This magnificent film belies its length by virtue of its technical perfection, attention to detail, superlative screenplay, unsentimental cinematography, seamless editing, well-drawn characters and exemplary performances. What is fascinating here is the casting of the presiding Judge. There was certainly no shortage of superb character actors in Hollywood at that time who could have played the role but awarding it to former attorney and sometime actor Joseph Nye Welch was Otto Preminger's masterstroke.
It has been said that a jury is there to decide who has the better lawyer but here it is the concept of justice and the letter of the law that are paramount. Although the slick and mephistophelean prosecuting attorney is given the coup de grace by the dramatic device of the surprise witness, the verdict really hinges upon a legal precedent from 1886.
Let us not forget that Preminger was the son of a noted Viennese jurist and despite the Law and Justice being distant cousins they are, in this film at least, on speaking terms.
It has been said that a jury is there to decide who has the better lawyer but here it is the concept of justice and the letter of the law that are paramount. Although the slick and mephistophelean prosecuting attorney is given the coup de grace by the dramatic device of the surprise witness, the verdict really hinges upon a legal precedent from 1886.
Let us not forget that Preminger was the son of a noted Viennese jurist and despite the Law and Justice being distant cousins they are, in this film at least, on speaking terms.