--- title: "Anatomy of a Murder" year: 1959 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/anatomy-of-a-murder" fi1m_score: 87 critics_score: 82 critics_reviews: 13 published: "2026-09-20T03:31:23.835351+00:00" updated: "2026-09-20T03:31:36.942925+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Anatomy of a Murder (1959) Directed by Otto Preminger · 2h 41m · MPA NR · Crime, Drama, Mystery **Fi1m score: 87** · Critics 82 from 13 reviews *In a sentence:* Everyone agrees who fired the gun; the next two and a half hours are about what to call it > Preminger’s trial film is nearly as good as its reputation: a defence built in the open, a prosecutor worth the trouble, and James Stewart as a lawyer who knows how useful it is to look harmless. It is long, and unkind to its one woman. ## Synopsis Paul Biegler (James Stewart), a lawyer in a small town in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, has lost his job as district attorney and spends his days fishing and his nights at the piano. His secretary Maida Rutledge (Eve Arden) and his friend Parnell Emmett McCarthy (Arthur O’Connell), a lawyer who drinks, keep the office open. Then Laura Manion (Lee Remick) asks him to defend her husband, Lt. Frederick Manion (Ben Gazzara), an army officer in the county jail for shooting a bar owner dead. Manion does not deny it. He says the man raped and beat his wife. Biegler takes the case, visits the jail, and sets about finding a defence the law will accept, while the prosecution brings in Claude Dancer (George C. Scott) from the state capital to face him. ## Review Otto Preminger opens with a man coming home from a fishing trip. Paul Biegler (James Stewart) has lost his job as district attorney of a small town in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and does not seem to mind, since it leaves more time for trout and jazz records. The case that interrupts him is brought by Laura Manion (Lee Remick), whose husband, Lt. Frederick Manion (Ben Gazzara), is in the county jail for shooting a bar owner dead. Manion admits it. He says the man raped his wife. Nobody disputes the shooting, and the 161 minutes that follow are about what the law should call it. The scene that sets the tone comes early, in the jail. Biegler cannot tell his client to lie, so he explains which defences exist and which of them work, and then goes quiet and waits for Manion to remember how he felt. Wendell Mayes wrote it, from John D. Voelker’s novel, and Stewart plays it with his hat in his hands and his eyes on the floor. We laughed at it, and then we felt uneasy about laughing, because we had just watched a decent man coach a killer and enjoyed his company while he did it. Stewart never lets you settle that. He plays the yokel for the jury, all shuffles and apologies, and then asks a question that lands like a slap. Preminger and his cameraman Sam Leavitt shoot the whole thing in black and white with the camera held back. Scenes run long and wide, four or five people in the frame at once, and when someone crosses a room the camera goes with them rather than cutting. Louis R. Loeffler edits so little that you notice when he does. Boris Leven’s courtroom is plain wood and tall windows. Vou Lee Giokaris, Paula Giokaris and Hope Bryce do their best costume work on Laura: she arrives in a tight sweater and slacks, and Biegler puts her in court in a shapeless suit, spectacles and a hat, so that the jury will see a wife rather than a woman. The film knows what that costume is for, and so does she. Duke Ellington’s score is brass and piano and it is kept almost entirely out of the courtroom. It plays over Biegler at home, over the road into town, over a jazz bar, and its absence in court means the trial is scored by voices and chairs. An unusual choice for the period, and the right one. George C. Scott, as the prosecutor Claude Dancer, is the reason the trial is a contest. He is tight, quick and contemptuous, and he stands between the witness and the jury when he does not want them to see her face. Gazzara plays Manion as a man who despises everyone helping him, and Preminger lets him stay unlikeable to the end. Arthur O’Connell and Eve Arden give Biegler an office that feels lived in, and Arden gets the driest lines in the film. What the film is not good at is Laura. The script is frank about rape in a way that must have startled in 1959; the trial turns for a while on the word “panties”, and the judge has to tell the courtroom to stop giggling. But the film’s own camera looks at Remick the way the bar did, and the question the trial asks about her, over and over, is what she was wearing