An incompetent barrister is assigned to defend an accused wife murderer.An incompetent barrister is assigned to defend an accused wife murderer.An incompetent barrister is assigned to defend an accused wife murderer.
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 1 nomination total
Madge Brindley
- Mother Chiding Her Son
- (uncredited)
David Drummond
- Policeman
- (uncredited)
Victor Harrington
- Paper Tearing Man
- (uncredited)
John Junkin
- Dock Brief Barrister
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAlthough this film has been shown on British television many times in the 21st century, it has always been screened under its American title of "Trial And Error", not as "The Dock Brief", its original and proper title. Furthermore, it has been released on DVD in the UK under its American title as well.
- GoofsWhile Morgenhall is waiting for his "first case," a series of crossword puzzles are shown, as "time passes." Unfortunately, the puzzles are not in numerical order --- their numbers go up and down, never continually increasing, as they should as the months and years go "passing by."
- Quotes
Morgenhall: What is your name?
Fowle: Herbert Fowle.
Morgenhall: The surprise witness.
Fowle: Oh, you... you mean I'd need a different name?
Morgenhall: Yes, precisely.
Fowle: Hmm. That's where we're stuck now..
- ConnectionsReferenced in A Patch of Blue (1965)
Featured review
A Pleasant Two-Act
Peter Sellers is a lawyer who has waited years for his first case. He gets it in the form of Richard Attenborough, who admits that he killed his wife, Beryl Reid because she wouldn't run away with the boarder. In Attenborough's cell, they brainstorm trial strategies in fantasy. Then they go up to the actual trial.
It's an absolute trifle of a movie, little more than a two-man show about the inanity of the law. That's hardly surprising, given that it's derived from a play by John Mortimer, best remembered for his many judicial mysteries, and the TV series RUMPOLE OF THE BAILEY, based on them. Sellers and Attenborough attempt to evoke the sort of movie that might have been made were Laurel & Hardy to make one, although one without anything in the way of physical slapstick.
It's an absolute trifle of a movie, little more than a two-man show about the inanity of the law. That's hardly surprising, given that it's derived from a play by John Mortimer, best remembered for his many judicial mysteries, and the TV series RUMPOLE OF THE BAILEY, based on them. Sellers and Attenborough attempt to evoke the sort of movie that might have been made were Laurel & Hardy to make one, although one without anything in the way of physical slapstick.
helpful•12
- boblipton
- Aug 4, 2019
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Sudjenje sa greškom
- Filming locations
- Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK(studio: made at Shepperton Studios, England)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 16 minutes
- Color
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