Amazon.com: Anyone who's ever been arrested--or maybe just watched a cop show--knows that the right to representation by counsel is guaranteed by the Constitution, codified in the Miranda warning. But it wasn't until the early 1960s, when the events chronicled in Gideon's Trumpet unfolded, that this fundamental prerogative became law. As portrayed by Henry Fonda in this Emmy-nominated 1980 TV movie, Clarence Earl Gideon was neither a hero nor a crusader out to re-write history. He was in fact, a criminal recidivist, a poor drifter with four broken marriages and multiple prison terms in his past. Busted for breaking and entering and petty larceny in Panama City, Florida in 1961, Gideon proclaimed his innocence; but when his demand for a lawyer was rejected at trial (only defendants in capital cases were given court-appointed attorneys in Florida), he was forced to defend himself, resulting in a conviction and a five-year jail sentence. What followed was a matter of luck as well as persistence, as his appeal became one of the few that the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear. Chief Justice Earl Warren (John Houseman, who also executive-produced) assigned Abe Fortas (Jose Ferrer), himself a future Supreme Court justice, to handle the case, and Fortas' skillful work led to the overturning of Betts v. Brady, a 1942 decision in which the high court had ruled that even indigent defendants weren't entitled to counsel when prosecuted by a state; Gideon's second trial (his claim that double jeopardy applied was rejected), this time with proper representation, is depicted in the final sequences of the film. As befitting the decidedly un-glamorous details of the story, Fonda, who was 75 at the time (the real Gideon was 51) and nearing the end of his storied career, delivers a laconic, low-key performance, effectively depicting a crusty, world-weary, but dignified man who got a raw deal, saw a flaw in the legal system, and fought to correct it. The film, too, is remarkably matter-of-fact: no melodrama, no music to manipulate the viewer's emotions at key moments, just a top-notch cast and a straightforward depiction of the case as described in Anthony Lewis' book of the same name. --Sam Graham
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - A true story the teaches and entertains
I've been teaching Political Science classes at various schools in the South for 24 years and I always try to show this film during my section on civil liberties. In a little over 90 minutes students learn ... Read More
Rating: - Gideons Trumpet
This is an excellent movie for use with case law readings (Gideon v Wainwright.)It is a bit slow. I think a condensed version would be good. The students might lose the significance of this case.
Professor ... Read More
Rating: - Disappointed
As a review or account of an important historical event it was O.K., but I was disappointed in the performance of an Academy Award-winning actor in the person of Henry Fonda. Overall the movie was lackluster and ... Read More
Rating: - What's wrong with the actors in this movie?
Is it me, or is everyone acting in slow motion in this movie? Horrible, horrible acting. From the initial interrogation, to the talk inside the prison yard, to the trial implicating Gideon, to the review by the Supreme ... Read More
Rating: - Landmark Film on Land Mark Case
Fonda's performance is perfect, and the film covers all the issues without missing a beat. I use it every year in my government class.
- A true story the teaches and entertains
- Gideons Trumpet
- Disappointed