Trivia / Anatomy of a Murder

• All-Star Cast: Jimmy Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, Eve Arden, George C. Scott, Arthur O'Connell, Murray Hamilton, Orson Bean, Army-McCarthy counsel Joseph N. Welch as Judge Weaver, and Duke Ellington in a cameo.
• Banned in China: Chicago temporarily banned the movie for its use of "explicit language," such as...contraceptive, spermatogenesis, and intercourse. A federal court overruled the censor board when it determined that the usage of the words was technical rather than directly offensive.
• California Doubling: Averted. The film was shot on location in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, in some cases in the same locations where the Real Life events that the story was based on took place (with the trial happening in the very same courtroom).
• Cast the Expert: Judge Weaver was played by Joseph N. Welch, a real-life lawyer who had represented the U.S. Army in the televised Army-McCarthy hearings in 1954.^note He was the one who famously asked Joseph McCarthy if he "ha(d) no sense of decency". Welch joked that he took the role because "it looked like that was the only way I'd ever get to be a judge".
• Cast the Runner-Up: Lee Remick was originally cast as Mary Pilant before being cast as Laura Manion.
• Corpsing: Not in the movie but in the trailer. It opens with a scene where Otto Preminger "swears in" the cast, and Jimmy Stewart is clearly trying not to laugh while Preminger administers his oath.
• Creator Couple:
  • Eve Arden's husband, Brooks West, plays the district attorney.
  • Mrs. Joseph N. Welch, real-life wife of the judge, is a member of the jury. It is reported that Judge Joseph Welch accepted his part in the movie if his wife could be on the jury.
• Playing Against Type:
  • Jimmy Stewart, erstwhile Wide-Eyed Idealist, as an Amoral Attorney. Also, hearing good ol' guy-next-door Jimmy Stewart say "sperm" and "sexual climax" is a bit jarring.
  • In hindsight, also George C. Scott in the role of a mellow-voiced, urbane attorney, instead of some variant of an unpleasant Anti-Hero who speaks with a bark (though the Tranquil Fury when he cross-examines the final Surprise Witness gives some hints of his future direction).
• Star-Making Role: For George C. Scott, Ben Gazzara, and Lee Remick. For Scott and Gazzara, it was their second roles.
  • Remick was only cast after the studio's first choices Lana Turner and Jayne Mansfield turned it down. Otto Preminger always wanted to cast her as Laura, but initially could only offer her the smaller part of Mary Pliant, which she boldly turned down. After Turner dropped out, Preminger called her to offer her Laura. She thought he was joking.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Gregory Peck was considered for Paul Biegler.
  • Lana Turner was originally offered the role of Laura Manion. She agreed to take it on the condition that she would wear gowns designed exclusively by her personal couturier, Jean Louis. When Otto Preminger objected that such gowns were not suitable for the role, Turner turned down the part. Columbia was ready to give in to Turner's demands but Preminger resisted and gave the role to Lee Remick, then almost a beginner.
  • The role of Judge Weaver was offered to Burl Ives and Spencer Tracy.
  • Preminger negotiated with Richard Widmark to appear as Lt. Frederick Manion.
  • Pat Hingle was originally cast as Mitch Lodwick, but had to drop out when he was injured in a fall down an elevator shaft.
• Write What You Know:
  • It's based on an extremely autobiographical novel by the defense attorney in the Real Life 1952 murder case that inspired it.
  • Otto Preminger was the son of a prosecutor, and had studied law himself.

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