Anatomy of a Murder Page #15

Synopsis: Frederick Manion (Ben Gazzara), a lieutenant in the army, is arrested for the murder of a bartender, Barney Quill. He claims, in his defense, that the victim had raped and beaten up his wife Laura (Lee Remick). Although Laura supports her husband's story, the police surgeon can find no evidence that she has been raped. Manion is defended by Paul Biegler (James Stewart), a rather humble small-town lawyer. During the course of interviews, Biegler discovers that Manion is violently possessive and jealous, and also that his wife has a reputation for giving her favors to other men. Biegler realizes that the prosecution will try to make the court believe that Laura was the lover of the bartender and than Manion killed him and beat her up when he discovered them together. Manion pleads "not guilty" and Biegler, who knows that his case is weak, sets his assistants to try to find a witness who will save Manion.
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Director(s): Otto Preminger
Production: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
  Nominated for 7 Oscars. Another 9 wins & 11 nominations.
 
IMDB:
8.1
Rotten Tomatoes:
100%
NOT RATED
Year:
1959
160 min
1,475 Views


right from wrong...

...but it wouldn't have made a difference.

- Is that what you said?

- Approximately.

So, at the time of the shooting,

he could have known the difference?

He might have, yes.

Dr. Smith...

...if the defendant could have known

what he was doing and that it was wrong...

...how can you testify

that he was legally insane?

I'm not saying he was legally insane.

I'm saying that in his condition

it wouldn't have made a difference...

...whether he knew right from wrong.

He would still have shot Quill.

Dr. Smith...

...are you willing to rest your testimony

in this case on this opinion?

Yes, I am.

Your Honour,

I'd like to ask for a short recess.

We would like to meet with Mr. Biegler

and the court in chambers.

- Mr. Biegler?

- Glad to oblige, Your Honour.

Short recess. The jury will remain.

Someday I'm going to horrify tradition

and lay a dense cloud of tobacco smoke...

...in that hallowed courtroom.

What's on your mind, Mr. Dancer?

In view of Dr. Smith's testimony,

the defence might like to change their plea.

- Change it to what?

- Guilty, of course.

No, we'll still go for broke.

No one's considered nuts

unless he didn't know right from wrong.

- Why don't you get this over with?

- Your Honour, would you turn to page 486?

What's that?

Appears to be a law book, Mr. Lodwick.

I'm sorry, Your Honour.

I make those to help me think sometimes.

- For perch?

- No, it's for frogs.

What case is he citing?

We gig frogs

down in my part of the country.

It's the same up here.

I'm a trout man,

but this is a new wrinkle I'm gonna try.

They do it a lot down in the bayou.

The idea is to get a great big long pole

and a 10-pound line.

Just drift along a high bank in a boat.

Then you see that great big old bullfrog

in a crevice, and you float this along...

...in front of him

and that old tongue snaps out.

You got frog's legs for supper.

I'll be darned.

Keep it. Try it sometime.

Thanks. I will.

- What is it, Your Honour?

- People versus Durfee, 1886.

Looks like a precedent.

Would you like to read it, Mr. Dancer?

No, thank you. I think I recall the case.

We're hooked, like the frog.

Dr. Harcourt, where did you receive

your university training?

Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland.

And where do you practise now?

I'm the medical superintendent

of the Bonder State Hospital for the insane.

It's been stated that dissociative reaction

or irresistible impulse...

...is not uncommon

among soldiers in combat.

- Do you agree with that statement?

- I do.

But not as it was put by Dr. Smith.

Where would you depart from Dr. Smith?

Dissociative reaction is not something

that comes out of the blue...

...and disappears as quickly.

It can only occur,

even among soldiers in combat...

...if the individual has a psychoneurotic

condition of long standing.

It has been testified here

that a psychiatric examination...

...of the defendant showed

no evidence of neurosis...

...and no history of dissociative reaction.

You've also heard it testified

that the defendant's behaviour...

...on the night of the shooting

was cool and direct.

- As an observer, do you remember this?

- Yes.

Have you formed an opinion

about the defendant's sanity...

...on the night of the shooting?

Yes. I'm of the opinion...

...that he was in sufficient possession

of his faculties...

...so he was not dominated

by his unconscious mind.

In other words, he was not in the grip

of irresistible impulse.

In my opinion, he was not.

Your witness.

Psychiatry is an effort to probe into

the dark, undiscovered world of the mind.

In there, the world might be round,

it could be square.

Your opinion could be wrong, Dr. Smith's

opinion could be right, is that true?

I'd be a poor doctor

if I didn't agree with that.

But, I believe my opinion to be right.

Might you have changed your opinion...

...if you'd examined the defendant

like Dr. Smith?

I don't believe so.

But Smith's opinion was made

under better circumstances?

If you mean that he was able

to examine the man, yes.

Yes. Thank you, Doctor.

That's all, Dr. Harcourt.

Is there more rebuttal?

We're over a barrel, Mitch.

We have to use him.

We call Duane Miller to the stand.

Will the sheriff bring in the witness?

What can he tell?

Nothing.

He can't tell anything.

Raise your right hand.

Do you swear the testimony you give...

...shall be the truth, the whole truth

and nothing but the truth?

I do.

State your name, please.

Duane Miller. Most folks call me Duke.

Where do you presently reside?

Across the alley, in the jail.

You know the defendant, Lt. Manion?

I got to know him recently.

His cell's next to mine.

When was your last conversation?

Except for "hello" this morning,

it was last night.

Did you discuss his trial last night?

Yeah, some.

Would you tell the court

what Lt. Manion said about the trial?

I said, "Are things looking up, Lieutenant?"

He said, "I got it made, buster."

He said, "I fooled my lawyer,

I fooled that head-shrinker...

"... l'm gonna fool

those corn-cobbers on the jury."

You're a liar!

A lousy stinking liar!

I apologise for my client, Your Honour.

His outburst is almost excusable

since the prosecution has seen fit...

...to put a felon on the stand to testify

against an officer in the U.S. Army.

I don't know who is the worst offender:

Manion or his lawyer.

We're close to the end.

In the name of heaven, let's have peace

and courtesy for these last few hours.

Mr. Dancer, you will continue

your interrogation without comment.

Mr. Biegler, you will not sound off

at every opportunity.

The defendant will remain seated

and keep his mouth shut.

- Now, go ahead.

- Mr. Miller.

Are you certain that Lt. Manion said:

- "I've got it made, buster"?

- That's what he said.

- Did Lt. Manion say anything else?

- Yes, sir.

He said when he got out,

the first thing he'd do...

...was kick that b*tch

from here to kingdom come.

- To whom was he referring?

- To his wife.

Your witness, Mr. Biegler.

- What're you in jail for, Mr. Miller?

- Arson.

I copped out

and I'm waiting for a sentence.

How many other crimes

have you committed?

I was in reform school when I was a kid,

but that's all.

I'd like to see this man's criminal record.

Do you have his record?

Yes, sir.

Here it is.

Your record shows you've been in prison

six times in three different states.

Been in three times for arson,

twice for assault, once for larceny.

It also shows you've done

short stretches in four city jails...

...on charges of indecent exposure,

window-peeping...

...perjury and disorderly conduct.

Is this your true record?

Them things are never right.

How did you get the ear

of the prosecution...

...to tell them about this conversation

you had with Lt. Manion?

- The D.A. Was taking us to his office.

- Taking who?

Us prisoners, in the jail.

All at once, or one at a time?

One at a time.

Him and that other lawyer

took us to his office...

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Wendell Mayes

Wendell Curran Mayes (July 21, 1919 – March 28, 1992) was a Hollywood screenwriter. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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