Trial movies

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Trial movies is a film genre. Trial movies are one of the great cathartic devices used by dramatists. Like war movies, they are the crucible in which characters are exposed, truth is found, and the play unfolds. Rating them is difficult, as doing so depends much on the viewer's perspective.

From a lawyer's perspective, Anatomy of a Murder tops any list. UCLA law professor, Michael Asimow, called it "probably the finest pure trial movie ever made."^[1] That the movie is based on a novel (a work of 'faction' based on an actual case) written pseudononymously by a Michigan Supreme Court justice helped give it understanding, perspective, and credibility.

1 The American Bar Association's list
2 Military trial films
3 Other movies
4 Another good resource
5 Selected movies
6 References

[edit] The American Bar Association's list

In 1989, the American Bar Association rated the twelve best trial films of all time.^[2] Ten of them are in English; M is in German and The Passion of Joan of Arc is a French silent film. The movies on the ABA list were (in alphabetical order):

A Man for All Seasons (1966)

Nominated for 8 Academy Awards, winning 6.

Based on a real trial.

Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

Nominated for 7 Academy Awards.

Based on a real trial.

Inherit the Wind (1960)

Nominated for 4 Academy Awards.

Based on a real trial.

Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)

Nominated for 11 Academy Awards, winning 2.

Based on a real trial.

M (1931)
Paths of Glory (1958)

Based on a real trial.

The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

Based on a real trial.

The Trial (1962)
The Wrong Man (1957)

Based on a real trial.

To Kill a Mockingbird (1963)

Nominated for 8 Academy Awards, winning 3.

Twelve Angry Men (1957)

Nominated for 3 Academy Awards.

The Verdict (1982)

Nominated for 5 Academy Awards.

Ten of the movies take place (at least in part) in courtrooms. Two of the movies deserve special mention because of their settings and viewpoint:

The trial in M is not in a legal courtroom. Instead, the city's crime syndicate leaders and underground elements hold proceedings in a warehouse. Despite the lack of legal trappings, "it is one of the most effective trials ever filmed, questioning our notions of justice and revenge, mob rule and order, power and responsibility. Our social orientation is flip-flopped." Wearing long leather coats instead of robes, criminals become judges. The murderer is cast as the victim, while the forces of law and order must rely on luck. Peter Lorre strikingly raises the issue of his culpability due to alleged insanity, and the imposition of ultimate retributive justice is depicted as being unsatisfying for society and the survivors of the murdered victims.^[2]

The second is Twelve Angry Men, which never enters a court room at all. It views the particular case and the system of justice through the prism of a jury's deliberations. Here is one of the best practical explications of legal concepts basic to the American system of justice, and their effect on a particular trial and defendant. Those include the presumption of innocence, burden of proof and the requirement of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.^[2]

[edit] Military trial films

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Like all such lists, the ABA's evaluation was subjective. Its list overlooked a number of important films that have military origins, perhaps because of the difference between a military court martial and civilian criminal proceedings. Nevertheless, these are outstanding examples of trials in a military context.

The Caine Mutiny (1954),^[3] climaxes in a strongly contested court martial, and a particularly dynamic cross examination, in which Captain Queeg, played by Humphrey Bogart, acts out one of film's most dramatic meltdowns.^[4] The movies was nominated for 7 Academy Awards.

Australian Breaker Morant (1980), (nominated for Academy Award), a gripping court marital (really a war crimes trial) of Australian soldiers, including Breaker Morant by their British commanders in the aftermath of the Boer War in South Africa. Morant movingly details the trials and tribulations of the defense counsel and the defendants, as they try to throw a wrench into the administrative gears. Anticipating the Nuremberg trials, the main defense is that they were doing their duty as they understood it, and following orders and policy form above. Nevertheless, this "kangaroo court" moves to its inevitable conclusion. As one review notes, it features one of the finest (and most succinct) closing arguments in film.^[5]

A Few Good Men (1992), released after the ABA's list was compiled, contains the famous "You can't handle the truth" exchange^[6] from adapted from the Broadway play written by Aaron Sorkin, and memorably acted by Tom Cruise and a rug-chewing Jack Nicholson.

Paths of Glory

Town Without Pity

Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington were nominated for an Academy Award for the theme song, Town Without Piy, which was sung by Gene Pitney

[edit] Other movies

Since courtroom movies are mostly dramas, My Cousin Vinny, a comedy, is easily overlooked. However it did result in Marisa Tomei winning the Best Supporting Actress Oscar.

Norman Jewison's ...And Justice for All (film) (Nominated for 2 Academy Awards) is not widely understood.^[7] It examines the flawed and human, venal and immoral side of justice, focusing on all too human judges. As Norman Webster wrote: "…And Justice For All is a sweeping – and somewhat simple-minded – indictment of the American justice system." The film makes more sense when it is seen from the perspective of Judicial Qualifications Commissions (also known as Judicial Tenure Commissions), which are judicial agencies that are charged with overseeing judicial performance and conduct. From that end of the telescope, the indictment of the courts and judicial system (and the examples) are not so outlandish as might be supposed.