9 Classic Films That Are Still Relevant Today

Anatomy of a Murder

As courtroom dramas go, there are few better than Otto Preminger’s multi-faceted 1959 film Anatomy of a Murder. The film also holds true even today, as its debates on sex, rape, and violence continue to resonate across the years.

Jimmy Stewart is lawyer Paul Biegler, hired to defend accused murderer Lt. Frederick Manion (Ben Gazzara), a soldier who murdered a bar owner whom he claims raped Manion’s wife Laura (Lee Remick). While Manion’s guilt is indisputable, his responsibility for the death is drawn into question: did he act out of temporary insanity over the assault on his wife, or was this a deliberate and cold-blooded act? As Biegler follows the twists and turns of the case, he uncovers more information about the Manions and the murdered man, and reveals the underlying prejudices and structural beliefs of American society.

Anatomy of a Murder makes explicit reference to rape and murder, unprecedented in 1959 and still somewhat shocking today. But the culpability of everyone involved becomes murkier as the film proceeds, finally culminating in brilliant courtroom sequences that take up the latter half. The case includes implications of whether Laura Manion “wanted it,” issues of what constitutes rape, and what can be put down to temporary insanity, all intertwining in a confusing and somewhat shocking denouement. There are no easy answers here, but Anatomy of a Murder remains shockingly topical in our contemporary world. Not much has changed since the 1950s.