What's the Best Courtroom Movie Ever?

• Anatomy of a Murder - I liked James Stewart's role evolution as he got older. He was a little less boy scoutish and naive. I love his courtroom demeanor and it's a very intense movie. Duke Ellington soundtrack and a really great ending as well. It may not be the best of all time, probably 12 angry men or to kill a mockingbird (maybe the verdict), but it's definitely my favorite. 

• Filmhawk...I mentioned 'Inherit The Wind'in my comment on November 22nd.

• Well, even though it's not "the best" I'm surprised that no one has even mentioned INHERIT THE WND -- if only for the performances of Tracy and March. (I'm old enough to have seen Paul Muni and Melvyn Douglas do it on stage -- and that was stunning.) Choosing the best of anything, when you get to the creme de la creme (which a lot of the titles mentioned here are), is ultimately trying to compare the incomparable. It boils down to what is your favorite -- and it's always a subjective call as to what got you in the gut. For me, I think it will always be TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD.

• The Rural Juror.

• God Bless you, Jonster! Besides, Burgess Meredith deserved killing. He called Lana a slut!

• I love Michael Clayton but there was not even a courtroom to speak of in that movie. Plus it was a master class in acting from Tilda Swinton and Tom Wilkinson (to a lesser degree Dennis O'Hare in his brief appearance) with George Clooney trying to keep up. 12 Angry Men for its simplicity (check out its recent Russian remake The 12 that is really great), Anatomy of A Murder for being in many ways ahead of its time, and To Kill A Mockingbird for Gregory Peck. I really liked the Senate hearing in The Godfather Part II. Not a court room but there was so many things in that movie that stood on its own.

• Judge: Are you showing contempt for this court? Mae West: I'm doing my best to hide it.

• These are all great. However, I'm voting for some great trial SCENES: I'm No Angel/Mae West ("Ooh, I like that tie.") Leave Her to Heaven/Gene Tierney, Vincent Price Miracle On 34th Street/John Payne, Edmund Gwenn Young Abe Lincoln/Henry Fonda

• Very difficult to decide between: Judgement at Nuremburg Witness For the Prosecution Twelve Angry Men OR To Kill a Mockingbird. I have always loved Witness For the Prosecution; it's the one I've watched dozens of times and I've never grown tired of it. On the other hand, Twelve Angry Men is one of the most perfect films ever made. Then again, Juegement at Nuremberg has SO many great performances. Then again, I recently saw a stage production of To Kill a Mockingbird, and was struck, as always, at its powerful statements. OK -- the winner is: The Judgement of Twelve Angery Men on the Prosecution of a Mockingbird!

• Well, it wasn't the whole movie, but more like a scene in a movie -- Madame X, with Dullea representing a homeless woman who turns out to be his mother. This was during Lana's "biographical" stage, where her movie roles seemed to play off her scandalous life. This one, however, featured a plot that seemed to play off the 1950s Ann Woodward story (basis for The Two Mrs. Grenvilles). Lana really chews the scnery on this one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHNjmiTJ4pE

• For me, a tie between To Kill a Mockingbird and Twelve Angry Men. I love Michael Clayton but don't consider it a "coutroom drama." For camp, nothing beats Madonna and Willem Dafoe in Body of Evidence. Highly recommended fun viewing (when it's not boring). Plenty of laughs throughout, beginning with Madonna's detached, deadpan performance.

• Not a "courtroom" movie, per se, but the courtroom scene in that final quarter of 'Leave Her To Heaven' is marvellous. Gene Tierney, who has poisoned herself, blackmails both her adopted sister, Jeanne Crain and her estranged husband, Cornel Wilde by sending a damning letter (accusing the two of them of murder) to her former fiance, Vincent Price, the prosecutor. Great fun. I also like 'Inherit The Wind' with a great cast of Spencer Tracy, Fredric March and Gene Kelly, amongst others.

• The Rural Juror starring Jenna Maroney.

• A Place In the Sun Monty didn't kill that bitch Shelley Winters no matter what Raymond Burr said in the courtroom reenactment!

• Felame Slaves Revenge

• Michael Clayton...Tilda Swinton's meltdown was scary and fascinating.

• My Cousin Vinny

• NUTS is the worst one, maybe the worst movie ever made (I mean, who would pay Babs $1000 a night for anything?) ANATOMY OF A MURDER is probably the most intriguing, what with Joseph Welch on the bench, but I'd have to vote for THE VERDICT for sheer rousing surprises.

• Twelve Angry Men, hands down. (To Kill a Mockingbird is also amazing.)

• TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD!!

• Michael Clayton and A Few Good Men are basically glossy junk that conned awards committees. I'll go with The Verdict, a real work of art which brings a lot of crusty character to the old courtroom formula.

• Twelve Angry Men because it zeroes in on those 12 guys and their sweating and thinking and re-thinking. It's still powerful after all these years.

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