and how she behaved. Remick plays her as bored, frightened and pleased to be looked at all at once, which is more than the writing gives her. There is a stretch in the middle of the trial where the procedure is thorough rather than interesting. We checked the time once. Only once. Most critics rank this with the best trial films made, and we would not argue with them. It refuses to tell us whether Manion is guilty of anything a jury would recognise, and it refuses to tell us whether Biegler is a good man. The 15 certificate is for the subject rather than anything shown. Watch it on an evening when you have the patience for a film that lets its lawyers finish their sentences. *Fi1m score 87, published 20 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics rate this highly, and the reviews agree on why. James Stewart’s small-town defence lawyer draws the most praise, with several reviews calling it one of his best performances, and George C. Scott’s prosecutor and Ben Gazzara’s defendant also singled out. Preminger’s method is admired almost as often: the patient courtroom procedure, the refusal to tell the audience what to think, and a willingness to leave motives unsettled. Duke Ellington’s jazz score is mentioned approvingly by nearly everyone who mentions the music at all. The reservations are few and mild. The one mixed notice, from The New Yorker in 1959, finds the early stretch slow and treats the whole as a diverting romp rather than anything weightier. The Playlist admires the film but admits some discomfort with its sexual politics, a point the newer reviews raise more than the older ones. The Guardian and Slant are warm without being rapturous. Beyond that the spread is narrow; reviews written sixty years apart land in much the same place. ### Reviews we read (13) - **Radio Times**, Adrian Turner (5/5): This is probably the greatest courtroom drama ever made and features James Stewart's finest screen performance. The courtroom duels are mesmerising, revealing an America leaving its traditional moral values behind, with a notable Duke Ellington score. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-kyaehm/anatomy-of-a-murder/) - **The AV Club**, Scott Tobias (A): The review commends the film’s commitment to candor in a trial involving rape and murder, its authentic location shooting and procedure, and how it respects the audience by letting facts emerge without easy resolutions. It singles out the cast (especially Stewart) and the value placed on truth over censorship. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/anatomy-of-a-murder-1798171960) - **Empire**, Kim Newman (90/100, inferred): The film remains a trenchant, bitter, tough and witty dissection of the US legal system. It is simply the best trial movie ever made, showing that lawyers have to be not only actors but stars, performing for their 12-man audience. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/anatomy-murder-review/) - **The New York Times**, Bosley Crowther (90/100, inferred): The critic calls it the best courtroom melodrama seen, a potent character study with strong suspense and drama in the trial details. It brilliantly reveals the defense lawyer played by James Stewart in one of his finest performances. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1959/07/03/archives/screen-a-court-classic.html) - **The Times**, Ian Johns (90/100, inferred): The reissued film is hailed as Preminger's greatest courtroom epic for its ambiguity, real-life judge casting, and exposure of the legal system's cynicism, with strong performances from Stewart, Gazzara and Scott standing out. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/world/us-world/article/in-the-court-of-mass-appeal-9j07hblrf8t) - **Time Out**, JWin (80/100, inferred): The film cloaks itself in smartly tailored ambiguity and irresolution, remaining coolly absorbing and nonchalantly cynical. Preminger refuses standard thriller payoffs while highlighting the score by Duke Ellington and strong performances from Stewart, Remick and Scott. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/anatomy-of-a-murder) - **Slant Magazine**, Jaime N. Christley (70/100, inferred): The critic praises the film’s patient, meticulous courtroom procedure and Preminger’s objective style, which presents multiple viewpoints without pushing conclusions or emotional dominance. It highlights the strong cast performances, Duke Ellington score, and the film’s era-specific pleasures alongside its timeless psychological depth. