Best movies like The Great Defender

He would have the truth - the whole truth and nothing but...

A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like The Great Defender Starring Matheson Lang, Margaret Bannerman, Arthur Margetson, Sam Livesey, and more. If you liked The Great Defender then you may also like: Eight O'Clock Walk, The Unknown Man, Witness for the Prosecution, On Trial, A Question of Adultery and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.

Sir Douglas Rolls is a highly respected defence lawyer of many years experience. Now in rapidly failing health, he is advised to retreat from the courtroom and pursue more pleasurable activities. But it is just at this point in his life that his great lost love a woman his own strong sense of duty led him to give up twenty years ago, and whom he still loves deeply walks into his chambers to ask that he defend her adulterous husband, now to stand trial for murder. Reluctantly agreeing to take on the case, Sir Douglas soon finds there is more to the story than meets the eye.

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Eight O'Clock Walk

Only a British cabdriver's (Richard Attenborough) wife (Cathy O'Donnell) and lawyer (Derek Farr) believe him innocent of killing a little girl.

The Unknown Man

A scrupulously honest lawyer discovers that the client he's gotten off was really guilty.

Witness for the Prosecution

When Leonard Vole is arrested for the sensational murder of a rich, middle-aged widow, the famous Sir Wilfrid Robarts agrees to appear on his behalf. Sir Wilfrid, recovering from a near-fatal heart attack, is supposed to be on a diet of bland, civil suits—but the lure of the criminal courts is too much for him, especially when the case is so difficult.

On Trial

A man is put on trial for the murder of his best friend. A young attorney wants to become successful and decides to defend him. However, he is very inexperienced.

A Question of Adultery

Mark Loring is madly jealous of his wife, Mary, former American cabaret singer. Due to an automobile accident, she loses her unborn child, and Mark becomes sterile. His father, Brit-stuffy Sir John Loring, has never approved of the marriage and, again, tries to break it up. Believing that a child will hold the marriage together, Mary suggests artificial insemination to Mark, who finally agrees to accompany her to a clinic in Switzerland. However, when she is again pregnant, Mark finds it impossible to reconcile himself to the situation and leaves her. Prompted by his father, Mark sues for divorce, accusing her of adultery. She contests the divorce and a trial concerns itself with whether or not artificial insemination is a question of adultery. The Catholic Church's National League of Decency placed this film on its Condemned" list.

King and Country

During World War I, Army Private Arthur James Hamp is accused of desertion during battle. The officer assigned to defend him at his court-martial, Captain Hargreaves, finds out there is more to the case than meets the eye.

The Kiss Before the Mirror

When a famous doctor kills his adulterous wife, he is defended by his best friend, an attorney who suspects that his own wife is having an affair.

Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye

Ralph Cotter, a ruthless criminal, escapes violently from a farm prison. Then, he seduces a dead inmate’s sister, gets back quickly into the crime business, faces corrupt local cops who run the city’s underworld and meets a powerful tycoon’s whimsical daughter.

Anatomy of a Murder

Semi-retired Michigan lawyer Paul Biegler takes the case of Army Lt. Manion, who murdered a local innkeeper after his wife claimed that he raped her. Over the course of an extensive trial, Biegler parries with District Attorney Lodwick and out-of-town prosecutor Claude Dancer to set his client free, but his case rests on the victim's mysterious business partner, who's hiding a dark secret.

Obsessed

A woman claims she had an affair with a married neurosurgeon and stands trial for allegedly harassing him.

Sex and Lies in Sin City

Star-studded thriller about the sordid murder of reckless Las Vegas casino mogul Ted Binion. This gritty film delves into the twisted world of Binion's beauty-queen-turned-stripper girlfriend, Sandy, and her secret lover. When Binion turns up dead of an overdose, all fingers point to Sandy, the beneficiary of his millions. A shockingly true tale of love gone sour and greed gone wild on the dark side of Las Vegas.

The Lawyer

Tony Petrocelli, a bright young lawyer practicing in the rich cattle town of Baker, becomes embroiled in a murder case.

Death Sentence

A juror on a murder trial begins to believe that the man charged with the crime is innocent — and that the real killer is her own husband.

The Divorce of Lady X

The morning after a London barrister lets a mystery woman stay in his suite, a friend files for divorce.

Double Jeopardy

Jack Hart lives with his lawyer wife and yound daughter and enjoys a wonderful life. Jack's old girlfriend, Lisa, comes into town and they have an affair. Lisa kills her current boyfriend in self-defense and Jack witnesses the whole thing. Lisa goes on trial for murder with Jack's wife as her lawyer. As the movie progresses Lisa's devious side becomes known and make for an interesting conclusion

Fatal Instinct

Ned Ravine is a police officer and lawyer who occasionally defends the delinquents he arrests. He crosses paths with seductive Lola Cain during an assignment and promptly begins an affair with her. Meanwhile, Ned's wife, Lana, is deep in an affair of her own. Lana and her lover are planning to murder Ned in an elaborate fashion so they can collect on his triple indemnity life insurance policy.

