MovieChat Forums > Sergeant Rutledge (1960) Discussion > Trial transcript?

Trial transcript?

posted 15 years ago by bradford-1
3 replies | jump to latest

I don't begin to consider myself an expert on the Army and courts martial, but shouldn't someone have been taking down the testimony here? I know some kind of shorthand existed at the time, but I saw no one writing anything, not the members of the court sitting at the table, nor anyone sitting in the court gallery. (The only writing I remember is Hunter doodling trying to figure out the too-big buckskin jacket). Maybe it was a small detail that was overlooked, but it just seemed odd to me that a controversial trial like this could pass with no apparent written record.

[–] directorgene 14 years ago

You are digging too deep. You could also say in real court the prosecutor is not allow to approach the witness and point finger at him. It a movie so they have artist licence to throw out some of the red tape stuff and tiny detail for the betterment of the movie. You can have all those things, sure, but then you would risk the movie being boaring because you have some much trival stuff to take the audience attention. It sort the rule "Keep it Simple, Stupid". You can bog down a movie with a lot of details, and make it seem boring.

Just look at the episodes of Perry Mason. You always had the witness in the court room so the audience could see there faces as they waiting to be called to the stand. In really life , you excuse the witnesses, and they wait outside as not to get there tesimony match up incase they are lying.

All I am saying is you skip a lot of things and keep it active and lively and a minimun of deversion when you watch a film like this.

Sincerley Gene

[–] fsb_mc 14 years ago

The court recorder was sitting at a table behind the camera, following the script.

[–] bradford-1 12 years ago

Ok, but I've been a juror several times and in every trial I've been a part of, and at some point, a lawyer or the judge will ask the court stenographer to read back a certain portion of the testimony or a question posed. And I have read excerpts from the court-martial (circa 1885) of Henry Flipper, the first black West Point graduate. His wasn't even a murder-rape trial and there was a transcript.
"We're fighting for this woman's honor, which is more than she ever did."