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Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

Presented by The Colonial Theatre

November 22, 2009

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ANATOMY OF A MURDER
1959, Otto Preminger, 160 min, NR
Sponsored by Royal Bank America
In somewhat of a change of pace for him, Stewart portrays a small-town Michigan lawyer faced with defending an Army lieutenant (Ben Gazzara) on a murder charge after the man’s wife (Lee Remick, in her first starring role) has possibly been raped. Though the subject matter made the film quite daring in its day (e.g. controversies over whether to speak about contraception or use the word “panties”), it now can be enjoyed for its forthright and entertaining rendering of a complex and suspenseful situation. This fascinating film received seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Stewart) and Best Supporting Actor (George C. Scott, in his first featured role as the prosecuting attorney, and Arthur O’Connell, as an alcoholic lawyer who rises to the occasion for Stewart.) Though he received the coveted New York Film Critics award, Stewart lost his chance at an Oscar to Charlton Heston, whose Ben Hur swept the Academy Awards that year. Watch for a brief glimpse of the great Duke Ellington, whose wonderful jazz score for this film won him high honors in the music world. Also, Joseph Welch, as the judge, was the former attorney who famously laid low Senator Joseph McCarthy during the McCarthy hearings several years previously. (Bill Roth)