Anatomy of a Murder (AM) features 'old-time' acting names I recognize immediately - George C. Scott, as slick big-city lawyer Claude Dancer, and James (Jimmy) Stewart, as down-home friendly country lawyer Paul Biegler.
This is my 2nd straight review of a film from pre-1960. Once again, I am left entertained and thoroughly impressed. AM did not need special effects or tasteless crude humor (there is some "crude" humor at times in AM, but nothing compared to modern films) - many of the eye-catching things modern movies so heavily rely on to cover up sub-par acting, poor writing, or sloppy plotlines - in order to hold my attention for 2 hours and 40 minutes. I never found myself bored or looking at my watch. Now, on to the review.
You've seen similar plots before - a slick lawyer painted as the bad guy with the equally-slick-but-in-a-nice-way good-guy lawyer duking it out back-and-forth in a court room regarding a case with twists and turns leaving the verdict up in the air until the end. See: Runaway Jury and to a lesser extent Erin Brockovich. I submit that AM is likely the first to do so, definitely at such a high level.
What defense can be offered to murder? Certainly self-defense is a righteous reason. It might also be an accident, or lacking just cause and straight up criminal murder another. There is only one other - plead insanity. The temporary insanity murder defense gets cast in a light that leaves doubt both ways.
I could not help but notice the similarity between the defendant (an army Lieutenant) and what is a commonly held stereotype of soldiers in today's world: rule-bending, jealous, angry at the drop of a hat, overly-protective of their lady in harmless situations, and somewhat hypocritical when it comes to actions and when certain actions are right and just.
Finally, I have to admit (perhaps showing my lack of 'older' movie knowledge and experience? perhaps not) that the issues confronted and dialogue in AM at times caught me off-guard. The words 'slut' and 'bitch' are used (albeit only once each to my count) similar to the way modern movies do, but here it was natural conversation. I am also quit sure that I will never hear the words 'panties' or 'sperm' spoken more in one sitting than during AM. The topics of murder, insanity pleas, and rape are necessarily involved in most every bit of the plot. However, none of these words or topics are used flippantly or out of context of reality.
I highly recommend watching Anatomy of a Murder the next time you find yourself in the mood for a quality movie in black-and-white.
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