For another lazy Friday post continuing the top 10 movie series, I offer the ten best lawyer movies of all time.
1. To Kill a Mockingbird
2. Anatomy of a Murder
3. The Verdict
4. Witness for the Prosecution
5. Inherit the Wind
6. Philadelphia
7. Amistad
8. A Few Good Men
9. Judgment at Nuremberg
10. The Accused
A few honorable mentions: And Justice for All, Presumed Innocent, and Breaker Morant.
No, I don’t like any of the Grisham novel adaptions I’ve seen. I think I’ve only seen The Firm and Rainmaker.
Addendum: A Passage to India belongs on the list. I don’t know where.
18 comments
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May 29, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Hank Sims
True Believer? Erin Brockovich? Michael Clayton?
May 29, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Eric Kirk
True Believer, the one with James Woods based on Tony Serra? It was entertaining, but I wouldn’t put it in my top 10. Nor Erin Brockovich which was also good but a bit heavy on the preaching. Michael Clayton probably deserves an honorable mention.
May 29, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Tapperass
The Verdict was overlooked when it first came out. I really like that one. Paul Newman was incredible.
May 29, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Anonymous
There was another movie like Breaker Morant, but it took place in France. Kirk Douglas was in it. There were three defendants. Can’t remember the title.
May 29, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Andrew Bird
A Town Without Pity. The venue was Germany. Early ’60s. Also starred Robert Blake. Should be on this list.
May 29, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Michelle
What about Twelve Angry Men? The 1955 movie, not the 1997 remake.
May 29, 2009 at 5:17 pm
Cristina
“The Verdict” was the first movie I ever saw with Paul Newman. I was 12. Great film.
May 29, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Eric Kirk
I thought about that one, but it’s not really in a courtroom, nor are there any lawyers. I’d fit it into the top 10 somewhere otherwise.
May 29, 2009 at 5:22 pm
Eric Kirk
It was a very different character for him, especially if you’d seen Butch Cassidy or The Sting.
May 29, 2009 at 9:20 pm
Shane
The only really good Grisham adaptation is A Time to Kill. It’s much better than the two you’ve seen. Check it out. I think it deserves an honorable mention.
May 29, 2009 at 9:42 pm
milt
Paths of Glory
May 29, 2009 at 9:44 pm
Anonymous
I think JFK should be in there somewhere. The final courtroom scene runs for nearly an hour straight, and Garrison’s closing argument amounts to a 30-minute non-stop soliloquy. It is to the film’s credit that it holds your interest for that entire time, just with him talking.
Oh, and courtroom or not, Twelve Angry Men definitely belongs on the list.
May 30, 2009 at 1:39 am
bob
Do you mean the 50′s(40′s?) drama the Accused, with Bob Cummings and Loretta Young, or the more recent Jodie Foster/Kelly McGinniss rape trial?
Nobody has mentioned NUTS, starring Richard Dreyfus and Barbra Streisand, among a group of other stars, one of my personal faves.
There’s a couple of Hitchcock thrillers I liked–the Wrong Man, and the Paradine Case, starring Gregory Peck. I would also echo Hank’s nomination of True Believer, and maybe even the Rainmaker. I also was spellbound by the portrayal of the Boer War in Breaker Morant.
And to keep 12 Angry Men off the list because it takes place in the jury room, I just dunno. Speaking of trial dramas not quite in courtrooms, serial killer Peter Lorre on trial by a bunch of gangsters in Berlin in the German language film M, and the Oxbow Incident with Henry Fonda are pretty fair imitations of courtroom drama. Then there’s the Caine Mutiny, with a pretty dynamite court martial of Humphrey the B, a Man for All Seasons has the trial of Sir Thomas More, and in a lighter vein, My Cousin Vinny? And wasn’t there a film about the trial of Joan of Arc?
I know that there are other “courtroom” films, including some less reverent lawyer flicks, just past the tip of my tongue, or is that my typing finger? A search of my own video shelves or perhaps the internet would undoubtably bring others to light.
May 30, 2009 at 1:40 am
bob
OOPS, that’s undoubtedly.
May 30, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Anonymous
Unfortunately, if you live in Humboldt County, you’ll have to join Netflix to get most of these movies. I just called Figueiredos in Eureka and they don’t have any of these movies on DVD, save one or two. You might try the library, which has a vastly superior collection of classic movies to Figueiredos, and they’re free.
May 30, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Vince
This top ten list is fantastic. To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic, love it. Going way back to include inherit the wind. I like My Cousin Vinny, thought they had some good courtroom scenes in that one. You can post this to our site http://www.toptentopten.com/ and link back to your site. We are trying to create a directory for top ten lists where people can find your site. The coolest feature is you can let other people vote on the rankings of your list.
June 3, 2009 at 6:16 pm
ThinkingOutLoud2
Inherit The Wind. I saw that in the Willits Theater when I lived in Potter Valley as a youngster. Early to mid 60′s. That movie is one of the most powerful movies I have ever seen.
June 15, 2009 at 10:57 pm
Jack Flack
just a note … your list should include The Young Philadelphians (1959) … the movie stars Paul Newman and its one of the most under-rated films I’ve seen.
Definitely worth watching.