With its inbuilt suspense, twists and turns – not to mention its many opportunities for scenery-chewing – the courtroom drama has long been a staple of cinema.
Although plots tend to concentrate on capital cases, there are a fair few where reputational damage, corporate malfeasance, freedom of speech, education, religion, sexuality, race, military justice, politics and discrimination drive the proceedings.
Here are some of my favourites:
Inherit the Wind (1960)
I am more interested in the ‘Rock of Ages’ than I am in the age of rocks.
Frederic March as Creationist Matthew Harrison Brady
Drawing on the real-life 1925 Scopes ‘Monkey’ Trial in the US, Stanley Kramer’s Inherit the Wind pits Creationism against Reason when a teacher is arrested for teaching evolution.
Sparks fly as the frenemies (Fredric March as Matthew Harrison Brady and Spencer Tracy as defence lawyer Henry Drummond) clash in front of a jury composed of Southern fundamentalist Christians and a judge (M*A*S*H’s Harry Morgan) keen to avoid political embarrassment.
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