The Verdict
All actors and roles (10)
All team (64)
Short description
Frank Galvin is a Boston lawyer whose career has collapsed into heavy drinking and small-time work. When a former colleague hands him a medical malpractice suit, it looks like an easy settlement: a young woman was left in a coma after being anaesthetised during childbirth at a hospital owned by the Catholic Church, and everyone involved is ready to pay quietly. Galvin instead decides to take the case to court, setting himself against a well-funded defence team hired by the hospital.
Sidney Lumet directed the film, the fifteenth of the twenty-six features he made, following Prince of the City and preceding Deathtrap. David Mamet wrote the screenplay with Jay Presson Allen, and Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown produced. Paul Newman plays Galvin, with Charlotte Rampling as Laura Fischer, Jack Warden as Mickey Morrissey, James Mason as Ed Concannon, Milo O'Shea as Judge Hoyle and Lindsay Crouse as Kaitlin Costello.
Released in December 1982, the film cost about 16 million dollars and took roughly 54 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7.7 from 50,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.5 from a much smaller number of votes, while a critics' rating stands at 8.1 from 40 reviews, higher than either audience figure.
What's left behind the scenes
- Both lawyers, played by Paul Newman and James Mason (1909-1984), could be accused of violating the ethical code, which would realistically result in them being disbarred. The archdiocese offered Newman's character a deal, which he did not disclose to his clients or ask if they agreed to it – unacceptable behavior for a lawyer. Mason’s character informed them about the deal, but did so in the absence of Newman's character, which is also prohibited. Furthermore, Mason's character violated the code of conduct by paying Laura to get close to Newman's character and extract information about the upcoming trial. This is also strictly forbidden by the professional code of ethics for lawyers.
- Initially, Robert Redford was involved in the project. After one of the scriptwriters, David Mamet, submitted his version of the script, Redford didn't like something about it and hired another screenwriter. This continued until Redford decided he no longer wanted to star in the film. He disliked the fact that he would have to play an alcoholic. After that, the project was offered to Sidney Lumet (1924-2011). He read all the script versions and unerringly pointed to Mamet's script, stating that he would work with that one. At that moment, Paul Newman (1925-2008) agreed to star in the lead role.
- Rehearsals before filming lasted three weeks.
Similar movies
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
