*****
Stellar adaptation of the book by lawyer and Michigan Supreme Court justice John D. Voelker (writing as Robert Traver) that was itself based on one of Voelker's real-life cases. Stars James Stewart as defense attorney who accepts the case of Army lieutenant (Ben Gazzara) accused of murdering the man who raped his wife (Lee Remick). Not that there's any doubt the lieutenant did it; the question is whether or not the lawyer can get him off on a bogus plea of temporary insanity. Where the book lacked suspense, the movie has no such weakness, thanks to Preminger's taut direction, a sparkling script by Wendell Mayes, and gripping performances, including those of George C. Scott, who plays one of the prosecutors, and Murray Hamilton as a hostile witness. Follows the book quite well, but includes one significant change to a secondary character that, frankly, is all for the best. With a score by Duke Ellington, who appears in a roadhouse sequence, and (the film's only mistake) real-life lawyer Joseph Welch as the judge. Briefly banned in Chicago for its language, the movie comes off even today as unusually frank and realistic.
Stellar adaptation of the book by lawyer and Michigan Supreme Court justice John D. Voelker (writing as Robert Traver) that was itself based on one of Voelker's real-life cases. Stars James Stewart as defense attorney who accepts the case of Army lieutenant (Ben Gazzara) accused of murdering the man who raped his wife (Lee Remick). Not that there's any doubt the lieutenant did it; the question is whether or not the lawyer can get him off on a bogus plea of temporary insanity. Where the book lacked suspense, the movie has no such weakness, thanks to Preminger's taut direction, a sparkling script by Wendell Mayes, and gripping performances, including those of George C. Scott, who plays one of the prosecutors, and Murray Hamilton as a hostile witness. Follows the book quite well, but includes one significant change to a secondary character that, frankly, is all for the best. With a score by Duke Ellington, who appears in a roadhouse sequence, and (the film's only mistake) real-life lawyer Joseph Welch as the judge. Briefly banned in Chicago for its language, the movie comes off even today as unusually frank and realistic.
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