Presumed Innocent (1990) | Presenting Hitchcock Podcast

Gooooood evening. In this month’s episode of Presenting Hitchcock, Cory and Aaron have a severe conflict of interest as they discuss Presumed Innocent.

Written by: Frank Pierson and Alan J. Pakula

Based on the novel by Scott Turow

Starring: Harrison Ford, Raul Julia, Greta Scacchi, Brian Dennehy, Bonnie Bedelia, Paul Winfield, John Spencer, and Joe Grifasi

Directed by: Alan J. Pakula

Trailer:

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Hitchcock comparisons:

• Blackmail
• Murder!
• Young and Innocent
• Shadow of a Doubt
• Paradine Case
• I Confess
• Dial M for Murder
• Marnie

Scott Turow’s 1987 novel Presumed Innocent had first attracted film producers a year before it was published. The film rights were the subject of a bidding war among a host of established studios and producers. David Brown and Richard D. Zanuck made the first bid of $75,000. Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer initially offered $300,000, financed by Paramount Pictures, but backed down when bids climbed to $750,000. Peter Guber and Jon Peters, and Sydney Pollack and Mark Rosenberg of Mirage Enterprises made $1 million bids of their own money, winning the bid. Pollack also considered directing the film himself.

Paul Winfield read the novel in the late 80s and loved it, telling his agent that if a movie was ever made, he had to have the role of the judge. A few years later when the movie was actually in pre-production, Winfield campaigned hard for the part of the judge, impressing director Alan J. Pakula, who auditioned him and subsequently cast him.

The movie’s plot differs in several ways from the novel. In the book, Barbara Sabich never overtly confesses to the murder of Carolyn Polhemus. Rusty Sabich figures out that she murdered Polhemus, and confronts her about it, then the monologue in third person is delivered by Rusty rather than Barbara.

Presumed Innocent was followed by a two-part television miniseries, The Burden of Proof (1992). Based on Turow’s 1990 novel, the miniseries focuses on defense attorney Sandy Stern (played by Héctor Elizondo), who investigates his wife’s past following her apparent suicide. A television sequel, Innocent (2011), was based on Turow’s 2010 sequel novel to Presumed Innocent. Set twenty years after the events of the 1990 film, the story follows Rusty Sabich (Bill Pullman), who is charged with the murder of his wife Barbara (Marcia Gay Harden). A mini-series, based on the original novel and developed by David E. Kelley and J. J. Abrams is currently airing on AppleTV+ starring Jake Gyllenhaal.

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Next up, we’ll be discussing The Saint.

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