Guests:
Christine Duncan - Wife of Dana and Mother of Tom
Myke Emal - Host and Creator of the Cinemusts podcast
@cinemusts on Twitter, Letterboxd, Facebook, and IG
Cast:
Otto Preminger, Director
Wendell Mayes, Writer
Duke Ellington, Music/Pie-Eye
James Stewart as Paul Biegler
Lee Remick as Laura Manion
Ben Gazzara as Lt. Frederick Manion
Arthur O'Connell as Parnell McCarthy
Eve Arden as Maida Rutledge
Kathryn Grant as Mary Pilant
George C. Scott as Claude Dancer
Orson Bean as Dr. Matthew Smith
Russ Brown as George Lemon
Murray Hamilton as Alphonse Paquette
Brooks West as Mitch Lodwick
Ken Lynch as Sgt. James Durgo
*Recognition:
Based on a book of the same name, Anatomy of a Murder was released on July 2, 1959.
On a budget of roughly $2 million, it is estimated to have grossed $8 million during its theatrical run.
Upon its release, Mayor Daley of Chicago temporarily banned the film in the heavily Catholic city. Preminger filed a motion in federal court in Illinois and the mayor's decision was overturned. The film was allowed to be exhibited after the court determined that the clinical language during the trial was realistic and appropriate within the film's context.
Anatomy of a Murder would go on to receive seven nominations at the Academy Awards for 1959 for Best Picture, Actor (Stewart), Supporting Actor (Arthur O'Connell and George C. Scott), Screenplay (Mayes), Cinematography, and Film Editing.
In 1989, the American Bar Association rated this as one of the 12 best trial films of all time, and it was listed as No. 4 of the 25 "Greatest Legal Movies" as well.
Anatomy of a Murder has been honored by the AFI on the following lists:
AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies: Nominated
AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills: Nominated
AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores: Nominated
AFI's 10 Top 10: #7 Courtroom Drama
In 2012, Anatomy of a Murder was added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
Anatomy of a Murder currently holds a 100% among critics on RT, a 95 score on Metacritic, and a 4.2/5 on Letterboxd.
Plot Summary: Anatomy of a Murder is a gripping courtroom drama that follows the defense of Lt. Frederick Manion (Ben Gazzara), who is accused of murdering a local bar owner. Manion claims the killing was in revenge for the alleged rape of his wife, Laura (Lee Remick). Defense attorney Paul Biegler (James Stewart) takes on the case, navigating a tense legal battle filled with moral ambiguity, unreliable testimonies, and psychological intricacies. The film explores themes of justice, truth, and the complexity of human nature, leaving the audience questioning the true nature of guilt and innocence.
Did You Know:
Part of the controversy surrounding this movie was because it included use of the words "bitch", "contraceptive", "panties", "penetration", "rape", "slut", and "sperm".
In another federal lawsuit in Chicago, the daughter of the real-life murder victim from the 1952 case sued Dell Publishing and Columbia Pictures in July 1960 for libel over accusations that the book and movie "followed [the actual trial] too closely" and portrayed the two women in an unflattering light; the suit was dismissed less than a year later in May 1961.
Otto Preminger sued "Columbia Pictures" and its TV subsidiary "Screen Gems" when it sold this film in a package of 60 films to television for $10 million. In New York, ABC interrupted the 160-minute film 13 times with 36 commercials. Preminger was furious that his film was being mutilated and took them to court in a highly publicized case. He lost.
James Stewart's father was so offended by the film, which he deemed "a dirty picture", that he took out an ad in his local newspaper telling people not to see it.
The interior of Barney Quill's bar is not a movie set. It's the interior of the Thunder Bay Inn Tavern in Big Bay, MI. It is approximately 325 yards down the road from the Lumberjack Tavern, where the actual murder -- on which the novel and film are based -- took place in 1952.
The "law library" in the courthouse was actually filmed in the Carnegie Public Library in Ishpeming, MI. The door that was opened in the courthouse, which is in Marquette, was the door to the men's restroom. The movie was filmed on location in Marquette County, MI.
Ask Dana Anything:
Christine Duncan
What's Your Favorite Courtroom Drama?
Myke Emal
What's the best beer to feed a dog?
What things do you need to avoid to having a lasting relationship?
Is there anything that Tom has done requiring a full page ad decrying him?
