As with all Frankenheimer/Lancaster productions, this is a taut story with first-rate acting. But the outlandish courtroom scenes really let it down.
Lancaster's district attorney is more the defense than a prosecutor as he paints the boys as poor, misunderstood victims that society drove to stab the Hispanic blind boy. It would be safe to say that his days as a prosecutor would be over. In fact, there might even be disbarment procedures on the horizon.
Frankenheimer should also have consulted with some attorneys to see what actually goes on during a trial. For example, the lab report clearing DePace would have been available to the defense as part of discovery, not something that would be sprung by the prosecutor during cross examination. Similarly, the judge arbitrarily changes DePace's charge from murder one to third degree assault during sentencing, after the jury has already come back with a verdict. Did the jury convict on murder or not?
This film puts me in mind of the later Birdman of Alcatraz. This is another taut, well-acted F/L effort in which the life of killer Bob Stroud is completely fabricated to make him appear to be a misunderstood innocent beaten down by the prison system, rather than the conscious less sociopath he was in reality. They even went so far as to get the real bird man a special parole hearing. Fortunately, when asked what he would do if he got out, Stroud answered that he'd kill again because there were too many out there who needed killing. Oops, never mind.
Lancaster's district attorney is more the defense than a prosecutor as he paints the boys as poor, misunderstood victims that society drove to stab the Hispanic blind boy. It would be safe to say that his days as a prosecutor would be over. In fact, there might even be disbarment procedures on the horizon.
Frankenheimer should also have consulted with some attorneys to see what actually goes on during a trial. For example, the lab report clearing DePace would have been available to the defense as part of discovery, not something that would be sprung by the prosecutor during cross examination. Similarly, the judge arbitrarily changes DePace's charge from murder one to third degree assault during sentencing, after the jury has already come back with a verdict. Did the jury convict on murder or not?
This film puts me in mind of the later Birdman of Alcatraz. This is another taut, well-acted F/L effort in which the life of killer Bob Stroud is completely fabricated to make him appear to be a misunderstood innocent beaten down by the prison system, rather than the conscious less sociopath he was in reality. They even went so far as to get the real bird man a special parole hearing. Fortunately, when asked what he would do if he got out, Stroud answered that he'd kill again because there were too many out there who needed killing. Oops, never mind.