Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

Directed by Otto Preminger. Starring James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, George C. Scott, Arthur O’Connell, Joseph N. Welch, Eve Arden, Kathryn Grant, Murray Hamilton, Brooks West, Orson Bean, Russ Brown.

Long but engrossing legal drama of small-town defense lawyer Stewart being hired to defend Army officer Gazzara after he murdered the man who apparently raped his young and sultry wife (Remick). Noted for its realistic depiction of courtroom decorum and theatrics, and frank dialogue that caused a stir in some communities (no major motion picture had previously used words like “contraceptive” and “spermatogenesis”). Excellent cast without a blemish, with a nice non-professional turn by Welch (as the judge), who served in real life as chief counsel for the US Army during the Army-McCarthy hearings. Adapted by Wendell Mayes from the novel by Robert Travers, who was the defense attorney for the 1952 murder case on which the story is based. Stylish title design by Saul Bass; the slinky jazz score was composed by Duke Ellington (who also appears briefly onscreen as a local musician nicknamed “Pie-Eye”), astoundingly the first Hollywood film score ever provided by an African-American.

91/100