Lists
- ranked 636 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (March 2006)
- ranked 642 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (December 2006)
- one of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
- one of AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies Nominees
- one of AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills Nominees
- one of Guardian 1,000 films to see before you die
- one of Rosenbaum's Alternate 100
- one of The New York Times Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made
Anatomy of a Trial
What most sets Anatomy of a Murder apart from others in its genre is the pace, unhurried and utterly authentic. The trial -- of Lt. Frederick Manion (Ben Gazzara), who shot the rapist of his wife Laura (Lee Remick) -- progresses witness by witness, examination by cross-examination, cut by thrust and parry. Manion's guilt is thoroughly ambiguous, and we as the audience get no special insight into it: it's all up on the witness stand and in the lawyers' back-and-forth.
The court scenes are straightforward, but shot close to claustrophobic even in the echoing space. They are otherwise free of dramatic musical cues or other evidence of film artifice: it's left to the script and the magnificent performances, centrally Manion's attorney Paul Biegler (Jimmy Stewart), to fill the void. Outside the court, the sound of Duke Ellington's score is as effective as the silence is inside.
The film's realism shouldn't be surprising, given that John D. Voelker, author of the original novel, was a sitting judge at the time of its publication. Still, it is a surprise, but the result is intelligent and gripping. It might just be the single greatest courtroom movie ever made.