Entertainment & Sports
Jul. 29, 2022
Stream it Tonight! Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
Preminger’s casting of lawyer Joseph N. Welch to play Judge Weaver was a political statement that contributed to the film’s realism and grittiness. A few years earlier, Welch represented the U.S. Army when Sen. Joseph McCarthy and Roy Cohn led hearings aimed at proving that the Army was riddled with communists.
Paul Bergman
Professor Emeritus
UCLA School of Law
Email: bergman@law.ucla.edu
Paul continues teaching evidence.
Michael Asimow
Professor
UCLA School of Law
Email: asimow@law.ucla.edu
Michael is Dean's Executive professor of law at Santa Clara Law School, teaching contracts as well as law and popular culture.
Why Watch? A great courtroom drama with a fabulous cast is also a condemnation of McCarthyism and censorship.
Army Lt. Manion (Ben Gazzara) is tried for murdering Barney Quill. Fiery prosecutor Claude Dancer (George C. Scott) argues that Manion killed Quill after finding out that Quill and Manion’s wife Laura (Lee Remick) were having an affair. After defense lawyer Paul Biegler (James Stewart) explains “the letter of the law,” Manion tell...
For only $95 a month (the price of 2 article purchases)
Receive unlimited article access and full access to our archives,
Daily Appellate Report, award winning columns, and our
Verdicts and Settlements.
Or
$795 for an entire year!
Or access this article for $45
(Purchase provides 7-day access to this article. Printing, posting or downloading is not allowed.)
Already a subscriber?
Sign In