DVR Alert: Courtroom Dramas

The cold weather being experienced throughout much of the country these days has apparently caused The Grandstander's keyboard to freeze since offerings from here have been sparse of late.  So, let's turn up the space heaters and see what we can put out there for all of you Loyal Readers.

Let's start with the always popular DVR Alert.

This coming Thursday, February 19, Turner Classic Movies is offering a back-to-back-to-back feast for fans of the courtroom drama.  

12:30 PM - "Witness for the Prosecution" (1958).  Based on classic Agatha Christie short story and play, this movie was directed by Billy Wilder and stars Charles Laughton, Tyrone Power, and Marlene Dietrich.  It is truly a Classic Christie story, and it doesn't get much better than that.

2:30 PM - "Inherit the Wind" (1960).  This Stanley Kramer directed movie is a fictional recreation of the famed Scopes "monkey trial", and it is a heavyweight championship of acting performances with Spencer Tracy and Fredric March as the opposing attorneys.  This  movie also has an interesting acting performance by Gene Kelly in a dramatic, non-singing, non dancing role.

And best of all....

5:00 PM - "Judgement at Nuremberg" (1961).  I have talked about this movie many times in this blog.  It is a story of the Nuremberg war crimes and the political reassures that were brought to bear as the political realities of a post world War II world were falling into shape.  Maximilian Schell won the Best Actor of the Year Oscar for his performance in this one, but there were also Oscar worthy performances in this one from Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, Montgomery Clift, and Richard Widmark. (Tracy, Garland, and Clift all received Oscar nominations for this one.)  This one was also directed by Stanley Kramer.  In my humble opinion, this is a movie that everyone should see at least once, and should be required viewing for every high school history student.

I'm going to stop at these three, but you could do worse than keeping your DVR humming for the remainder of the day on TCM on Thursday, as it will also be showing "Dr. Strangelove" (1964), "A Hard Day's Night" (1964), and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" (1968).  Both "Strangelove" and "Dinner..." were also directed by Kramer.

Man, what a day on TCM!