| The Lawyer | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Sidney J. Furie |
| Starring | Barry Newman, Diana Muldaur and Harold Gould |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | May 15, 1970 |
| Running time | 120 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Lawyer is a 1970 courtroom drama film loosely based on the Sam Sheppard murder case, in which a physician is charged with killing his wife following a highly-publicized and sloppy investigation. The film was directed by Sidney J. Furie and starred Barry Newman as the energetic, opportunistic defense attorney Tony Petrocelli. The film is the source of the role Newman reprised in the TV series Petrocelli.
Tony Petrocelli is a Harvard-educated attorney of Italian heritage who practices in an unidentified part of the American Southwest. He works (and drives) at a frenetic pace, not only because he is a zealous advocate for his defendants (which includes a regular run of drunks and other small-time criminal cases) but because of the vast distances of western prairie he must cross in order to meet clients, investigate his cases and make court appointments.
A big case lands in his lap when he is asked to defend a young, prosperous physician who expects to be charged with the bludgeoning murder of his socialite wife.