View Full Version : Trial (1955): the hownos/Allaby viewing session
Tonight at 7:15 pm Eastern
I've seen 7 films by this director.
plenty of familiar faces - glenn ford, dorothy maguire, arthur kennedy character actors whit bissell, paul hoyt, elisha cook and more
heavy on the music
I noticed that too, but I kind of like the music.
Character actor Robert Middleton always played the fat guy. His name in this movie is Fats Sanders.
Character actor Robert Middleton always played the fay guy. His name in this movie is Fats Sanders.
I’ve seen 7 of his films.
Whit Bissell as the father
Captain Quint
03-15-25, 08:35 PM
This is on my Oscar nom watchlist because Arthur Kennedy was nominated in support.
Jack Lemmon won for Mister Robert that year, the other nominees were Joe Mantell in Marty, Sal Mineo in Rebel Without a Cause, and Arthur O'Connell in Picnic
My personal pick was Trevor Howard in Les amants du Tage
This is on my Oscar nom watchlist because Arthur Kennedy was nominated in support.
Jack Lemmon won for Mister Robert that year, the other nominees were Joe Mantell in Marty, Sal Mineo in Rebel Without a Cause, and Arthur O'Connell in Picnic
My personal pick was Trevor Howard in Les amants du Tage
He won the Golden Globe for this performance.
the couple are the same age, definitely not film noir.
who's the actor playing the judge?>
that's juano hernandez from intruder in the dust
Captain Quint
03-15-25, 08:52 PM
who's the actor playing the judge?>
Juano Hernández
Captain Quint
03-15-25, 08:54 PM
3-time Oscar winner Robert Surtees shot the film.
who's the actor playing the judge?>
that's juano hernandez from intruder in the dust
He was also in Kiss Me Deadly and Young Man With a Horn.
Interesting to see a black judge in a 1955 film.
Question: how was the girl killed????
Dorothy Maguire was nominated for an Oscar for Gentlemen’s Agreement in 1947.
Interesting to see a black judge in a 1955 film.
big on the messaging.
Captain Quint
03-15-25, 09:02 PM
Question: how was the girl killed????
Not sure they revealed it yet. But wiki says that
heart has been weakened by rheumatic fever
Question: how was the girl killed????
I believe it was a rheumatic fever.
I believe it was a rheumatic fever.
that's not murder
that's not murder
No but presumably people blamed the Mexican boy because he is Mexican, although I would think if it was an illness they would be able to determine that.
Those dirty communists and their money!
kathy juardo got a best actress nomination for broken lance and a golden globe win for high noon
Captain Quint
03-15-25, 09:09 PM
No but presumably people blamed the Mexican boy because he is Mexican, although I would think if it was an illness they would be able to determine that.
They said something about his attempts at seduction is what killed her (got her heart excited?)
nice fbi reference, the joke back then was: if three commies were having a meeting, two of them were fbi informants.
Captain Quint
03-15-25, 09:16 PM
So, it's shifting over to a red scare flick? Who knew the communists are the reason we're racists?
Dorothy Maguire was nominated for an Oscar for Gentlemen’s Agreement in 1947.
she was great in a tree grows in brooklyn
frank cady from green acres fame.
The judge allows a lot of yelling in the courtroom. I question how realistic this is.
Captain Quint
03-15-25, 09:50 PM
Barney was total scum, grrrr. Nice performance though.
The mothers deluded. grrrr
Movies a button pusher, really manipulative - communists, grrr
It seems like a flimsy argument to convict the boy with.
I doubt they would allow applause in court.
Captain Quint
03-15-25, 10:03 PM
yeah, that was weird.
This was an odd one. It's a strange blend of anti-racism, anti-communism and a courtroom drama. The communist subplot didn't really fit in with the movie and it would have been better if they left it out. It was underdeveloped and too far fetched. Some of the courtroom sequences weren't very believable either and the defence strategy, verdict and sentence don't really work. There were some holes in the plot and some of the writing was questionable. There were some good dramatic moments though. There is a good movie somewhere in here, if it had been better developed and not weighed down by the communist parts. I'll give it a 6/10 for the effective moments.
Captain Quint
03-15-25, 10:12 PM
Well, that's another one I get to mark off the watchlist. Not a bad legal drama, but a real product of the McCarthyism era. Did have some progressive moments (having a black judge) but also seemed to be trying to deflect from the topic of racism within this country, by throwing in the communist angle.
3
My take
A bit of sloppy mess. Not sure what the message or messages were suppose to be. Starts out as a race and potential lynching movie (like Intruder In The Dust) and then transitions to a virulent anti-Communism movie. The race element is sort of forgotten even though the suspect is Mexican and not Black. The manner of the "murder" in this movie is also weak. I know they didn't have CSI back then but the death penalty for a teen on such flimsy evidence just didn't make sense. Imagine if the poor kid was Black.
The strong points were Arthur Kennedy's Oscar nominated performance and the long list of character actors in this movie everyone from Elisha Cook, Whit Bissell and Frank Cady.
I can see why this movie has been forgotten. A bit heavy on the messaging. Some subtlety could have been used. Not exactly one of the better courtroom dramas I have seen. 5.5/10
P.S. The ending was strange. We are led to believe that the town is racist as they have trouble sitting a jury. At the end when the kid was given a suspended sentence of some kind, everyone is cheering.
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