Lawyers We Love in Film

[Birdy]

A couple of movies I saw this week reminded me of lawyers we love in film.

The first and foremost is
Adams Rib, 1949 with Katharine Hepburn and her portrayal of a woman lawyer with wits to match a man.
I think this still holds up today, but must have caused quite a twitter in its day.

The film I would like to write most about is:
The Women in His Life, 1933, starring Otto Kruger as Kent Barringer.

A hardened, drinking womanizing lawyer, Barringer has a few great precode lines such as (when advising a defendant) "You do as I say and you'll do alright. But lay off the ant paste."
She giggles and drapes herself on him, to which he replies,
"That's extra."
Priceless.

He is disbarred and becomes an advisor to criminals then sets out to trap his ex-wife's murderer and save the wrongly accused father of a client.

Yes it has a trite ending but he's a pre-code lawyer who's fun to watch.

By the way, what is ant paste?

Does anyone else have any other lawyers they love?

[mrsl]

.
Naturally, the way I see it, there are two, but I couldn't possibly decide which I like better:

1. Jimmy Stewart - Anatomy of a Murder
2. Gregory Peck - To Kill a Mockingbird.

Those are my favorites but close runners up are Fred March and Spence Tracy - Inherit the Wind.

There are a lot more, but those above are the greatest. There is Paul Newman - The Young Philadelphians, and The Verdict, and Orson Welles - Compulsion. I'll stop so others can contribute. Courtroom dramas fall just about #5 on my favorites list.
.

[rudyfan]

Warren William as Perry Mason.

[klondike]

Charles Laughton in Witness for the Prosecution.

[jdb1]

Adolphe Menjou as the media-hungry shyster in Roxy Hart. He's a hoot and a half.

Sanford Meisner as the DA, and Anthony Franciosa as the defense attorney in The Story on Page One. Very intense.

[JackFavell]

J. Cheever Loophole - Groucho Marx in At the Circus

No, no, I'd rather not. I have an agreement with the houseflies. The flies don't practice law and I don't walk on the ceiling.

Charles Laughton - Witness for the Prosecution

Orson Welles - Compulsion

Spencer Tracy - Inherit the Wind

Don't love him, but he must be mentioned - Claude Rains in They Won't Forget

[Dewey1960]

Don't love him, but he must be mentioned - Claude Rains in They Won't Forget

Wendy, I'm glad you did mention it; this is one seriously under appreciated (largely due to its unavailability on DVD) film that would have a substantially larger fan base if more people were able to see it. It's a powerful film and Rains truly does deliver the goods!

[JackFavell]

I'll say. I think it is my favorite of his performances.

[ChiO]

Birdy asked:

Does anyone else have any other lawyers they love?

You mean other than Mrs. ChiO, right? (Had to write that. One never knows when she might look over my shoulder.)

Joe Pesci - MY COUSIN VINNY
Groucho Marx - interrogation of Chico in DUCK SOUP
Jose Ferrer - THE CAINE MUTINY

Of those previously mentioned: James Stewart in ANATOMY OF A MURDER, Paul Newman in THE VERDICT and Orson Welles in COMPULSION.

[CharlieT]

Al Pacino in ... And Justice For All, John Payne in Miracle on 34th St., Robert Duvall in The Godfather and Henry Fonda in Young Mr. Lincoln. (Of course, my favorite is Peck in Mockingbird.)

[MichiganJ]

John Barrymore in Counsellor at Law
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Gene Hackman in Class Action
Albert Finney in Erin Brockovich
Kirk Douglas in Paths of Glory
Richard Widmark & Spencer Tracy (as the Judge) in Judgement at Nuremberg (Maximillain Schell is good, too. Just don't "love" him.)

[ChiO]

Kirk Douglas in Paths of Glory

But he didn't save Timothy Carey. Oh, the Horror....

[Birdy]

Great list! It's made me think of several movies to rewatch and a couple of new ones to look for.
I'd forgotten about AM in Roxy, he is a hoot.

Chio, Of course I thought of you when I started this on your birthday weekend.

I guess we must mention modern Tom Cruise sweating it out questioning Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men.

[JackFavell]

I guess we must mention modern Tom Cruise sweating it out questioning Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men.

Let's not. I'm sorry but he makes my skin crawl....Tom Cruise I mean.

Paul Newman in that movie, was it Absence of Malice? Cher in Suspect. Have I got the titles right? My brain is not functioning properly right now and everything I write looks wrong....

Charles Coburn. If he didn't play a lawyer, he should have.