My father first told me about the late Judge John Volker (aka Robert Traver) in the early '60s. Dad is a lawyer and had argued a case before Judge Volker when he was a Michigan Supreme Court Justice (Dad won). He was quite impressed with Volker, and although he never knew him well, he did learn some about the book and the actual murder.
The actual murder took place some time in the '50s I believe. The facts of it are very similar to those in the book(and the movie), although the names have been changed and the plot emboldened for the screen. Volker was the defending attorney, representing the accused murderer. What is not widely known outside of Marquette County is that the proprietor of the bar (the victim), an ex-state policman was more than the bully he was made out to be in the movie. He was not well liked in the community. In fact he was feared by many throughout the county. It would have been impossible to choose an impartial jury, and in fact, the jury very likely was not impartial. Several old-timers that I have spoken to in the area said simply: "He had it coming". For this reason, and we must also assume that Volker presented a convincing case as well, the jury did not convict the accused. In the end, Volker, like Beigler in the movie, did not get paid either.
The Lumberjack Tavern, the actual site of the murder, has recently been remodeled. Curiously, they have painted the film logo, the outline of the murdered proprietor, on the floor of the bar in a spot that must be very close to the actual place where he fell. Years ago, one could still see the bullet holes in the floor. Those are gone now, but careful study of the period photos and newspaper clippings dispayed in the Lumberjack show the propeitor standing in the same position behind the bar.
The bar where the movie was shot can be visited at the Thunder Bay Inn, just a block from the Lumberjack. The Lumberjack was, apparently, not a good enough set for the movie, so an addition was built on the Thunder Bay Inn for the exclusive use as a movie set. It has been remodeled but can still be recognised as the bar in the movie.
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luciusfox
18 years ago
Yeah... I've always wanted to see this movie. I lived in Marquette for a while and graduated from Munising High School... about 45 mins. away. I'm definitely going to have to visit the Lumberjack Tavern when I visit the UP next. Is this film on DVD?
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SophieToms
18 years ago
Wow, lots of "Yoopers" here! I grew up in the UP also, though to the west, in Ontonagon and White Pine.
www.lyricsforlife.org
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SammyAnnie
17 years ago
Here's another Yooper, loving Anatomy of a Murder! My great aunt was in the movie! She was one of the jury members- sadly to say the largest woman there. She died not too shortly after the film debuted.
Here's a funny statement:
You know you're a fanatic about the U.P. if:
You take a U.P. Lit class in high school, and get really excited when you are going to watch Anatomy of a Murder on your birthday! (okay, so this won't apply to anyone except me, but I thought it was funny)
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noirish73
11 years ago
I remember my parents going to see this movie when I was a kid, much too young to see "such a movie" (and this was before the ratings system, of course). It stuck in my mind because that is the only time I remember my parents ever going to a movie alone! But my mother just had to see it. She was from the western U.P. and her father had been a judge.
Love watching the movie any time I run across it! Saw it AGAIN last night. :)
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