Review – American Traitor: The Trial of Axis Sally

Axis Sally, guess you better slow your Axis down. Actually if she’d rid herself of the whole Nazi thing four years earlier, Mildred Gillars wouldn’t have found herself on trial for treason after the war. This fictionalized version of her life and prosecution takes a sympathetic view of its subject. Despite that (or maybe because of it), the tale proves less than heart-warming. Mildly amusing

Review – Witness for the Prosecution

If you love ever-so-British courtroom drama, you’re in the right place here. Charles Laughton plays a curmudgeonly defense lawyer who takes on an apparently impossible case. His client (Tyrone Power in his last movie) seems like he might have an outside chance until his wife (Marlene Dietrich) takes the stand. But the twists keep a comin’ just as one might expect from an Agatha Christie story. Though this isn’t my usual cup of tea, I got a kick out of it. If nothing else it was fun to watch Laughton fussing with his nurse (played by the actor’s wife, Elsa Lanchester). Mildly amusing

Review – Time Limit

In the wake of the Korean War, Hollywood seemed greatly concerned with former POWs who suffered psychological torture at the hands of the North Koreans and Chinese. Before this one came out, Paul Newman turned in an early performance in The Rack. And of course a few years later The Manchurian Candidate carved a place for itself in movie history. However, this one isn’t too bad. I share Karl Malden’s self-assessment that he was a better actor than director (this was the only movie he ever helmed), but as talky courtroom dramas go it’s a competent production. Richard Widmark stars as a put-upon JAG colonel tasked with investigating allegations of treason against an officer who may have been tortured into collaborating. Mildly amusing

Review – The Andersonville Trial

George C. Scott helms this video recording of a stage play about the eponymous legal proceeding. This must have been one of those “prestige projects” that attracts big-name actors (even the characters in the background are played by people who were famous at the time or have become famous since) to a small-budget production. And of course given the era that spawned it, a lot of the hand-wringing about morality in war tasted more like My Lai than the Civil War. However, for the most part it was an interesting dramatization of one of the world’s first war crimes trials. Mildly amusing

Review – Anatomy of a Murder

I’m fond of this movie for one reason: the second half of the picture is devoted to one of the most realistic depictions of a criminal trial ever included in a studio release. Of course it’s still a far cry from the real thing. But at least it sorta follows proper procedure. Objections are usually used correctly, and so on. Oddly enough, the de-Hollywood-ization of the courtroom actually makes this a more interesting picture to watch, as home-spun defense lawyer Jimmy Stewart squares off against slick state prosecutor George C. Scott using the actual law rather than some made-up nonsense. Unfortunately, the rest of the picture isn’t as good. Many of the out-of-court shenanigans are much more standard lawyers-never-really-do-this silliness. Further, the end was both predictable and inferior to To Kill a Mockingbird, a movie that makes the same point but with greater emotional depth and less cynicism. Even the Duke Ellington soundtrack is a mixed blessing. Musically it’s brilliant stuff, but it’s intrusive in places. Still, the trial scenes make the rest of it worthwhile. Worth seeing

Review – Inherit the Wind

I should start by disclosing the bias I bring to this issue: I don’t think religion should be taught in science classes. That said, however, I thought this was an uncomfortably one-sided fictionalization of the Scopes trial. The pro-creationism forces are portrayed as a pack of country bumpkins led by a fanatical preacher and a silver-tongued, fundamentalist orator. The champions of the pro-Darwin side, on the other hand, are all smart, even-tempered folk from big cities. The “bad guys” are always up to something creepy or self-serving, while the “good guys” are just trying to do their best to see that right prevails. Because I’m naturally distrustful of propaganda, the only character I got a kick out of was the cynical journalist (ably played by Gene Kelly in a rare non-musical role). And that’s a shame, because the rest of the cast – particularly Spencer Tracy as Clarence Darrow’s fictional counterpart – did a solid job with what they were given. Overall the picture’s heart was in the right place. I just didn’t like how it went about telling the story. Mildly amusing

Review – Twilight of Honor

Richard Chamberlain made his move onto the big screen just as Claude Rains was making his way off, their careers briefly intersecting in this mediocre courtroom drama. Chamberlain plays a talented young lawyer who gets appointed by a judge to defend an undefendable client. The poor sap on trial has been accused of killing a popular, respected member of the law enforcement community, and everyone in the world – including the defendant’s wife – is set to testify against him. However, with the help of a wise old attorney (Rains), our hero manages to find the flaws in all the testimony and give his client the best defense possible. Any serious fan of legal shenanigans will find herself swiftly distracted by gaps in procedure and evidence rules big enough to drive a truck through. On the other hand, audiences who aren’t into the whole courtroom drama thing will find nothing else to commend this picture other than one of the most awkward office romances ever committed to film. Overall I suppose I’ve seen worse specimens of the sub-genre, but it generally deserves the obscurity in which it dwells. Mildly amusing

