{"id":31808,"date":"2013-02-25T06:00:04","date_gmt":"2013-02-25T11:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=31808"},"modified":"2013-02-22T11:31:14","modified_gmt":"2013-02-22T16:31:14","slug":"the-five-best-courtroom-films","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=31808","title":{"rendered":"The Five Best Courtroom Films"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"Anatomy<\/a>I love a good courtroom drama. There\u2019s so much natural tension in a trial\u2026they just seem tailor-made for the cinema. The list below focuses on the best classic films with courtroom centerpieces, so My Cousin Vinny<\/a> and A Few Good Men <\/a>(which would probably have made the honorable mention list) are not included.<\/p>\n

1) Anatomy of a Murder<\/a>\u00a0(1959)\u00a0– Otto Preminger<\/a>\u2019s enthralling courtroom drama requires multiple viewings to be fully appreciated. When I first saw it, I focused on the riveting story, which treats the viewer much like the jury. We listen to testimonies, watch the lawyers try to manipulate our emotions, and struggle to make sense of the evidence. When I saw it a second time, I knew the case\u2019s outcome and was able to concentrate on the splendid performances. James Stewart<\/a>, Arthur O\u2019Connell<\/a>, and George C. Scott <\/a>earned Oscar nominations, but the rest of the cast is also exceptionally strong. In subsequent viewings, I’ve come to appreciate the film\u2019s well-preserved details, from the small town upper-Michigan atmosphere to Preminger\u2019s brilliant direction (e.g., in one shot, as Scott cross-examines a witness in close-up, Stewart\u2014the defending lawyer\u2014is framed between them in the background).<\/p>\n

2) Inherit the Wind (1960) – The \u201cScopes Monkey Trial\u201d of the 1920s–in which a Tennessee teacher was tried for teaching evolution–gets first-class treatment in Stanley Kramer\u2019s gripping adaptation of the stage play. Spencer Tracy <\/a>and Fredric March<\/a> are magnificent as fictionalized versions of Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan. But equally good is the behind-the-scenes look at the trial: the tribulations of family members, the media coverage, and the impact on the town itself.<\/p>\n

3) 12 Angry Men<\/a>\u00a0(1957) – Well, it doesn’t take place in a courtroom, but has any film done a better job of getting into the minds of the most important members of a trial? The ensemble cast is nearly flawless, but the film\u2019s premise relies heavily on the dialogue, the believablity of the characters, and the direction. So cheers to screenwriter Reginald Rose and director Sidney Lumet<\/a>! I chuckle when I read the frequent film critic’s complaint that a director didn’t \u201copen up\u201d an adaptation of a stage play. 12 Angry Men virtually takes place on one set, but it never fails to excite and entertain.<\/p>\n

\"Marlene<\/a><\/p>\n

4) Witness for the Prosecution (1957) – For all its cleverness, the most entertaining aspect of Billy Wilder<\/a>\u2019s adaptation of the Agatha Christie story is its unexpected humor. Much of it is derived from the relationship between the cantankerous Sir Wilfrid (Charles Laughton<\/a>) and his fastidious nurse, Miss Plimsoll (Elsa Lanchester<\/a>). One of their best scenes contains no dialogue and takes places during the heat of the trial. Miss Plimsoll sits in the gallery and watches closely over Sir Wilfrid, looking for any signs of his failing health. Turning to face her, Sir Wilfrid smiles as he takes a sip of \u201clukewarm cocoa\u201d from a thermos filled by Miss Plimsoll\u2026only the devious barrister has swapped thermoses so that he\u2019s actually drinking brandy.<\/p>\n

5) To Kill a Mockingbird<\/a>\u00a0(1962) – I know\u2026this isn’t a courtroom drama. But Tom Robinson\u2019s case forms the centerpiece of the film and reveals much about Atticus Finch, his children, and the town where they live. Like many other fans of this film, my favorite scene is when Atticus leaves the courtroom to a standing ovation from the gallery. (Its ranking here is solely in the context of courtroom dramas.)<\/p>\n

Honorable Mentions: Conduct Unbecoming<\/a>, Adam\u2019s Rib<\/a>, Judgment at Nuremberg<\/a>, Breaker Morant, The Caine Mutiny, Fury, and Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys.<\/p>\n

Now if you have any doubts how much fun a good courtroom drama can be, check out the theatrical trailer for Anatomy of a Murder:<\/p>\n\"YouTube<\/a><\/span><\/span>\n

