Trial film is a subgenre of the legal/courtroom drama that encompasses films that are centered on a civil or criminal trial, typically a trial by jury.Rafter, Nicole. 2001. "American Criminal Trial Films: An Overview of Their Development, 1930–2000". Journal of Law and Society 28(1):9–24. .
The trial genre differs from the broader courtroom drama in that the latter includes any film in which a justice system plays an integral role in the film's narrative, and thus does not necessarily require the inclusion of a legal trial.
Notable films In 1989, the American Bar Association rated the 12 best trial films of all time in their ABA Journal, providing a detailed and reasoned legal evaluation for its choices. Ten of the films are in English; M (1931) is in German and The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) is a French silent film. Moreover, ten of them take place (at least, in part) in a courtroom.
In 2008, the American Film Institute compiled its own "courtroom drama" top-ten list, five films of which were also on the ABA list.
The ABA also published a list of the 12 best trial stageplays, noting that the transition from film to the stage is sometimes difficult. It also has an extensive honorable mention list. Title Release year Top ten list Notes 12 Angry Men 1957 American Bar Association (ABA);
American Film Institute (AFI) Nominated for 3 Academy Awards.A Cry in the Dark1988AFI Nominated for an Academy Award, based on a real trial.A Few Good Men1992AFICourt-martial A Man for All Seasons 1966ABA and AFI Nominated for 8 Academy Awards, winning 6. Based on a real trial.In Cold Blood1967AFI Nominated for 4 Academy Awards. Based on a real trial. Anatomy of a Murder 1959 ABA and AFI Nominated for 7 Academy Awards. Based on a real trial. Inherit the Wind 1960 ABA and AFI Nominated for 4 Academy Awards. Based on a real trial. Judgment at Nuremberg 1961 ABA Nominated for 11 Academy Awards, winning 2. Based on a real trial.Kramer vs. Kramer1979AFI Nominated for 9 Academy Awards, winning 5 of them. M 1931 ABA Paths of Glory 1957ABA Based on a real court-martial. The Passion of Joan of Arc 1928 ABA Based on a real trial. The Trial 1962 ABA The Wrong Man 1957 ABA Based on a real trial. To Kill a Mockingbird 1962 ABA and AFI Nominated for 8 Academy Awards, winning 3. The Verdict 1982 ABA and AFI Nominated for 5 Academy Awards.Witness for the Prosecution1957AFI Nominated for 6 Academy Awards.
Varieties Aside from the first few minutes of the film, 12 Angry Men (1957) does not take place in a courtroom. It views the particular case and the system of justice through the prism of jury deliberations. The film explains practical explications of legal concepts basic to the American system of justice, and their effect on a particular trial and defendant. Those include the presumption of innocence, burden of proof, and the requirement of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
The trial in M (1931) does not take place in a legal courtroom; rather, crime syndicate leaders along with the city's underground hold proceedings in a warehouse. Despite the lack of legal trappings, "it is one of the most effective trials ever filmed, questioning our notions of justice and revenge, mob rule and order, power and responsibility." Wearing long leather coats instead of robes, criminals become judges. The murderer is cast as the victim, while the forces of law and order must rely on luck. Peter Lorre strikingly raises the issue of his culpability due to alleged insanity, and the imposition of ultimate retributive justice is depicted as being unsatisfying for society and the survivors of the murdered victims.
Courtroom films are typically dramas, but there have been several comedy films centering around trials, including Adam's Rib, My Cousin Vinny, and Legally Blonde.
Military trial films The military trial film is a subtype of the trial genre that focuses on military trials (i.e., court-martial).
They typically include conflicting questions of loyalty, command responsibility, ethical rules and rules of engagement, obedience to superior authority, politics and class conflict. War and trials are good foils for one another. The struggles are perennial and engaging. A partial list includes: Title Release year Description The Caine MutinyFrom the 1951 Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk, 1954 Based on the 1951 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk, the film depicted the strongly contested court-martial of the executive officer of the U.S. Navy destroyer minesweeper USS Caine Lieutenant Stephen Maryk (Van Johnson) for mutiny against Lieutenant Commander Philip Francis Queeg (Humphrey Bogart) in the Pacific War during World War II and a particularly dynamic cross-examination, in which Captain Queeg acts out one of film's most dramatic meltdowns. Paths of Glory 1957 black and white depiction of a corrupt World War I French court martial leading to a firing squad, and a 'futility of war' conclusion. It was directed by Stanley Kubrick, starring Kirk Douglas as the failed defense attorney. Town Without Pity 1961 Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington were nominated for an Academy Award for the theme song, "Town Without Pity", which was sung by Gene Pitney. King and Country 1964 In the trenches in France during World War I, a British captain (Dirk Bogarde) has to defend a shell-shocked private (Tom Courtenay), who is charged with desertion. The film was directed by Joseph Losey. Breaker Morant 1980 A court martial of Australian soldiers, including Harry 'Breaker' Morant, by their British commanders in the aftermath of the Boer War in South Africa. The film details the tribulations of the defense counsel and the defendants, as they try to throw a wrench into the administrative gears of Morant's court martial. Anticipating the Nuremberg trials and the defense of "superior orders", the soldiers' main defense is that they were doing their duty as they understood it, and following orders and policy from above. Nevertheless, this "kangaroo court" moves to its inevitable conclusion. The film was nominated for an Academy Award. A Few Good Men 1992 released after the ABA's list was compiled, the film contains the famous "You can't handle the truth" exchange.Excerpt of cross examination in A Few Good Men. The film was adapted from a Broadway play written by Aaron Sorkin (who also wrote the screenplay), and acted by Tom Cruise, Demi Moore and Jack Nicholson. Rules of Engagement 2000 Marine Colonel Terry Childers (Samuel L. Jackson) is brought to court-martial on charges of disobeying the rules of engagement in a military incident at an American embassy in Yemen, with flashbacks to Vietnam. Shaurya 2008 a Hindi-language film based on the backdrop of the Kashmir conflict, and directed by Samar Khan starring Rahul Bose and Kay Kay Menon in lead roles. Melvilasom 2011 a Malayalam-language film based on Soorya Krishna Moorthy's stage play of the same name, which itself was based on the play Court Martial by Swadesh Deepak. American Traitor: The Trial of Axis Sally 2021 It is based on the life of Mildred Gillars, an American singer and actor who during World War II broadcast Nazi propaganda to US troops and their families back home.The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial2023Another adaptation of the novel The Caine Mutiny, where Lieutenant Commander Queeg was portrayed by Kiefer Sutherland and Lieutenant Maryk was portrayed by Jake Lacy. The mutiny is set in the Persian Gulf in December 2022 instead of the Pacific War in World War II as set in the book and the 1954 film.