Review - A Few Good Men

On the surface this is an empty-headed military courtroom drama, a picture well suited for the “talents” of Tom Cruise and Demi Moore. It’s packed with the sort of dialogue and plot progression that clearly reveals its origin as a stage play. Further, it’s a stiff exploration of the nature of duty and honor, concepts apparently best understood in terms of platitude-laden barbs tossed back and forth between the characters. But to get more out of the viewing experience, carefully count up the sides. Almost all the protagonists are Navy, and almost all the antagonists are Marines. The result turns into a strange bit of class warfare in which the ruling elite eventually prevails over even a high-ranking member of the “grunts.” Or maybe I’m just reading too much into it, and there’s really nothing more here than Jack Nicholson’s high-ham insistence that Cruise “can’t handle the truth.” Mildly amusing

Review – None Shall Escape

I just happened across this while scanning through the listings for movies that started around the time I turned the TV on. The description said it was about the war crimes trial of a former Nazi official, so I decided to check it out. My curiosity was well rewarded. This isn’t the most brilliant movie ever made about war crimes trials, but it is one of the few (if not in fact the only one) made in 1944, before the war was even over. The script was written by Lester Cole, who would later become one of the Hollywood Ten. Certainly there’s not much subtlety to be found here; the defendant is a bitter, homicidal child molester who has his own brother sent to a concentration camp. The end is never in doubt, but it’s accompanied by a speech by the judge that makes the whole thing (especially considering the title) seem like it’s designed not as much as propaganda for American audiences as a thinly-veiled threat directed straight at the German high command. Despite the ham-handed presentation, however, this is a fascinating little movie from an odd time in Hollywood history. Mildly amusing

Review – Judgment at Nuremberg

Here’s an odd corner of post-World-War-Two victor’s justice: the trial of German judges accused of cooperating with the Nazis’ crimes against humanity. The ensemble cast (including Spencer Tracy as the lead American judge and Burt Lancaster as the lead defendant) does a great job with the theatrical script. Though the production values make it look a little like an old, black and white, made for TV movie, it nonetheless deserves a place among Hollywood’s best courtroom dramas. Worth seeing

Review – Reversal of Fortune

Jeremy Irons and Ron Silver appear to be equally at home in their respective roles as Claus von Bulow and Alan Dershowitz in this dramatic re-creation of the latter’s efforts to get the former’s murder conviction overturned by the Rhode Island Supreme Court. Though the legal shenanigans are bound to entertain those who are entertained by such things, most of the non-lawyer amusement value featured herein is provided by Irons as the enigmatic von Bulow, particularly his deadpan delivery of the German aristocrat telling gallows humor jokes about himself. The moral of the story isn’t anywhere near as compelling or uplifting as the Dersh seems to think it is, but that doesn’t stop this from being a moderately compelling tale. Mildly amusing

Review – Jury Duty

It’s a Pauly Shore movie. Does anything else really need to be said? This time around everyone’s favorite nitwit is a juror who wants to keep an open and shut trial going because the luxury sequestration digs he’s in are better than his ordinary, everyday life. Some of the jokes are Simpson trial specific and seem somewhat dated these many years later. However, even the non-time-specific humor is more than a little on the dumb side, so I guess it doesn’t really matter. Overall if you’ve got a craving – or even a tolerance – for Shore, you’ll probably like this one as well as you like any of his other work. Otherwise seek elsewhere. See if desperate

Review – The Caine Mutiny

Humphrey Bogart’s portrayal of the villainous, unstable Captain Queeg in this tense courtroom drama is one of the greatest performances in Hollywood history. The drama starts extremely slowly, leading off with an insufferable subplot about a fresh-faced Navy officer and his girlfriend woes. Further, unless you’ve got a real fondness for military marches you may find the soundtrack music more than a little annoying. But those who stick with it despite these drawbacks will find perseverance well rewarded. The saga of men struggling to do their duty under a commander who appears to be coming mentally unglued is fascinating. Then when the officers relieve Queeg of his command and are subsequently tried for mutiny, things really get good. Jose Ferrer does a great job as the mutineers’ lawyer; his character is the kind of defense attorney I always hoped I’d be. In the end this movie is a fascinating (if fictional) portrait of conflict, cowardice and craziness under fire. Worth seeing