The Trials of Cate McCall

In order to be reinstated to the bar and recover custody of her daughter, a hotshot lawyer, now in recovery and on probation, must take on the appeal of a woman wrongfully convicted of murder.

The Paradine Case

Attorney Anthony Keane agrees to represent Londonite Mrs. Paradine, who has been fingered in her husband's murder. From the start, the married lawyer is drawn to the enigmatic beauty, and he begins to cast about for a way to exonerate his client. Keane puts the Paradine household servant on the stand, suggesting he is the killer. But Keane soon loses his way in the courtroom, and his half-baked plan sets off a stunning chain of events.

Suspect

When a Supreme Court judge commits suicide and his secretary is found murdered, all fingers point to Carl Anderson, a homeless veteran who's deaf and mute. But when public defender Kathleen Riley is assigned to his case, she begins to believe that Anderson may actually be innocent. Juror Eddie Sanger, a Washington lobbyist, agrees, and together the pair begins their own investigation of events.

True Believer

Eddie Dodd is a burnt out former civil rights lawyer who now specializes in defending drug dealers. Roger Baron, newly graduated from law school, has followed Eddie's great cases and now wants to learn at his feet. With Roger's idealistic prodding, Eddie reluctantly takes on a case of a young Korean man who, according to his mother, has been in jail for eight years for a murder he didn't commit.

The Big Bluff

When a scheming fortune hunter finds his rich wife is not going to die as expected, he and his lover make other plans to get her millions.

If I Were Free

A recently divorced interior decorator falls in love with a married barrister.

The Incident

Small town lawyer, Harmon Cobb, defends a Nazi prisoner of war against murder charges. Set during World War II, Cobb has to contend with the difficulties of defending the devil when the town's only doctor (Barnard Hughes) dies while at "Camp Bremen" in the fictitious town of Bremen, Colorado.

Incident in a Small Town

Lily and her son John live alone in a small town as her husband has been killed fighting the war in France. Or at least that is what she told John, but the arrival of Frank back in the town leads him to find out that she not only has been lying about that but also about the fact that she never married him. When Frank tussles with Lily in her yard she applies for a restraining order, calling on the help of her father (the esteemed judge Stoddard Bell) and his partner (lawyer Harmon Cobb). The case fails and when Frank is found murdered later that night Stoddard is arrested and Cobb has a defence case on his hands.

Inherit the Wind

Based on a real-life case in 1925, two great lawyers argue the case for and against a science teacher accused of the crime of teaching evolution.

Last Dance

Upon taking a new job, young lawyer Rick Hayes is assigned to the clemency case of Cindy Liggett, a woman convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death. As Hayes investigates the background for her case, the two begin to form a deep friendship, while all the while the date for her execution draws nearer.

Murder in the First

Inspired by a true story. A petty criminal sent to Alcatraz in the 1930s is caught attempting to make an escape. As punishment he is put in solitary confinement. The maximum stay is supposed to be 19 days, but Henri spends years alone, cold and in complete darkness, only to emerge a madman and soon to be a murderer. The story follows a rookie lawyer attempting to prove that Alcatraz was to blame.

Trust

When her husband is accused of murder, solicitor Anne Travers defends him -- but as the evidence mounts, she begins to question their "perfect" life.

The Silken Affair

An accountant who is creative with his firm's books uses the money to fund a romantic spree.

A Covenant with Death

An innocent man is found guilty of murder and sentenced to death, but as he's about to be hanged he accidentally kills his executioner. He now faces a new trial, presided over by a young and inexperienced judge.

Madame X

A woman married to a wealthy socialite, is compromised by the accidental death of a man who had been romantically pursuing her, and is forced by her mother-in-law to assume a new identity to save the reputation of her husband and infant son. She wanders the world, trying to forget her heartbreak with the aid of alcohol and unsavory men, eventually returning to the city of her downfall, where she murders a blackmailer who threatens to expose her past. Amazingly, she is represented at her murder trial by her now adult son, who is a public defender. Hoping to continue to protect her son, she refuses to give her real name and is known to the court as the defendant, "Madame X."

The Story on Page One

An adulterous couple is accused of murder after the woman's husband is shot and killed during a scuffle. A high-profile court case tells the story.

Jagged Edge

San Francisco heiress Page Forrester is brutally murdered in her remote beach house. Her husband Jack is devastated by the crime but soon finds himself accused of her murder. He hires lawyer Teddy Barnes to defend him, despite the fact she hasn't handled a criminal case for many years. There's a certain chemistry between them and Teddy soon finds herself defending the man she loves.