Religious trial films God on Trial (2008) is a BBC/WGBH Boston television play that takes place in Auschwitz during World War II. The Jewish prisoners put God on trial in absentia for abandoning the Jewish people by allowing Nazi Germany to commit genocide. The Passion of the Christ (2004), in which Jesus Christ (played by Jim Caviezel) is alternately tried by Herod Antipas and Pontius Pilate and ultimately executed by Pilate. Nominated for three Academy Awards. The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941) features Walter Huston as the Devil arguing for a man's soul. Huston was nominated for the Best Actor in a Leading Role Academy Award. Solomon and Sheba (1959) portrays the famous Judgment of Solomon from the Bible. The Man Who Sued God (2001), an Australian film starring Billy Connolly who takes God (represented by the church) to court for compensation over the destruction of his fishing boat due to an "act of God". Inherit the Wind (1960), starring Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, and Gene Kelly, is an American film set in a small religious town where a teacher begins to teach evolution, and goes to court for his right to teach such. The Trial of Joan of Arc, a 1962 French historical drama film The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005), directed by Scott Derrickson, is an American courtroom drama horror film loosely based on the story of Anneliese Michel. It follows a self-proclaimed agnostic defense lawyer representing a parish priest who is accused by the state of negligent homicide after he performed an exorcism. The film, which largely takes place in a courtroom, depicts the events leading up to and including the exorcism through flashbacks. The Crucible (1996) is a drama film written by Arthur Miller and based on his play of the same name, loosely dramatising the Salem witch trials. It was directed by Nicholas Hytner and stars Daniel Day-Lewis as John Proctor, Winona Ryder as Abigail Williams, Paul Scofield as Judge Thomas Danforth, and Joan Allen as Elizabeth Proctor.
Historical trial films Historical trial films are noted for frequently taking dramatic liberties with historical accounts for the purposes of simplifying the storyline, exaggerating dramatic effects, or pressing a point with the audience. An American Tragedy, a 1931 drama directed by Josef von Sternberg, based on the historic 1906 murder of Grace Brown by Chester Gillette at Big Moose Lake in upstate New York. The Prisoner of Shark Island, a 1936 biopic directed by John Ford, loosely based on the life of Maryland physician Samuel Mudd, who treated the injured presidential assassin John Wilkes Booth and later spent time in prison after his controversial conviction for being one of Booth's accomplices. They Won't Forget, a 1937 drama film directed by Mervyn LeRoy, providing a fictionalized account of the trial and subsequent lynching of Leo Frank after the murder of Mary Phagan in 1913. Young Mr. Lincoln, a 1939 biopic of Abraham Lincoln directed by John Ford. The Letter, a 1940 film directed by William Wyler, inspired by the Ethel Proudlock case, a real-life scandal involving the Eurasian wife of the headmaster of a school in Kuala Lumpur who was convicted in a murder trial after shooting dead a male friend. Boomerang, a 1947 American crime semidocumentary film based on the true story of a vagrant (Harold Israel in real life, John Waldron in the film) accused of murdering a clergyman. The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing, a 1955 American fictionalized account of model and actress Evelyn Nesbit, who became embroiled in the scandal surrounding the June 1906 murder of her paramour, architect Stanford White, by her husband, rail and coal tycoon Harry Kendall Thaw. The Accused (1988), a legal drama starring Jodie Foster, loosely based on the 1983 gang rape case of Cheryl Araujo. JFK (1991) is an American conspiracy-thriller film that examines the events leading to the assassination of John F. Kennedy, and it alleged cover-up, through the eyes of former New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison. The film culminates in the 1969 trial of businessman Clay Shaw for his alleged participation in a conspiracy to assassinate the president. In the Name of the Father, a 1993 biographical crime drama film based on the true story of the Guildford Four, four people falsely convicted of the 1974 Guildford pub bombings that killed four off-duty British soldiers and a civilian.