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| James Stewart, Lee Remick, George C. Scott,
Ben Gazzara, Eve Arden |
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Anamorphic
widescreen |
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Dolby Digital
5.1 |
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DTS |
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Trailer(s) |
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Featurette(s) |
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Documentary |
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Audio commentary
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Deleted scenes
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Concept art
/ storyboards |
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Multi-angle
feature |
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The
Court's had about enough of this dogfight it can take for one day. And
I'm sure the jury is equally tired and hungry. Tomorrow the defence
takes over, and with expedition, prayer, and a little self-discipline
on the part of counsel, perhaps we can reach an end by Saturday night.
[To bailiff:] Will you adjourn court?
A
disillusioned lawyer takes on the case of a military officer charged
with murder.
 A
two-and-a-half hour black-and-white courtroom drama from 1959 probably
doesn't sound like a very exciting prospect for most current DVD buyers.
Consisting as it does for the most part of dialogues shot in a handful
of sets, neither the movie's premise nor its casting look likely to
provide any substantial surprises: James Stewart stars as a cynical,
disillusioned lawyer who regains his enthusiasm for life and his old
profession by taking on the case of an army officer accused of murdering
his wife's alleged rapist. This sounds like overly familiar territory,
where it takes quite a while for the guilty to be punished and justice
to prevail.
But Anatomy of a Murder is far more interesting than a first
glance would indicate. James Stewart had just reached the point in his
career where he was playing tougher, edgier roles that relied less on
his sympathetic persona and more on his ability to manipulate. The fact
that he takes on a client here whose motives are questionable at best
makes for one of the more memorable courtroom dramas ever filmed, with
a high-powered supporting cast and blistering courtroom antics. Highly
recommended. |
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Identical
releases are available for Region 1 and Region 2.
The anamorphic widescreen
image is framed at an aspect ratio of approx. 1.85:1. The
transfer itself is very stable, without any noticeable visual
noise or compression flaws, but the source material's quality
is variable at best. Many sequences are very faded and grainy,
and look almost as if they were taken from a 16mm master.
The monaural soundtrack is presented in two-track Dolby Digital in the
front left and right channels, presenting a solid, relatively hiss-free
platform for Duke Ellington's famous jazz score and the wall-to-wall
dialogues that fill the rest of the picture.
'Anatomy
of a Classic' is an eight-minute animated still gallery, presenting
a lively slide show of promotional stills and on-set photography and
accompanied by cues from Duke Ellington's score together with some memorable
snippets of dialogue from the film. The original theatrical trailer
deservers special mention, as it presents the major participants from
cast and crew in a mock trial, where they are made to swear that they
did their utmost to make Anatomy of a Murder the best possible
movie. It's very funny and almost plays like a short featurette with
a 5-minute running time. Succinct cast and crew filmographies
round out this selection of extras. The
static menu screens combine Saul Bass's central design for the poster
and opening credits with still photos from the film.
Dan
Hassler-Forest
Reviewed: 2001
Click
here for IMDB info on Anatomy
of a Murder.
Click here
to return to the front page.
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