The Best '50s/'60s Courtroom Movies
Many recent polls have been dedicated to a specific decade, but in the case of courtroom dramas, it was so hard to tell whether it was the late '50s or early '60s that best defined the genre that I called for a split decision.
So, your honor, here's a compilation of twenty legal movies or trial films made during an impressively short span of time, from 1956 to 1962, all of them became models of cinematic excellence.
Which of these '50s/'60s courtroom movies is your favorite?
After giving your verdict, you may discuss the list in the users' room
So, your honor, here's a compilation of twenty legal movies or trial films made during an impressively short span of time, from 1956 to 1962, all of them became models of cinematic excellence.
Which of these '50s/'60s courtroom movies is your favorite?
After giving your verdict, you may discuss the list in the users' room
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20 titles
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsHenry FondaLee J. CobbMartin BalsamThe jury in a New York City murder trial is frustrated by a single member whose skeptical caution forces them to more carefully consider the evidence before jumping to a hasty verdict.
- DirectorStanley KramerStarsSpencer TracyBurt LancasterRichard WidmarkIn 1948, an American court in occupied Germany tries four Nazis judged for war crimes.
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsJames StewartLee RemickBen GazzaraAn upstate Michigan lawyer defends a soldier who claims he killed an innkeeper due to temporary insanity after the victim raped his wife. What is the truth, and will he win his case?
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsKirk DouglasRalph MeekerAdolphe MenjouAfter a failed attack on a German position, a general orders three soldiers, chosen at random, court-martialed for cowardice and their commanding officer must defend them.
- DirectorRobert MulliganStarsGregory PeckJohn MegnaFrank OvertonAtticus Finch, a widowed lawyer in Depression-era Alabama, defends a Black man against an undeserved rape charge, and tries to educate his young children against prejudice.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsJames StewartJohn WayneVera MilesA senator returns to a Western town for the funeral of an old friend and tells the story of his origins.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsTyrone PowerMarlene DietrichCharles LaughtonA veteran British barrister must defend his client in a murder trial that has surprise after surprise.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsHenry FondaVera MilesAnthony QuayleIn 1953, an innocent man named Christopher Emanuel "Manny" Balestrero is arrested after being mistaken for an armed robber.
- DirectorStanley KramerStarsSpencer TracyFredric MarchGene KellyBased on a real-life case in 1925; two great lawyers argue the case for, and against, a Tennessee science teacher accused of the crime of teaching Darwin's theory of evolution.
- DirectorVincent ShermanStarsPaul NewmanBarbara RushAlexis SmithA promising lawyer tries to handle his social and professional problems while climbing the ranks in Philadelphia.
- DirectorRichard FleischerStarsOrson WellesDean StockwellDiane VarsiTwo wealthy law-school students go on trial for murder in this version of the Leopold-Loeb case.
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsAnthony PerkinsArnoldo FoàJess HahnAn unassuming office worker is arrested and stands trial, but he is never made aware of his charges.
- DirectorHenri-Georges ClouzotStarsBrigitte BardotPaul MeurisseCharles VanelA liberated small-town girl and the family's black sheep moves to Paris with her sister, only to find herself standing trial for the shocking murder of her young lover. Was his killing premeditated or was this a crime of passion?
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsSusan HaywardSimon OaklandVirginia VincentA prostitute, sentenced to death for murder, pleads her innocence.
- DirectorFritz LangStarsDana AndrewsJoan FontaineSidney BlackmerA novelist aided by his future father-in-law conspires to frame himself for the murder of a burlesque dancer as part of an effort to ban capital punishment.
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsFranchot ToneLew AyresHenry FondaThe polarizing search for a new Secretary of State has far-reaching consequences.
- DirectorAnthony AsquithStarsDirk BogardeOlivia de HavillandPaul MassieA shell-shocked World War II veteran with memory problems is accused of being an impostor by a former comrade.
- DirectorGottfried ReinhardtStarsKirk DouglasBarbara RüttingChristine KaufmannFour American soldiers stationed near a German village face death in the rape of a local girl, and are defended by outside counsel Major Steve Garrett.
- DirectorJack ArnoldStarsJeff ChandlerJeanne CrainJack CarsonAfter top lawyer James Blane gets an acquittal for a man who killed another man for sexually roughing up his trophy wife, the murderous town sheriff frames him for bribing a juror in the case.
- DirectorRobert BressonStarsFlorence DelayJean-Claude FourneauRoger HonoratA Joan of Arc's trial reconstruction concerning her imprisonment, interrogation and final execution at the hands of the English. Filmed in a spare, low-key fashion.