The Lawyer is a 1970 American courtroom drama film loosely based on the Sam Sheppard murder case in which a physician is charged with killing his wife following a highly publicized and sloppy investigation. The film was directed by Sidney J. Furie and stars Barry Newman as the energetic, opportunistic defense attorney Tony Petrocelli and Diana Muldaur as his wife Ruth Petrocelli.,[1]

The Lawyer
Directed bySidney J. Furie
Written bySidney J. Furie
Harold Buchman
Produced byBrad Dexter
StarringBarry Newman
Diana Muldaur
Harold Gould
CinematographyRalph Woolsey
Edited byArgyle Nelson Jr.
Music byMalcolm Dodds
Production
company
Furie Productions
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • March 10, 1970 (1970-03-10) (New York City)
Running time
120 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The film is the source of the role that Newman reprised in the television series Petrocelli.

Plot edit

Tony Petrocelli is a Harvard-educated attorney of Italian heritage who practices in an unidentified part of the American Southwest. He works (and drives) at a frenetic pace, not only because he is a zealous advocate for his defendants (mostly drunks and other small-time criminal cases) but also because of the vast distances of western prairie that he must cross in order to meet clients, investigate his cases and make court appointments.

A major case lands in his lap when he is asked to defend a young, prosperous physician who expects to be charged with the bludgeoning murder of his socialite wife.

Cast edit

References edit

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