A lawyer takes a case defending a man who is accused of murdering his wife's rapist.
Otto Preminger was an Austrian immigrant who made his name directing successful film noir titles throughout the 1940's (Laura, Where The Sidewalk Ends), and eventually struck out on his own as an independent producer, saving himself the trouble of fighting with studio heads. He then took on a variety of subject matter in the 1950's, and repeatedly challenged the Hays Production Code in an attempt to weaken censorship in Hollywood. After his all-black musical Carmen Jones and harrowing look at heroin addiction The Man With The Golden Arm, he set his sights on a real-life small town murder case.
Preminger shot the film on location in the Upper Penninsula of Michigan, near where the actual events occurred, even going so far as to have the original jury members appear in the film. Heading the cast is icon James Stewart (Vertigo, It's A Wonderful Life), joined by younger actors Lee Remick, George C. Scott (The Hustler, Patton), and Ben Gazzara (future mainstay of John Cassavetes films). The trial judge was played by former army lawyer Joseph N. Welch, who was already famous for televised hearings pitting him against controversial senator Joseph McCarthy.
The musical score was contributed by jazz legend Duke Ellington, who has a small role in the film. It was an early example of jazz being used for the entire score of a major studio picture. The promotional artwork and credits were created by Saul Bass, whose striking, innovative work would appear in many of Alfred Hitchcock's peak period films, and many other Preminger titles.
Preminger battled with censors because of the graphic language used in the trial. Many words had not been uttered in a wide-release film before, such as "rape", "panties", "slut", "contraceptive", etc. Because of the true crime aspect and seriousness of the subject matter, Preminger was able to break new ground in terms of acceptable content. The film was briefly banned in Chicago by Mayor Richard Daley, a decision overturned.
Turnaround on the production was quick, with the film hitting theatres just two months after it was shot. The film was a moderate success at the box office, and was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, the screenplay, and the performances of Stewart and Scott. It is now regarded as one of the great trial films, and near the top of Preminger's and Stewart's achievements.
Running time is 2 hrs, 30 min.
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