Used with permission. The gladiator match and the trial. Although few films deal with the more physical of the ancients' enthusiasms, there has been considerable film exposure for the more intellectual.
Trials appeal to film makers because of their theatrical trappings.
Nor is it a surprise that actors are anxious to be called to the bar. Over the years, certain plot trends have developed in Hollywood trial films. Most involve a criminal trial for murder or rape or both, ending with the defendant acquitted, and depicting the victorious defense attorneys as troubled men or women whose redemption is tied directly to the verdict of the trial. But the most attractive cinematic elements of trial films are the heady themes and profound questions of guilt and innocence they present. Often the conflict of these films develops because the viewers know that the defendant is not guilty and want the correct verdict entered.