There's Always a Woman

An investigator for the District Attorney's office quits to open his own detective agency. However, business is so bad that he finally decides to give it up and go back to his old job. As his wife is at his office closing up, a wealthy society matron walks in with a case: she wants to know if her husband is having an affair with his ex-girlfriend, who is now married. The wife accepts what looks to be an easy case, figuring than she can then persuade her husband to re-start the agency. However, when the client's husband is found murdered, she decides to investigate the murder herself. Her husband has also been assigned by the D.A. to investigate the murder, and he doesn't know that his wife is also on the case. Complications ensue.

This Man Is News

A newspaper reporter keeps beating the police to clues in a current murder case. This makes the police think he may be involved in the crime.

I Want to Live

The movie tells the story of a woman who struggles and fights to escape the gas chamber being condemned with capital punishment because of her participation in a hold up in which a person was killed.

Terrorist on Trial: The United States vs. Salim Ajami

There is no question that the Arab terrorist portrayed by Robert Davi is guilty of killing five US citizens in Barcelona. Even his lawyers have zero respect for the rabidly sociopathic Davi. But Jewish defence attorney Ron Leibman is obsessed with the concept of Due Process, and has vowed that Davi will receive a scrupulously fair trial when the terrorist is extradited to America. The defence mounted by Leibman confounds and aggravates government prosecutor Sam Waterston--but he, like Leibman, remains a man of judiciary integrity.

The Glass Alibi

Eying a large inheritance, a reporter marries a rich woman with failing health. When she begins feeling healthy after the wedding, the reporter takes drastic measures to make sure his wife dies.

Cross-Examination

Defense Atorney Gerald Waring uses great skill and ingenuity in his efforts to save the life of a young man charged with the murder of his father. Witness after witness piles up damaging evidence against the accused youth, but expert cross-examination by Waring digs out the startling truth behind the killing and subsequently reveals the identity of the real killer in a surprise-twist ending.

Women Without Names

Joyce and Fred MacNeil's honeymoon comes to an abrupt and unsatisfying halt when Fred is accused of murder. Railroaded into prison through the efforts of politically ambitious assistant DA Marlin, Fred awaits his doom on Death Row, while Joyce works overtime on the outside to clear her husband's name

Criminal Lawyer

A drunken attorney tries to sober up in order to defend a friend in murder case.

Witness for the Prosecution

Sir Wilfred Robarts, a famed barrister is released from the hospital, where he stayed for two months following his heart attack. Returning to the practise of his lawyer skills, he takes the case of Leonard Vole, an unemployed man who is accused of murdering an elderly lady friend of his, Mrs. Emily French. While Leonard Vole claims he's innocent, although all evidence points to him as the killer, his alibi witness, his cold German wife Christine, instead of entering the court as a witness for the defense, she becomes the witness for the prosecution and strongly claims her husband is guilty of the murder.

In Defense of a Married Man

When a defense lawyer's adulterous husband becomes the prime suspect in the murder of the woman he was cheating with, his wife chooses to defend him. Can she overcome his betrayal while searching for the truth?

A Case for Murder

Jack Hammett is an aggressive young defence attorney on the rise up the corporate ladder. In the courtroom he's known as the "Hail Mary Kid" for his ability to win the unwinnable cases. When one of the firm's lawyers, Darren Gaines, is murdered and Gaines' wife is charged, Hammett is assigned as her attorney. Hammett asks Kate Weldon, a recently hired lawyer, to assist him. Together they discover some inconsistencies in the case as well as a possible connection to the recent murder of a judge.

Denial

Acclaimed writer and historian Deborah E. Lipstadt must battle for historical truth to prove the Holocaust actually occurred when David Irving, a renowned denier, sues her for libel.

Trial and Error

After nearly 40 years of waiting for his big chance, Wilfred Morgenhall is given the case of defending Herbert Fowle who is accused of murdering his wife. Despite Fowle's insistence of guilt, Moregenhall will not let go of the opportunity to plead his client as innocent and be a star in the courtroom.

The Man Who Loved Redheads

Framed in flashback, The Man Who Loved Redheads is an anecdotal comedy about a man (John Justin) whose life is defined by his first romantic experience. That liaison occurred in Justin's youth, when the young man matures and enters the diplomatic world, he spends the rest of his career searching for his first love.

21 Days

After Larry Darrent accidentally kills his lover's blackmailing husband, someone else is arrested for the crime. When he is found guilty, Larry and Wanda have just three weeks together before he must give himself up or let an innocent man go to the gallows.

Career Woman

A young woman graduates from a New York City law school, returns to her small hometown, and finds her first case is defending a childhood friend accused of murder. Director Lewis Seiler's 1936 courtroom drama stars Claire Trevor, Isabel Jewell, Michael Whalen, Gene Lockhart, Eric Linden, Charles Middleton, Edward Brophy, Kathleen Lockhart, Guinn Williams, El Brendel, Sterling Holloway, Ray Brown, Howard Hickman, Frank McGlynn Sr., Charles Waldron Sr., Spencer Charters and Eily Malyon.

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