A virtuoso JAMES STEWART (Vertigo) plays a small-town Michigan lawyer who takes on a difficult case: that of a young Army lieutenant (The Killing of a Chinese Bookie’s BEN GAZZARA) accused of murdering the local tavern owner who he believes raped his wife (Days of Wine and Roses’ LEE REMICK). This gripping, envelope-pushing courtroom potboiler, the most popular film from Hollywood provocateur OTTO PREMINGER(Laura), was groundbreaking for the frankness of its discussion of sex—more than anything else, it is a striking depiction of the power of words. With its outstanding supporting cast— including a young GEORGE C. SCOTT (Patton) as a fiery prosecuting attorney and legendary real-life attorney JOSEPH N. WELCH as the judge—and influential jazz score by DUKE ELLINGTON, Anatomy of a Murder is a Hollywood landmark; it was nominated for seven Oscars, including best picture.
UNITED STATES | 1959 | 161 MINUTES | BLACK AND WHITE | 1.85:1 | ENGLISH
SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
- New alternate 5.1 soundtrack, presented in DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray edition
- New interview with Otto Preminger biographer Foster Hirsch
- Critic Gary Giddins explores Duke Ellington’s score in a new interview
- A look at the relationship between graphic designer Saul Bass and Preminger with Bass biographer Pat Kirkham
- Newsreel footage from the set
- Excerpts from a 1967 episode of Firing Line, featuring Preminger in discussion with William F. Buckley Jr.
- Excerpts from the work Anatomy of “Anatomy”: The Making of a Movie
- Behind-the-scenes photographs by Life magazine’s Gjon Mili
- Trailer, featuring on-set footage
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Nick Pinkerton and a 1959 Lifemagazine article on real-life lawyer Joseph N. Welch, who plays the judge in the film