In thinking about this presentation for today, it occurred to me how few examples I could find in the early years of film between 1895 and 1920 in which lawyers performing the everyday duties of real lawyers were the dominant protagonists of a movie. By the 1930s, of course, we have lawyers functioning in the role of detective, gather- ing evidence to convict the guilty.
Trials are also common dramatic climaxes in films.
A good example of both occurs in John Ford's Young Mr. Lincoln in which, in the last minutes of a courtroom inter- rogation, Lincoln, magically as it were, pulls an almanac out of his stovepipe hat and points out a contradiction in the testimony of an eyewitness who then proceeds to break down and confess that he is, indeed, the murderer. Of course, predating this 1939 film is the liter- ary appearance of Perry Mason. Although lawyers do appear, in general their profession is irrelevant for plot purposes. However, the early cinema is filled with the commission, detection, and punishment of crime. In fact, crime is all over the place.