What an extraordinary movie and extraordinary performances by stellar actors! I just had to transcribe some excerpts. Frank Galvin's opening remarks:
"Your honor, ladies and gentlemen of the jury... it's a terrible thing to sit in judgment. So much rides on it. I know that you have thought, 'How can I be pure? How can, uh - 'How can I be... impartial without being cold? How can I be, uh...merciful and still be just I know that some of you have said prayers today...to be helped to judge correctly. Uh, we have the reputation of two men - two, um... well-respected doctors before us... and a renowned hospital. And with them we have my client... Deborah Ann Kaye who is deprived of sight... of speech... of hearing...of locomotion, of ... well, in short of everything that constitutes her life. We will prove... that she was deprived through negligence, through the negligence of these respected men..."
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Frank Galvin's closing remarks:
"Mr. Galvin."
"Mr. Galvin?"
"Summation?"
"Well... you know, so much of the time we're just lost. We say, 'Please, God. Tell us what is right. Tell us what is true.' I mean, there is no justice. The rich win, the poor are powerless. We become... tired of hearing people lie. And after a time, we become dead, we think of ourselves... as victims. And we become victims. We become - We become weak. We doubt ourselves. We doubt our beliefs. We doubt our institutions. And we doubt the law.But today, you are the law. You are the law...not some book, not the lawyers... not a marble statue... or the trappings of the court. You see, those are just symbols...of our desire... to be just. Well, they are - They are, in fact, a prayer. I mean, a fervent and frightened prayer. In my religion... they say, 'Act as if ye had faith. Faith will be given to you.' If - If we are to have faith in justice...we need only to believe in ourselves... and act with justice. See, I believe there is justice in our hearts. "
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