Main Cast: Walter Matthau, Jill Clayburgh, Barnard Hughes, Jan Sterling, James Stephens
Release Year: 1981
Country: US
Run Time: 98 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
The election of Sandra Day O'Connor to the Supreme Court rendered the premise of First Monday in October anachronistic before the picture was even released; ignoring this, however, the film is supremely entertaining (no pun intended). Jill Clayburgh stars as Ruth Loomis, the first lady justice ever appointed to the Court. She's a conservative, while her principal foe on the bench, Dan Snow (Walter Matthau), is an old-line liberal. The film glides along on a predictable Tracy-Hepburn course until Snow comes to Loomis' defense when her late industrialist husband is accused of improprieties which might compromise Loomis' effectiveness. First Monday in October was adapted by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee from their own Broadway play, which starred Henry Fonda. Actress Martha Scott co-produced the film, while several other Hollywood veterans, including Herb Vigran and Ann Doran, dot the supporting case. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
First Monday in October is often criticized as being dated because its "hook" -- that a woman has finally been appointed to the Supreme Court -- has been irrelevant for decades. What really makes the film dated, however, isn't its premise but its execution. Monday is a tired replay of the "battle of the sexes/opposites come together" genre that has been seen time and time again; setting it inside the Supreme Court does nothing more than provide for a few minor but not very interesting variations. The Lawrence and Lee screenplay is short on invention and long on very obvious calculation. The dialogue is professional and has a certain surface sheen to it, but there's no substance beneath it; after a while, it becomes manipulative and wearing. Ronald Neame's direction does little to help; it goes exactly where it's supposed to go in exactly the manner in which it is expected to go, although it takes its time getting there, and therefore adds no new dimension or surprises to the by-the-numbers script. First Monday in October does have two talented stars to help it over the bumpy parts, and they (fortunately) have a definite chemistry between them. Jill Clayburgh tries hard but cannot really do anything with her cardboard cut-out character, but Walter Matthau brings his usual lovable grumpiness to the character and makes him come to greater life than he has any right to. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Joshua Bryant - Bill Russell; Wiley Harker - Justice Harold Webb; F.J. O'Neil - Justice Waldo Thompson; Charles Lampkin - Justice Josiah Clewes; Lew Palter - Justice Benjamin Halperin; Richard McMurray - Justice Richard Carey; Herb Vigran - Justice Ambrose Quincy; Arthur Adams; Dallas Alinder - Norman; Nick Angotti - Plaintiff's Attorney; James Brodhead - Court Marshal; Jordan Charney - Doctor; Ann Doran - Storekeeper; Bebe Drake-Massey - Nurse; Hugh Gillin - Southern Senator; Dudley Knight - Assistant Manager; Mary Munday - Head Nurse; Bob Sherman; Wendy E. Taylor - Cab Driver; Noble Willingham - Nebraska Attorney; Dick Winslow - Barber; William Clark; David Graham; Richard McKenzie - Hostile Senator; Joe Terry; Edwin M. Adams - Clergyman; Olive Dunbar - Ms. Radabaugh; Sig Frohlich - Custodian; Dale E. House - Pilot; Stanley Lawrence - Court Guard; Edmund Stoiber - Committee Chairman; Jim Vanko - Chief Ranger; Ray Colbert - Senator
Credit
John V. Cartwright - Art Director, Charles Matthau - Associate Producer, Ruth Myers - Costume Designer, Thomas Lofaro - First Assistant Director, Ronald Neame - Director, Peter E. Berger - Editor, Ian Fraser - Composer (Music Score), Philip M. Jefferies - Production Designer, Fred Koenekamp - Cinematographer, Martha Scott - Producer, Paul Heller - Producer, Ernie Bishop - Set Designer, Beverli Eagan - Set Designer, Geoff Hubbard - Set Designer, Robert de Vestel - Set Designer, Keith A. Wester - Sound/Sound Designer, Robert E. Lee - Screenwriter, Jerome Lawrence - Screenwriter, Robert E. Lee - Play Author, Jerome Lawrence - Play Author
In her review, Janet Maslin noted several narrative discontinuities in the film, as well as the casting of James Stephens in a role very similar to his role in the television series The Paper Chase.[1]
The film was destined for a February 1982 release; President Ronald Reagan's appointment of Sandra Day O'Connor as the first female Supreme Court justice on July 7, 1981 forced the film's release a month after the presidential nomination.
Richard McMurray (Associate Justice Richard Carey)
Herb Vigran (Associate Justice Ambrose Quincy)
Plot summary
At the start of the story, the death of Associate Justice Stanley Moorehead has created a vacancy on the United States Supreme Court. The new appointee turns out to be Ruth Loomis, a staunch conservative, who is confirmed as the first female US Supreme Court Justice. She and Associate Justice Daniel Snow, a committed liberal and many years older than Loomis, clash intellectually on just about every judicial issue before them. One case involves a pornographic film and arguments about freedom of speech. With time, the two characters develop a liking and respect for each other.
