They returned to the absolute simplicity of Saul Bass’ brilliant original artwork, and made it their own.
Something that I’d never noticed about the billing block before this instant is that, segregated from the professional cast, is the line “and Joseph N. Welch as Judge Weaver.”
Mr. Welch was Special Counsel for the Army during the notorious McCarthy hearings in the early 1950s.
The Hearing were the closest thing that the United States saw to the 17th century witch hunts in two centuries.
During the trials, it was Mr. Welch, who among others, took on McCarthy and Roy Cohn, the subcommittees chief counsel.
One line from the transcripts that rings clear as a bell as it did six decades ago, which is Mr. Welch’s words “Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator. You have done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last. Have you left no sense of decency?”
And this is the man that Otto Preminger chose to play Judge Weaver in Anatomy of a Murder.
As an aside, you’ll be pleased to know that James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Garzzara, George C. Scott, Arthur O’Connell, Eve Arden and Kathryn Grant are also on board.
The score is by one Duke Ellington. He can be researched.
There have been numerous courtroom dramas over the years. The Verdict remains one of my personal favorites. But Mr. Preminger’s Anatomy of a Murder is a special film. I put it on screen last evening to get a good sample of quality and had a difficult time pulling myself away.
You will also.
Criterion’s new Blu-ray is based upon an image harvest from a 35mm fine grain master. The aspect ratio is correct at 1.85, although 1.78 would have done nicely. The audio was re-mastered from the original 35mm DME, and a 5.1 was created for the disc. The original monaural track, is also included as is proper. Both tracks are uncompressed.
The image quality is superb, rendered in gorgeous black & white. Blacks, shadow details are all dead on, as one would expect from a film coming out of Columbia / Sony.
Anatomy of a Murder is one of the great films of the ’50s, and is represented here on a perfect Blu-ray.
We’ll pull out those stars again. I don’t have any stars to post. Possibly someone on the exec team at HTF will come up with something.
To my eye, Criterion’s Anatomy of a Murder properly represents the original film.
Image quality: 5 stars
Audio quality: 5 stars
And a new Blu-ray that comes Highly Recommended.
RAH
Robert has been known in the film industry for his unmatched skill and passion in film preservation. Growing up around photography, his first home theater experience began at age ten with 16mm. Years later he was running 35 and 70mm at home.
His restoration projects have breathed new life into classic films like Lawrence of Arabia, Vertigo, My Fair Lady, Spartacus, and The Godfather series. Beyond his restoration work, he has also shared his expertise through publications, contributing to the academic discourse on film restoration. The Academy Film Archive houses the Robert A. Harris Collection, a testament to his significant contributions to film preservation.
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