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Rating: From the notes on Wikipedia:
Anatomy of a Murder (Anatomy of a Murder) is a film from 1959 by Otto Preminger, based on the eponymous novel by Robert Traver.
In 2012, it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress of the United States of America.
In a small town in Michigan, on the eve of a murder trial, the accused's wife asks attorney Paul Biegler to defend her husband, a Lieutenant veteran from the Korean War, who is trying to forget his disappointment over a recent loss of a public prosecutor position by engaging only in small cases and spending much of his time fishing and drinking bourbon...
The woman, who loves fun and provocation, claims to have been raped by a bar owner, who was subsequently confronted and shot dead in front of patrons by her husband who then turned himself in. The attorney, pushed to accept the case by a friend, a former accomplished alcoholic judge…
Okay, that's enough.
Anatomy of a Murder, along with Twelve Angry Men by Sidney Lumet, is one of the first legal dramas and is still considered among the best in its genre.
The lawyer Paul Biegler is played by the great James Stewart.
Lieutenant Manion is a young Ben Gazzara, his wife Laura Manion is the beautiful Lee Remick, with a notable performance to follow three years later in Blake Edwards' magnificent film Days of Wine and Roses, where she would play the alcoholic wife of Jack Lemmon (also an alcoholic).
Of note is the performance of one of the two prosecuting judges, George Scott, here in his second feature film. We will find him in other masterpieces to follow, The Hustler and Dr. Strangelove, just to name a couple.
The judge in the trial is (again from Wikipedia) Joseph N. Welch. In real life, he was a famous lawyer who defended the top brass of the U.S. Army before the anti-American activities committee chaired by Senator McCarthy. He became famous for silencing McCarthy with the phrase: "Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?" earning the audience's applause. The film was his only - highly appreciated - performance on the big screen, thanks to which he later worked in American television on cultural programs.
Memorable is the soundtrack by Duke Ellington, who also appears in a cameo (dueting at the piano with James Stewart) and the titles by Saul Bass.
Sure, when reading the title, the plot, one expects a dramatic, heart-wrenching, and intense film over its "long" 160 minutes, but that's not the case.
Surprisingly, the distinctive trait accompanying the film is irony, paraphrasing Lucio Dalla, we sense a tone of American comedy to end the week well, even though I only watched it on a Tuesday…
The film has a steady and calibrated rhythm, with no setbacks, no getting bogged down, never turning in circles. It moves forward swiftly, in short, it flows smoothly, which is a hallmark of masterpieces.
You smile and laugh often and gladly. Fast-paced dialogues, sharp wit, lots of good, intelligent, refined irony.
In this context, Duke Ellington's soundtrack (a great boxer – quot.) is perfect in accompanying the different sequences and is also calibrated, never intrusive, in short, it has the same rhythm as the film, we might as well call it a jazz film.
So irony, freshness, modernity, and I would say, for the times, audacity. At the time of its release in American cinemas, it caused a real scandal as it was the first time words like "panties" were used, and for this, the film was attacked by puritans who considered it "dirty."
However, be aware that the film is not just jazz and giggles. These elements dress the film in a certain way, but we are still dealing with a legal drama in all respects.
It passionately and meticulously explores the mechanisms of the law and its interpretation.
The various trial sessions that occupy the second half of the film are unforgettable.
The characterization of characters is more than solid: Manion is the cliché of the young jealous, resolute, arrogant husband. The young attractive wife is the cliché of the lady who loves to drink, who goes to bars driving the patrons crazy while playing pinball in a skirt with no stockings and barefoot! (Remember we are in 1959). The prosecuting attorney Dancer is a ruthless and cunning shark. In short, they are all perfectly delineated, perhaps too much (??).
In any case, nitpicking this (art)work is a futile exercise. It takes the five stars without asking for permission and walks away with its back turned, whistling and juggling the five stars you just gifted it.
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