The Lawyer (film)
| The Lawyer | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Sidney J. Furie |
| Starring |
Barry Newman Diana Muldaur Harold Gould |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 120 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Lawyer is a 1970 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 starred Barry Newman as the energetic, opportunistic defense attorney Tony Petrocelli. Diana Muldaur co-starred as Ruth Petrocelli. The film is the source of the role Newman reprised in the TV series Petrocelli.
Plot
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 (which includes a regular run of drunks and other small-time criminal cases) but because of the vast distances of western prairie he must cross in order to meet clients, investigate his cases and make court appointments.
A big 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.