*****

Adam's Rib is a funny and farcical look at the legal system, marriage, and the meaning of equality in our society. Katharine Hepburn, a leading feminist before anyone used the term, is ambitious Amanda Bonner, who takes the case of Doris Attinger (Judy Holliday), accused of trying to kill her adulterous husband (Tom Ewell). Spencer Tracy plays the long-suffering Adam Bonner, Assistant District Attorney assigned to the case, to perfection.

Sir Wilfred Robards (Charles Laughton) recovering from a heart attack takes on the defense of Leonard Vole (Tyrone Power) accused of murdering an acquaintance for her money. His wife Christine (Marlene Dietrich) attempts to provide him with an alibi; when Sir Wilfred indicates he does not believe her and will not allow her to testify, she turns up as "the witness for the prosecution." Highlights are the client interview with Vole, Robards' interaction with Christine, the cross examination of the prosecution's star witness, the victim's housekeeper Janet MacKenzie, and with the nurse assigned to care for him (Elsa Lanchester, Laughton's wife). The film is set at the Central Criminal Court (the "Old Bailey")

A terrific movie about a real case, it is based on Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz's account of his successful attempt to reverse the attempted murder conviction of Claus von Bulow. Very few movies are made about appellate courts, and even fewer are good: this one is both. The scenes depicting Dershowitz's trial strategy, interviews with witnesses, and handling of various events in his personal life give us a look into the life of the lawyer handling a high-profile case. The actors, including Jeremy Irons as von Bulow, Ron Silver as Dershowitz and Glenn Close as Sunny von Bulow, are all excellent. The only bizarre note is Close's narration, which since her character is in an irreversible coma, is slightly jarring.

Dealing with the eternal themes of justice and vengeance, it is set in an unnamed South American country recently emerged from a reign of terror. Sigourney Weaver plays a victim of rape and torture under the previous regime, who decides to kidnap a new neighbor she believes is one of the perpetrators, and get a confession out of him. Her husband, played by Gabriel Byrne, is a civil rights lawyer involved with the new government, who is understandably horrified by her actions. Weaver's target is Dr. Roberto Miranda (Ben Kingsley) who strikes just the right note as the man who refuses to admit guilt--we never learn if it's because he's innocent. The film explores the nature of revenge, the usefulness of truth commissions and war crimes trials, and the possibility of justice under any legal system

vividly brought the question of the presumption of innocence before the viewing public. Turow's cautionary tale of an Assistant District Attorney in an imaginary (but typical) Midwestern city reminds us of the difficulty we have in presuming someone innocent once he is accused. Harrison Ford plays unlucky ADA Rusty Sabich, accused of the murder of his lover, Raul Julia (himself a real life lawyer) is terrific as the smart and determined defense attorney with whom Sabich previously thought he had little in common. In some ways Presumed Innocent repeats some of the themes of Reversal of Fortune and Witness for the Prosecution: is the legal system intended to ferret out truth or resolve disputes--or both? Harrison Ford later played another lawyer in Regarding Henry.

This film, set in the pre civil rights era South, tells a story that was all too often true not just in the South but elsewhere in the country--the trial of a black man for a crime that he didn't commit, simply on the basis of his race. The wonderful Brock Peters plays the bewildered but resigned defendant, Robert Duvall, Estelle Evans, Paul Fix and Frank Overton among others, are all terrific as characters caught in a life-changing script they cannot control. Peck's Atticus Finch tries desperately to sort out his duty to his profession and his personal beliefs. Another movie about racism,

based on the Robert Bolt play, dramatizes the life and death of lawyer Sir Thomas More (Paul Scofield), one of Henry VIII's many Lord Chancellors. Eager to rid himself of his wife Catherine of Aragon, who had failed to provide him with a son to inherit his throne, Henry decided to break with the Roman Catholic Church and marry Anne Boleyn. He required his councillors and the citizenry of England to swear allegiance to him (the Act of Supremacy 1534). More found that the Act conflicted with his faith, and ultimately was unable to swear as Henry wished; Henry then condemned him to death. Bolt expertly examines the conflict between duty and conscience in this classic of the cinema.

is the best film ever made about judges and judging. Based on a script by Abby Mann, it uses as raw material the trials of Third Reich judges in 1947 and 1948. Spencer Tracy is Judge Dan Haywood, the thoughtful American faced with condemning men with whom he senses he has a great deal in common. Richard Widmark is the eager and tactless military prosecutor, Maximilian Schell, who won an Academy Award for his portrayal, is the committed advocate Hans Rolfe who attempts to mount a defense for a client (Burt Lancaster) who does not want to defend himself. Many famous folks appear in the film, including Judy Garland as a woman whom one of the defendants had sentenced for violating the notorious Nuremberg Laws, Montgomery Clift as a mentally disabled victim of Nazi sterilization policy, and William Shatner (in his pre-Star Trek period) as a charming American officer charged with looking after Tracy. The film poses important questions about the responsibility of judges who disagree both philosophically and morally with laws they are mandated to enforce. The contrast and the similarities between the judgers and the judged are particularly poignant.

which is based on a real case, Tennessee v. Scopes, and dramatizes the fight over the teaching of evolution in United States public schools. Old pros Spencer Tracy and Frederic March make magic of every word, showing us what good acting is all about. Gene Kelly is sarcastic yet vulnerable as the fictional E. K. Hornbeck, based on the real-life curmudgeon H. L. Mencken. Harry Morgan steals all of the scenes he is in as the resolute but slightly bemused judge in charge of the legal circus that the local businessmen and a Baltimore newspaper have brought to his courtroom.

This movie, based on the fact based novel of the same name by "Robert Traver" (pseudonym of Michigan Supreme Court Justice John Jackson) combines wonderfully written and acted scenes of legal ethics, trial strategy, and courtroom drama with serious questions about the nature of justice and the purpose of the adversarial legal system. Jimmy Stewart is superb as the inventive defense attorney Paul Biegler, trying the biggest case of his career. Eve Arden is priceless as Biegler's ever competent, even-tempered secretary. A young Ben Gazzara projects mystery as the defendant Frederick Manion, accused of killing his wife's attacker in cold blood. In her first starring role, Lee Remick is appropriately alluring and innocent as Mrs. Manion. George C. Scott as the "imported legal talent from Lansing", Arthur O'Connell as Biegler's partner, and Kathryn Grant (Mrs. Bing Crosby) as the bewildered manager of the dead man's bar and hotel are all perfectly cast. Even Joseph N. Welch, the attorney famous for facing down Senator Joseph McCarthy, does a creditable if somewhat wooden job as the judge.