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/anatomy-of-a-murder/) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (70/100, inferred): The critic finds Preminger's austere 1959 courtroom drama still disquieting on re-release, praising James Stewart's barnstorming turn as the shrewd small-town lawyer who coaches his client on a temporary insanity plea amid moral ambiguities around the rape-murder case. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2005/apr/15/5) - **Variety**, Variety Staff (70/100, inferred): Preminger creates situations that flicker with uncertainty and sustain interest through mixed and dubious motives. The film balances the fascinating nastiness of the younger players with the warmth and intelligence of Stewart and O'Connell. [Read](https://variety.com/1958/film/reviews/anatomy-of-a-murder-1200419421/) - **The New Yorker**, John McCarten (50/100, inferred): The film is a long-drawn-out variation on a whodunit that perks up once the lawyer engages with the client, offering a reasonably diverting courtroom romp with an engaging James Stewart performance. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1959/07/11/time-preminger-time) - **The Playlist**, The Playlist Staff (A): Praises it as Preminger's most beloved film, a detailed legal thriller that holds up, with excellent performances especially from Stewart and Scott, balanced by the jazz score and humor, despite some unease with the sexual politics. [Read](https://theplaylist.net/the-films-of-otto-preminger-a-retrospective-20110714/4/) - **Collider**, Kelcie Mattson (85/100, inferred): The critic hails the film as a groundbreaking and critically acclaimed legal drama that deserves more attention alongside other Preminger and Stewart classics. Stewart's layered, subversive performance as the clever, morally ambiguous defense attorney is singled out for particular praise as the film's standout element. [Read](https://collider.com/jimmy-stewart-anatomy-of-a-murder/) - **/Film**, Ben Pearson (85/100, inferred): The critic praises it as an excellent courtroom mystery, highlighting Jimmy Stewart's powerful performance and the jazzy score by Duke Ellington. They note it's straightforward but satisfying to watch top performers. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/574096/the-quarantine-stream-anatomy-of-a-murder-is-an-excellent-jimmy-stewart-courtroom-mystery/) ## Details - **Director:** Otto Preminger - **Director:** Otto Preminger - **Screenplay:** Wendell Mayes - **Novel:** John D. Voelker - **Cinematography:** Sam Leavitt - **Editor:** Louis R. Loeffler - **Music:** Duke Ellington - **Production design:** Boris Leven - **Costume design:** Hope Bryce, Vou Lee Giokaris, Paula Giokaris - **Producer:** Otto Preminger - **Cast:** James Stewart as Paul Biegler; Lee Remick as Laura Manion; Ben Gazzara as Lt. Frederick Manion; Arthur O'Connell as Parnell Emmett McCarthy; Eve Arden as Maida Rutledge; Kathryn Crosby as Mary Pilant; George C. Scott as Claude Dancer; Orson Bean as Dr. Matthew Smith - **Runtime:** 2h 41m - **Certificate (MPA):** NR - **Release (the US):** 2 July 1959 - **Genres:** Crime, Drama, Mystery - **Budget:** $2 million - **Box office:** $8 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwX8NiXv9Hw ## Where to watch in the US - Amazon Prime Video: streaming, uhd - The Roku Channel: free, hd, leaving 2026-10-01 - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, uhd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $12.99, uhd *Checked 2026-09-20.* Also available in: AR, AT, BE, BG, BR, CA, CL, CO, DE, EC, ES, FI, FR, GB, IE, IT, LT, MX, NL, PA, PE, PL, PT, RS, SE, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Academy Awards 1960: Best Actor (nominated); Best Cinematography, Black-and-White (nominated); Best Film Editing (nominated); Best Picture (nominated); Best Supporting Actor (nominated); Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay (nominated) ## If you liked this - *12 Angry Men* (1957), Fi1m 91: One room, twelve men and a verdict argued out in real time. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/12-angry-men.md) - *The Verdict* (1982), Fi1m 84: Paul Newman as a drunk lawyer who finds one case worth being sober for. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-verdict.md) - *A Separation* (2011), Fi1m 93: An Iranian divorce that turns into a trial where nobody is quite lying. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/a-separation.md) - *Saint Omer* (2022): A French courtroom film that refuses to explain the woman in the dock. - *Advise & Consent* (1962): Preminger applies the same wide frames and patience to Washington politics. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/anatomy-of-a-murder