Anatomy of a murder is an outstanding courtroom drama, starring James Stewart (one time

Oscar winner), Lee Remick (Oscar nominee) and Ben Gazzara (Golden Globe Nominee).
When an army lieutenant is held for the killing of a bartender on the grounds that the man had
viciously assaulted and raped his wife, his defence is irresistible impulse, a version of a
temporary insanity. Paul Biegler is the lawyer hired to defend him. The movie is directed by
Otto Preminger and adapted by Wendell Mayes from the best-selling novel of the same name
written by Michigan Supreme Court Justice John D. Voelker under the pen name Robert
Traver, which was based on a 1952 murder case in which he was the defence attorney. The
movie presents age-old questions of human conflicts and human dilemma with a sensational
casting of leads mentioned above. As far as casting goes, most masterful stroke was the
casting of Joseph Welch as the Judge, who was an experienced and well-known lawyer in
real life. His performance as the judge is unbelievable. Paul represents US Army Lieutenant
Frederick Manion, in the murder case of local Thunder Bay Inn owner Barney Quill whom
Lt. Manion shot five times. Conversation to Lt. Manion's wife Laura, Paul finds out that she
was raped by Barney the night Lt. Manion shot and killed him which give him an opening for
a irresistible impulse (temporary insanity) defence for his client Lt. Manion. It looked at
initially that Paul was going to lose the murder case with all the evidence staked against Lt.
Manion.
The finest parts of the movie "Anatomy of a Murder" are the ones in the courtroom with both
Paul and Asst. D.A Dancer, competently fighting with each other over the facts and evidence
in the case. With the case going against Lt. Manion, Paul was badly trying to prove, that he
wasn't in full control of his mental faculties at the time of the shooting. And also, what looked
like Prosecutor Dancer's ace in the hole was that Mrs. Manion wasn't all that forthcoming
about her husband violent temper and that it was Lt. Manion, not the alleged rapist Barney
Quill, who was responsible for the marks and bruises on her face and body. The trial finally
came down to the lost undergarment that Lara Manion claimed that Quill ripped off her
during his sexual assault. Dancer smells a victory when Paul brought in the waitress Mary
Pilant of the late Barney Quill's Thunder Bay Inn as a surprise witness. Dancer smelling
blood, misidentifying just what her relationship to Barney Quill really was, quickly came in
for the hunt not realizing that he was falling right into a trap that Paul set for him. In the jaw
dropping ending scene, Dancer got the surprise as he was the daughter of Barney Quill,
which made him to slink like the snake in the grass avoiding the embarrassing situation. The
Jury pronounced Lt. Manion to be not guilty. Irresistible impulse as a ground for defence
has been constantly rejected in Indian Courts. But the Courts have been imposing lesser
crime on the criminals (Hazara Singh vs The State of Punjab AIR 1958).