Anatomy of a Murder

‘Ever since the down-and-out lawyer Paul Biegler (James Stewart) lost his job as district attorney, he has devoted himself mainly to his passions: fishing and jazz music. Life is drifting along as usual when Biegler suddenly stumbles upon an interesting case. Frederick Manion (Ben Gazzara), a lieutenant in the US Army, has shot bar owner Barney Quill because Quill is alleged to have raped his wife Laura (Lee Remick). Biegler becomes Manion’s defence lawyer. (…) The trial becomes a fundamental debate on guilt and atonement.’ (SRF, July 2023)

‘Preminger combines his imagery with Duke Ellington’s precise yet astonishing music, making it another unifying element of the entire film. Even before we see a single frame, the first bars of a film score resound – a score that jazz writer Stanley Crouch counts among Ellington’s greatest achievements. (…) The music – the first ever written by a Black musician for a Hollywood production – drives the film forward, hovers above it, guides the viewer’s gaze and hints at things to come. At times, it even distracts. Its dissonances can be just as unsettling as the dismembered corpse in Saul Bass’s opening credits.’ (John Fidler, Senses of Cinema, March 2013)