2020-04-01_Total_Film

ANATOMY OF A MURDER 12



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James Stewart plays defence lawyer

Paul Biegler, who takes on a case equal

parts for the money and the kudos.

The client is Lieutenant Manion (Ben

Gazzara), a war vet who has killed the

man who reportedly raped his wife (Lee

Remick). Can Biegler figure out how to

convince the jury to acquit Manion?

In Preminger’s thoughtful, sardonic

hands, the truth scarcely matters.

Instead, the law becomes a game of

persuading the jury a rape has taken

place, yet asking them to excuse murder.

Preminger’s expert use of deep focus

provides plenty of perspective, yet he

seldom cuts to the 12 people who bear

ultimate responsibility for deciding the

case. That’s because we’re the jurors

here – hence the film’s remarkable

respect for moral ambiguity.

Stewart’s Biegler might look and

sound like the bumbling everyman of

the actor’s youth but really he’s a wily

trickster, endlessly looking for an edge

against George C. Scott’s imperious

prosecutor. Solid extras include vintage

Preminger chat (on censorship) plus

featurettes on key collaborators Duke

Ellington (score) and Saul Bass (titles,

iconic poster). Simon Kinnear

G

iven that 12 Angry Men is confined to the jury room, Otto

Preminger’s forensic portrayal of a murder trial is classical

Hollywood’s definitive courtroom drama. Executed over a patient,

methodical – but gripping – 160 minutes, it’s the lawyers’ own

genre choice, widely reported to be taught in legal school.

blazing a trial

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FELLINI DOUBLE U/PG

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arking the centenary of Federico Fellini’s birth, a

first-time-on-Blu release of two digitally restored

gems from the Italian auteur’s early period. The White Sheik,

his solo directing debut, is a cracking comedy about a

mismatched provincial couple on honeymoon in Rome. Even

better is Nights Of Cabiria (the inspiration for Sweet Charity),

playfully scored by Nino Rota, which follows the picaresque

experiences of a mercurial, Chaplinesque prostitute (a superb

Giulietta Masina). Repeatedly deceived, humiliated and

nearly killed, she retains a poignant optimism. Tom Dawson

MAGIC 15

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Make-uptest

U

ndoubtedly the classiest ‘creepy

ventriloquist doll’ film around,

this pulp thriller has A-list credentials.

Directed by Richard Attenborough from

William Goldman’s script and novel, it

sees mild-mannered magician Corky

(Anthony Hopkins) led astray by

foul-mouthed alter-ego Fats. The

blood-splattered plot is as playful and

macabre as you’d expect, but it’s also a

thoughtful study of repressed rage and

incipient insanity – with Hopkins’ dual

role cleverly bridging the gap between

lurid and lucid. Extras include a lesson

in ventriloquism history. Simon Kinnear

THE SON OF

THE SHEIK U

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he Gemini Man of its day, this

sequel to 1921’s silent smash The

Sheik (“A strange, offensive work... the

Fifty Shades Of Grey of the Jazz Age,”

says video essayist David Cairns) finds

Rudolph Valentino doing double duty as

both the titular character and his

father. As a snapshot of Valentino’s

‘Latin lover’ exoticism and star power,

it’s a fascinating experience, but the

film’s problematic handling of race and

consent make it difficult to enjoy.

Modest extras, but you do get an intro

from Orson Welles. Anton van Beek

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