This post is part of the Order in the Court! Blogathon hosted by Theresa at CineMaven's Essays from the Couch and Lesley at Second Sight Cinema. To read more judicial posts, click here.
The Task
To write about a classic film that brings the audience into the courtroom.
The Film
People Will Talk (1951) is the first movie Joseph L. Mankiewicz took on following his Academy Award-winning film, All About Eve (1950). The film is based on a 1934 German play written by Curt Goetz, which was later made into a German film, Frauenarzt Dr. Pratorius (1950). According to film critics, Mankiewicz maintained that People Will Talk was a response to an unpleasant medical experience although parallels have been made between Praetorius' hearing and the House Un-American Acts Committee (HUAC) hearings, which resulted in the blacklisting of hundreds of Hollywood artists.
