back

The Verdict

The Verdict - Die Wahrheit und nichts als die Wahrheit
Homage 2019
Source: Deutsche Kinemathek, © Photographs 1982 Twentieth Century Fox. All Rights Reserved.
Frank Galvin is a down on his luck Boston lawyer who has taken to drinking heavily. A friend takes pity on him and sends him the case of a woman who fell into a coma while giving birth. To cover up possible medical malpractice on the part of the Catholic hospital, the bishop authorises a settlement offer to the family. But Galvin wants greater justice and takes the case against the doctors and the Archdiocese to trial. Opposing him in the courtroom is star defence attorney Ed Concannon, who sets about making sure that Galvin’s main witness disappears. Meanwhile, Galvin gets unexpected moral support when he meets an attractive woman in a bar … “My God, you are such a beautiful woman”, Paul Newman says to Charlotte Rampling over their first drink. Even in the film version of Raymond Chandler’s Farewell, My Lovely (1975), Rampling played a role that might have gone to Lauren Bacall in the Humphrey Bogart era. Here, in Sidney Lumet’s courtroom drama, she embodies the type to perfection. A mysterious beauty, who is at once cool and aloof, while at the same time using her bedroom eyes in a way that leaves a man at her mercy.
by Sidney Lumet
with Paul Newman, Charlotte Rampling, Jack Warden, James Mason, Milo O’Shea, Lindsay Crouse, Edward Binns USA 1982 English 129’ Colour Rating R6

With

  • Paul Newman
  • Charlotte Rampling
  • Jack Warden
  • James Mason
  • Milo O’Shea
  • Lindsay Crouse
  • Edward Binns

Crew

Director Sidney Lumet
Screenplay David Mamet based on the novel “The Verdict” by Barry Reed
Cinematography Andrzej Bartkowiak
Production Design Edward Pisoni
Art Director John Kasarda
Costumes Anna Hill Johnstone
Editing Peter Frank
Sound James Sabat
Music Johnny Mandel
Producers Richard D. Zanuck, D. Zanuck