Best Performance: James Stewart (Paul)/Otto Preminger (Director)
Best Secondary Performance: James Stewart (Paul)/Otto Preminger (Director)/Eve Arden (Maida)/Wendell Mayes (Writer)
Most Charismatic Award: Arthur O'Connell (Parnell)/Lee Remick (Laura)/George C. Scott (Dancer)
Best Scene:
Temporary Insanity
Smoke Screen
Cut into the Apple
Panties
Paul Meets Mary
Baiting the Hook
Mary Pilant
Favorite Scene: Baiting the Hook/Panties/Temporary Insanity
Most Indelible Moment: Mary Pilant/Stiffing the Bill/Paul Meets Mary
In Memorium:
Tito Jackson, 70, American Hall of Fame musician (The Jackson 5)
Tommy Cash, 84, American country musician ("Six White Horses")
Chad McQueen, 63, American actor (The Karate Kid, Martial Law, Red Line) and racing driver.
Best Lines/Funniest Lines:
Claude Dancer: When I was overseas during the war, Your Honor, I learned a French word. I'm afraid that might be slightly suggestive.
Judge Weaver: Most French words are.
Parnell Emmett McCarthy: Did you give the lieutenant the Well-Known Lecture?
Paul Biegler: If you mean, did I coach him into a phony story, no.
Parnell Emmett McCarthy: Maybe you're too pure, Paul. Too pure for the natural impurities of the law.
Paul Biegler: As a lawyer, I've had to learn that people aren't just good or just bad. People are many things.
Lt. Frederick Manion: How can a jury disregard what it's already heard?
Paul Biegler: [shaking head] They can't, lieutenant. They can't.
Judge Weaver: One judge is quite like another. The only differences may be in the state of their digestions or their proclivities for sleeping on the bench. For myself, I can digest pig iron. And while I might appear to doze occasionally, you will find that I am easily awakened, particularly if shaken gently by a good lawyer with a nice point of law.
Paul Biegler: Look, Laura, believe me, I don't usually complain of an attractive jiggle, but just you save that jiggle for your husband to look at, if and when I get him out of jail.
Paul Biegler: You're fired.
Maida Rutledge: You can't fire me until you pay me.
Paul Biegler: [after cross-examining a convicted felon] Your Honor, I don't think I can dignify this - -creature - - with any more questions.
Paul Biegler: The prosecution would like to separate the motive from the act. Well, that's like trying to take the core from an apple without breaking the skin.
Maida Rutledge: If this refrigerator gets any more fish in it, it will swim upstream and spawn all by itself.
Judge Weaver: A creature who cannot talk will be a welcome relief. Produce the dog.
Paul Biegler: I'm just a humble country lawyer trying to do the best I can against this brilliant prosecutor from the big city of Lansing.
Parnell Emmett McCarthy: Twelve people go off into a room: twelve different minds, twelve different hearts, from twelve different walks of life; twelve sets of eyes, ears, shapes, and sizes. And these twelve people are asked to judge another human being as different from them as they are from each other. And in their judgment, they must become of one mind - unanimous. It's one of the miracles of Man's disorganized soul that they can do it, and in most instances, do it right well. God bless juries.
Paul Biegler: Mr. Paquette, what would you call a man with an insatiable penchant for women?
Alphonse Paquette: A what?
Paul Biegler: A penchant... a desire... taste... passion?
Alphonse Paquette: Well, uh, ladies' man, I guess. Or maybe just a damn fool!
[laughter in the courtroom]
Judge Weaver: Just answer the questions, Mr. Paquette. The attorneys will provide the wisecracks.
Parnell Emmett McCarthy: [Pulling empty bottle out of trash barrel] Gin. I knew there was something wrong with that guy. I never saw a gin drinker yet you could trust.
Paul Biegler: She's a very pretty woman, your wife,
Lt. Frederick Manion: A man gets used to the ways his wife looks.
Paul Biegler: Yeah, I can see that.
The Stanley Rubric:
Legacy: 5.38
Impact/Significance: 6.88
Novelty: 7.63
Classic-ness: 8.25
Rewatchability: 8.25
Audience Score: 8.75 (84% Google, 91% RT)
Total: 45.14
Remaining Questions:
Where do the Mannion's go?
Was Mannion temporarily insane?
How successful is Biegler's firm after the case?
Who gave Laura the black eye?
What are the ramifications for Dancer?
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