Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Anatomy of a Murder (1959) – O. Preminger

One way that the movies competed with TV was to offer content that couldn’t be shown on the small screen.  Preminger’s courtroom drama is a case-in-point.  By dealing with rape and the subsequent revenge murder in detail, the cast is able to use descriptive details and words such as sperm or panties that would be too much for younger (or conservative) viewers at home.  Jimmy Stewart is the “humble country lawyer” who is craftier than he looks and may or may not be allowing sullen Ben Gazzara to use the temporary insanity defense to excuse his shooting of the man who raped his wife, Lee Remick.  Remick plays the flirt well and allows the film to explore the question of victim-blame – although rather than suggest that she brought it on herself, the script implies that there wasn’t a rape at all but rather consensual sex which led Gazzara to fly into a jealous rage.  But was he insane at the time?  George C. Scott plays the slick prosecuting attorney brought up from Lansing (to the Upper Peninsula where the film takes place) to combat Stewart.  What results is a suspenseful drama with a few surprises and some panache (particularly in the context of 1959) from all concerned.  Eve Arden and Arthur O’Connell are solid in supporting roles (on Stewart’s team) but this is Stewart’s show and he doesn’t disappoint (but he doesn’t push himself into darker territory like he would in Vertigo or the westerns he filmed with Anthony Mann). But the ending does make you think.