Rick29 is a film reference book author and a regular contributor at the Classic Film & TV Caf\u00e9 <\/strong><\/a><\/em>, on Facebook<\/strong><\/a><\/em> and Twitter<\/strong><\/a>. <\/em>He\u2019s a big fan of MovieFanFare, too, of course!<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Which are the best courtroom movies? Guest blogger Rick29 loves a good courtroom drama. There\u2019s so much natural tension in a trial… they just seem tailor-made for the cinema. See if you agree with his five favorites.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9691,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1358,1452],"coauthors":[3819],"class_list":["post-31808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movie-articles","tag-1950s-movies","tag-1960s-movies"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Five Best Courtroom Films - MovieFanFare<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=31808\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Five Best Courtroom Films - MovieFanFare\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Which are the best courtroom movies? Guest blogger Rick29 loves a good courtroom drama. There\u2019s so much natural tension in a trial... they just seem tailor-made for the cinema. See if you agree with his five favorites.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=31808\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MovieFanFare\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Movies-Unlimited\/88679322377\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-02-25T11:00:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Anatomy-of-a-Murder.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rick29\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rick29\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=31808#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=31808\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rick29\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/45d2c595aa14dcee072c8cf0dd0068db\"},\"headline\":\"The Five Best Courtroom Films\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-02-25T11:00:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=31808\"},\"wordCount\":670,\"commentCount\":129,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=31808#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/02\\\/Anatomy-of-a-Murder.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"1950s Movies\",\"1960s Movies\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Movie Articles\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=31808#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=31808\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=31808\",\"name\":\"The Five Best Courtroom Films - MovieFanFare\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=31808#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=31808#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/02\\\/Anatomy-of-a-Murder.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-02-25T11:00:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/45d2c595aa14dcee072c8cf0dd0068db\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=31808#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=31808\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=31808#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/02\\\/Anatomy-of-a-Murder.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2013\\\/02\\\/Anatomy-of-a-Murder.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?p=31808#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Five Best Courtroom Films\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"MovieFanFare\",\"description\":\"Movie Articles, Movie Reviews, New DVD Releases\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/45d2c595aa14dcee072c8cf0dd0068db\",\"name\":\"Rick29\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d69a5dc5869ef642f9d8a29b3f491c8f4d122a4e7ec266c41e17601f1efe9e15?s=96&d=mm&r=g3d9671060f42458d600b0c604fc29c96\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d69a5dc5869ef642f9d8a29b3f491c8f4d122a4e7ec266c41e17601f1efe9e15?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d69a5dc5869ef642f9d8a29b3f491c8f4d122a4e7ec266c41e17601f1efe9e15?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Rick29\"},\"description\":\"Rick29 is a film reference book author of the movie book The Movie List Book and the last edition called the more descriptive Encyclopedia of Film Themes, Setting and Series. It's available through all major book sellers. Rick29 is also a regular contributor at the Classic Film & TV Caf\u00e9 \\\"http:\\\/\\\/www.classicfilmtvcafe.com\\\/\\\", and has a Facebook page.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.classicfilmtvcafe.com\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/classic_film\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.moviefanfare.com?author_name\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Five Best Courtroom Films - MovieFanFare","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=31808","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Five Best Courtroom Films - MovieFanFare","og_description":"Which are the best courtroom movies? Guest blogger Rick29 loves a good courtroom drama. There\u2019s so much natural tension in a trial... they just seem tailor-made for the cinema. See if you agree with his five favorites.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=31808","og_site_name":"MovieFanFare","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Movies-Unlimited\/88679322377","article_published_time":"2013-02-25T11:00:04+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Anatomy-of-a-Murder.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Rick29","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Rick29","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=31808#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=31808"},"author":{"name":"Rick29","@id":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/#\/schema\/person\/45d2c595aa14dcee072c8cf0dd0068db"},"headline":"The Five Best Courtroom Films","datePublished":"2013-02-25T11:00:04+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=31808"},"wordCount":670,"commentCount":129,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=31808#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Anatomy-of-a-Murder.jpg","keywords":["1950s Movies","1960s Movies"],"articleSection":["Movie Articles"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=31808#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=31808","url":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=31808","name":"The Five Best Courtroom Films - MovieFanFare","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=31808#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=31808#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Anatomy-of-a-Murder.jpg","datePublished":"2013-02-25T11:00:04+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/#\/schema\/person\/45d2c595aa14dcee072c8cf0dd0068db"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=31808#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=31808"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=31808#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Anatomy-of-a-Murder.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Anatomy-of-a-Murder.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?p=31808#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Five Best Courtroom Films"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/","name":"MovieFanFare","description":"Movie Articles, Movie Reviews, New DVD Releases","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/#\/schema\/person\/45d2c595aa14dcee072c8cf0dd0068db","name":"Rick29","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d69a5dc5869ef642f9d8a29b3f491c8f4d122a4e7ec266c41e17601f1efe9e15?s=96&d=mm&r=g3d9671060f42458d600b0c604fc29c96","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d69a5dc5869ef642f9d8a29b3f491c8f4d122a4e7ec266c41e17601f1efe9e15?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d69a5dc5869ef642f9d8a29b3f491c8f4d122a4e7ec266c41e17601f1efe9e15?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Rick29"},"description":"Rick29 is a film reference book author of the movie book The Movie List Book and the last edition called the more descriptive Encyclopedia of Film Themes, Setting and Series. It's available through all major book sellers. Rick29 is also a regular contributor at the Classic Film & TV Caf\u00e9 \"http:\/\/www.classicfilmtvcafe.com\/\", and has a Facebook page.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.classicfilmtvcafe.com\/","https:\/\/x.com\/classic_film"],"url":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com?author_name"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9691"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31808\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31808"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moviefanfare.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=31808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}