Portia on Trial: A quick trip to the courtroom

Is it worth your time?

If you have a soft spot for 1930s courtroom dramas where everyone talks at a million miles an hour, you will probably dig Portia on Trial. It is not exactly high art, but it’s a tight little watch if you just want to see a lawyer be very clever in a room full of people in suits. People who hate black-and-white talkies or get annoyed by 'damsel in distress' tropes might want to skip this one, though.

Frieda Inescort is honestly the whole reason to be here. She plays Portia with this sort of cool, detached confidence that makes the courtroom scenes work way better than they have any right to. She isn't shouting or crying; she’s just better than everyone else in the room.

Odd little things

• The pacing is so fast you might get whiplash.
• The way the defendant, Elizabeth, stares at the jury is almost unnerving.
• I’m pretty sure I saw a background actor fall asleep in the third row during the climax.
• The courtroom set looks like it was borrowed from about five other movies made that same year.

There is this one moment where Portia is cross-examining a witness, and the lighting suddenly changes. It’s like the sun moved ten degrees in the middle of a sentence. It’s distracting, but in that weird way that makes you realize movies are just people standing in a studio.

It’s funny, I was thinking about the pacing in The Bat Whispers while watching this. Both have that 'get to the point' energy, but this feels way less concerned with style and way more concerned with just finishing the script by lunch. It’s not quite as charming as Anne of Green Gables, but it has more teeth.

Is it a masterpiece? No. Is it a good way to kill an hour on a rainy Tuesday? Yeah, I think so. It doesn't overstay its welcome. By the time the judge bangs the gavel for the last time, you’re kind of ready for it to be over, but not in a 'get me out of here' way. Just in a 'okay, that was fine' way.

Also, the clothes. Everyone looks like they spent their entire paycheck on hats. It’s wild. 🎩