Top 365 Films – #339 – Murder In The First (1995)

DIRECTED BY: Marc Rocco

STARRING: Christian Slater, Kevin Bacon, Gary Oldman, Embeth Davidtz, William H Macy, Stephen Tobolowsky, Brad Dourif and R. Lee Ermey

BUDGET: $23m

EARNED (Worldwide): $18.1m

AWARDS: None

 

SYNOPSIS

An eager and idealistic young attorney defends an Alcatraz prisoner accused of murdering a fellow inmate. The extenuating circumstances: his client had just spent over three years in solitary confinement.

 

A young public defender, James Stamphill, a recent graduate from Harvard, is handed the case of defending a prisoner by the name of Henri Young, being put on trial for first degree murder of fellow inmate Rufus McCain. Learning the facts of Henri Young’s case, Stamphill proceeds to put Alcatraz on trail by alleging that it’s due to the harsh conditions his client suffered there that caused him to commit murder.

 

Murder in the First is a film that, at its time, gained a negative response for its changes to historical events, such as Henri Young being portrayed as this thief that never committed murder before McCain (committed murder in 1933, 3 years before Alcatraz) and was never in prison before (served time previously in Washington and Montana). The fact that the film uses the real names and loosening the story may hurt viewers from liking the film but the one thing that cannot be denied in the achievement of excellence, and the only reason this film sealed its spot on this list, is Kevin Bacon’s performance as Henri Young, in a performance so raw and complex, you wonder just how the hell he wasn’t recognised at the time for his performance by the Academy. Christian Slater does well as Stamphill in a driven and understated performance and as great as Gary Oldman is as the warden, it’s a smaller role than you may hope for.

 

FAVOURITE SCENE: Henri Young takes the stand.

FAVOURITE QUOTE: ‘I was the weapon, but I ain’t no killer..’ – Henry Young

DID YOU KNOW?: The real life Henri Young was a bank robber who had taken and brutalized a hostage on at least one occasion and committed murder in 1933 – some 3 years before being incarcerated at Alcatraz. He had served time in State prisons in Montana and Washington before entering Federal prison for the first time in 1935 at the U.S. Penitentiary on McNeil Island, Washington (which is now a State prison).