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| The Paper Chase | | Date Created: Aug 13, 2005, 09:54 PM |
 Ah, the classics.
It's no wonder movie ticket sales are down. It's too easy to buy the DVD and enjoy pizza and wine at home...
I ran into a copy of this movie at B & N and couldn't resist.
Based on the novel by the same name, this movie seemed perfect for the end of the sixties and the transition out of college to law school, med school, or whatever. It seems a bit dated now of course. The movie came out in '73 and as a member of the great college class of '73, I remember falling in love with Lindsay Wagner and cringing when Professor Kingsfield says, "Mr. Hart. Here's a dime. Call your mother. Tell her there's grave doubt you will ever be a lawyer."
Other interesting actors were James Naughton and Edward Hermann. John Houseman went on to do ads for Smith-Barney -- he earned it. Timothy Bottoms who played Mr. Hart didn't thrive after The Last Picture Show and The Paper Chase.
Compared to medical school, the first year of law school at Harvard had some similarities but there was less emphasis on grades and more pressure dealing with real life issues rather than legal abstractions. Medical school is based on science. Law school is not. The format of teaching was different as well. The inability to carry on a life outside of medical school (and later residency) was very similar.
From a legal standpoint, I use the Paper Chase as an example of what law was before the rules were changed and tort liability as well as lawsuits as a means of social engineering became open fields for lawyers' greed and power. When the book was written, contract law was king and tort law was a backwater. The movie thus portrays contract law when it was dominant. It's too bad we couldn't go back to the practice of law when it had at least some stability and integrity. But then we wouldn't need as many lawyers as we have today and they wouldn't be as wealthy and powerfull... |
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