Anatomy of a Murder

Alphabetical Listing of Movie Reviews

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z


  • Anatomy of a Murder -- Overlong courtroom drama in which a small-town lawyer (James Stewart) undertakes the defense of an Army officer (Ben Gazarra) charged with murdering the man who raped his wife (Lee Remick). Directed by Otto Preminger, the case is less interesting than Stewart's genial, intelligent performance, backed by a fine cast including Joseph N. Welch, the lawyer who gained fame in the 1954 Army-McCarthy hearings and is convincing here as the trial judge. Controversial at the time for its courtroom descriptions of the rape, it is relatively mild today. (A-III) (br) (1959)




    These movies have been evaluated for artistic merit and moral suitability by the media reviewing division of Catholic News Service. The reviews include the CNS rating, the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief synopsis of the movie.

    The classifications are as follows:

    A-I -- general patronage;
    A-II -- adults and adolescents;
    A-III -- adults;
    L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
    O -- morally offensive.

    Note: Some movies previously were designated A-IV. Older films with this classification should be regarded as classified L.

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