Review – The People vs. Larry Flynt

Woody Harrelson heads up a celebrity-and-cameo-studded cast (including porn king Flynt himself as the first judge to throw him behind bars for peddling smut) in this drama about the First Amendment battles waged in the name of keeping the world safe for Hustler magazine. The Hollywoodization of Flynt’s life tends to over-glamorize the toad more than a little, and to be honest I think the main point of the movie – that censorship is bad no matter how loathsome the victim might be – is lost when the anti-hero becomes too sympathetic. That notwithstanding, this is an oddly encouraging movie, especially during the scenes featuring Ed Norton as Flynt’s long-suffering lawyer. Even Courtney Love works well in her semi-cross-over role as his junkie wife. Worth seeing

Review – Breaker Morant

There’s moral ambiguity aplenty in this film about the legal repercussions for the horrors of war. The story is a true tale about three Australian officers who were court-martialed by the British Army during the Boer War for illegally executing prisoners. In the end nobody comes off especially well. The Aussies seem like basically honorable men made cruel by circumstance. The English come across as scheming politicians eager to sacrifice the rank and file to achieve their selfish ends. And everyone seems to have little qualm about lying under oath during the trial. You probably need to be in the mood for a military justice movie, but if that mood has in fact struck you then you could probably do a lot worse than this choice. Worth seeing

Review – Paths of Glory

This is one of the finest (if not in fact the absolute best) court-martial movie ever made. Kirk Douglas stars as a French officer in World War One who faces the grim task of defending three of his soldiers against charges of cowardice, an impossible task in light of the high command’s desire to make an example of the men. In addition to the interesting plot, excellent script and fine acting, this film was Stanley Kubrick’s first big break as a director. Even in this early stage in his career, his attention to aesthetic detail serves to make a good movie into a great piece of cinema art. My only gripes are that it occasionally gets a bit too sentimental (especially at the very end), and it seems almost too short to sustain the amount of dramatic content to be found between opening and closing credits. Buy the tape

Review – To Kill a Mockingbird

Classic novel becomes classic movie, telling the tale of a small southern town beset by a Scottsboro-esque racial incident. Gregory Peck heads a cast of then-unknowns, including a really young Robert Duvall as the mysterious Boo Radley. Though the message is sometimes a bit heavy handed and the script occasionally a bit self-indulgent when it comes to literary affectations (such as the awkward incorporation of the title into the plot), in general the limited mawkishness is more than offset by the child’s-eye view of society’s petty prejudices and hatreds. Worth seeing

Review – Legally Blonde

The world of Grisham-esque legal drama meets Clueless in a movie that spends most of its time banking on its own quirkiness. The story’s simple enough: an airhead (Reese Witherspoon) who gets dumped by her snobby boyfriend decides to get even with him by getting into his law school. The fact that he goes to Harvard shouldn’t stretch credulity too much, I guess. As usual with such comedies, this outing’s at its most amusing when it abandons pretense at plot (not to mention subplot after subplot) and sticks with one-liners and sight gags. And sure, even the amusing parts depend fairly heavily on clichés long familiar to most moviegoers. But if you’re looking for a little brain-dead entertainment at the end of a long week you could do a lot worse. Mildly amusing

Review – Rules of Engagement

If you liked A Few Good Men, then like as not you’ll also enjoy this macho military mouthpiece movie. This time around a grizzled old Marine Corps lawyer (Tommy Lee Jones) is defending an old buddy (Samuel L. Jackson) against charges that he ordered his troops to open fire on unarmed civilians. I won’t presume to second-guess the morality of the notion that all Yemenis – even children – are secretly agents of an anti-American jihad, nor should I question the wisdom of shooting non-combatants and prisoners of war. However, even if such issues are set aside this picture still comes up wanting. Even if the characters are morally right, they’re still not all that sympathetic. The sinister government conspiracy to frame Jackson’s character is cartoonish at best. And at the conclusion of the drama far too many loose ends are cleared up via recourse to reassuring text overlays. So overall this is a vaguely entertaining but poorly crafted and morally questionable production. Mildly amusing

Review – Legal Eagles

Robert Redford and Deborah Winger are the big draws in this legal caper flick. They play a slick DA and an earnest defense lawyer, respectively, who get caught up in the unusual case of the daughter of a dead artist suspected of trying to steal one of her late father’s paintings. The plot grows ever more convoluted, eventually drawing arson, insurance fraud and murder into the mix. The romance that develops between the Redford and Winger characters is more than a little on the high school side, but despite that it seems to work. Though this movie is little more than a somewhat clever diversion, it does at least manage to be diverting, especially for a movie full of lawyers. Mildly amusing