A long and talky film which nevertheless is fascinating - partly because of the acting - like a little battle between the old school (James Stewart, Arthur O'Connell and Eve Arden) and the 'Methods' Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, George C Scott (fantastic) and Murray Hamilton.
Great Duke Ellington score, Sam Leavitt photography ( I guess the film was in 1.66:1 as the very top and bottom of the frame seems sometimes missing in 1.78:1 version), Saul Bass credits and Wendell Mayes' ambivalent screenplay - who did what exactly?
I particularly liked the way Scott blocks Stewart from a view of the witness - you can see him popping up from behind - and the great real life lawyer Joseph Welch, who famously stood up to the McCarthy witch hunts; his only film; died the year after. Also that the film is shot on location and uses real people rather than extras.
Preminger prefers to move the camera in and out than cut.
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