What do you consider to be some of the best legal movies?
Below is a list of the top movies with some form of legal basis to them, and in some of the films (a very tiny legal basis). The list was co-ordinated by ABA New Journal and Amazon, and a lot of these films have appeared on other “Top 10” listings for law related films.
I have to confess that whilst I have seen some of these films, some I have never heard of – but I will be adding them to my DVD list and will watch them this year. I am more of a Boxset girl, and have quite a lot of them, so will be incorporating some of those into a blog post fairly soon.
I am so pleased to see that one of my all time favourite books and films made it to number 1 on the list. I love To Kill A Mockingbird, not just because of the legal nature, but the whole story is so well written and thought provoking. Plus it provides some form of grounding and reality check for society today – least not that we should believe in our gut instincts no matter if everyone else is going the other way, not judge a book by it’s cover, and finally we need to remember that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. A must see for anyone who has not seen it! Plus a bargain at £4 on Amazon.
1. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
2. 12 Angry Men (1957)
3. My Cousin Vinny (1992)
4. Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
5. Inherit the Wind (1960)
6. Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
7. Breaker Morant (1980)
8. Philadelphia (1993)
9. Erin Brockovich (2000)
10. The Verdict (1982)
11. Presumed Innocent (1990)
12. Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
13. A Man for All Seasons (1966)
14. A Few Good Men (1992)
15. Chicago (2002)
16. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)
17. The Paper Chase (1973)
18. Reversal of Fortune (1990)
19. Compulsion (1959)
20. And Justice for All (1979)
21. In the Name of the Father (1993)
22. A Civil Action (1998)
23. Young Mr. Lincoln (1939)
24. Amistad (1997)
25. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
So there is the list.. How many have you seen? Would you consider them to be in the top 25? Let me know if there are any other films you believe should be in the list.
I am not sure how many of you will have seen the film Provoked (2006) – it is one of my favourite films, and one very few people have seen. I am passionate about the case behind the film, and spent many hours studying the topic of provocation (now loss of control) and writing a report on it. I would highly recommend this film, as though there has been that there were lots of artistic changes from the case itself, it is still worth a watch. This film is a reflection of a very real case, R v Ahluwalia (1993), whereby a woman doused her husband in petrol and caustic soda, then set fire to him. She had suffered a decades worth of abuse from him, and on the night she set fire to him he had threatened to beat her with an iron. If you haven’t read the case I would strongly encourage you to do so, because there are so many factors that enabled this woman to have her murder conviction quashed.
I highly recommend you checking out the film Provoked, or having a quick read of the case.
Rebecca x
#janlawblogpost