POS
United Kingdom	Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"Disquieting (...) James Stewart gives a barnstorming performance (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United Kingdom	Time Out	"'Anatomy of a Murder' cloaks itself in smartly tailored ambiguity and irresolution, and never altogether strips off. Coolly absorbing, nonchalantly cynical"	POS
United Kingdom	Adrian Turner Radio Times	"This is probably the greatest courtroom drama ever made and it features James Stewart's finest screen performance (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader	"As an entertaining look at legal process, this is spellbinding, infused by an ambiguity about human personality and motivation that is Preminger's trademark, and the location shooting is superb."	POS
United Kingdom	Telegraph	"One of the best pure trial movies ever made."	POS

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