First Monday in October

source: First Monday in October

This is a film about the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court, released about the same time that Reagan appointed the first woman to the Supreme Court - Sandra Day O'Connor - with the female justice, Justice Ruth Loomis played by Jill Clayburgh, and Walter Matthau as her fellow justice and ideological nemesis, Justice Dan Snow. The chief justice is played by Barnard Hughes who seems to just want to keep the peace and keep a low profile, not really what you would expect from a chief justice. Weirdly nobody calls him by name, they just call him C.J. This thing is really a time capsule, and that was surprising since I was 23 when it was released and thought of 1981 as modern times. At Loomis' confirmation hearings she is asked if being a woman will influence her decisions and why she doesn't have any children! Even the justices make sexist remarks like saying "the perfume will make the place smell better" and wondering if she will put up curtains! The really interesting thing for me was that I had a hard time telling whether Loomis and Matthau were just disagreeing on individual cases or if one was right and the other left or if one or the other was supposed to be a moderate! Not until the end does the film clearly tell you which is which with a funny line about cab fare and liberals never having money. There are two cases the justices spar over - one is about a pornographic film that the maker says is actually an educational documentary, and the other is a large corporation's possible attempt to squash the development of an idea that would have competed with their established products. Loomis naively talks about the virtues of big corporations and how they only want to build up America and their stockholders. Matthau does a monologue about defending everybody's right to free speech no matter how offensive. Today nobody believes big corporations are inherently good, and both libs and conservatives would like to squish the other side's free speech rights if they could. The dialogue could have been better for the material, but there is a mini-mystery towards the end that gives the film an interesting twist. Matthau is basically just playing a more erudite version of Oscar the slob from The Odd Couple. Matthau's character's wife (Jan Sterling) leaves him in the middle of the movie because - I'm not sure - the reason she gave was that her husband did not know what kind of wallpaper they had, but she made sure to take that fur coat with her! Probably she left so that there could be a possibility of sexual tension between Matthau's and Clayburgh's characters. I'll let you watch and find out if that actually happens. I loved it if for no other reason than to take a look back at how politics used to be. I'd give it an 8/10 but YMMV. Especially when you see the credits and find that Robert E. Lee co-wrote the play and the screenplay! It probably could not get screened today because of that! Oh how times have changed!

The dialogue is priceless, and the physical comedy is great too, i.e., Barnard Hughes never says a word as he approaches Matthau's office where Matthau and Clayburgh are in a heated debate; it's a long shot from the office doorway as he approaches, and as soon as he is within earshot, he does a perfect "to the rear, march" without missing a beat! I agree wholeheartedly with the comments of bato-2 except for the "comedy isn't much" remark. Why such a low rating? This movie is among the many that I have taped, and I return to it often for "pure enjoyment".

Walter Matthau will always be one of my favorites from the sleazy bar-owner in King Creole to Hopscotch(another unusual pairing with Glenda Jackson)to countless other films he has appeared in... His droll comments and quick wit are hilarious.... and Jill Clayburgh does stand up to the occasion of matching him in legal argument(although scripted).... Of all the Matthau pieces, I think this is well worth the time, though I think the title(refers to the first sitting each year of the Supreme Court Judges)could have been a little more enticing to the general public... I think as a result of the title this movie has been largely overlooked... It is a funny, believable piece, well worth catching if you can!

Though First Monday In October didn't last too long on Broadway, the Jerome Lawrence-Robert E. Lee play made one fine sparkling movie for Walter Matthau and Jill Clayburgh taking over the roles that Henry Fonda and Jill Alexander did on the stage. In 1978 when this was on stage, the iconoclastic William O. Douglas had been gone three years from the Supreme Court and the idea of a woman justice was yet untried. So imagine the serendipitous joy with the producers when Ronald Reagan added Sandra Day O'Connor to the court. You couldn't buy better publicity. Matthau is clearly based on William O. Douglas who was a far seeing advocate for social justice and change on the bench. Matthau if you can believe is a kinder, gentler version of Douglas. In real life Douglas was not a nice guy, in fact personally he was a swine. The banter with which you see him engage his law clerk James Stephens would never happen, he went through law clerks like he did wives. Ditto with Jan Sterling playing Mrs. Matthau. The first Mrs. Douglas had taken a hike years earlier and Douglas was on wife number 4 in her twenties at this time. He died in 1980. O'Connor replaced Potter Stewart in 1981 on the bench so in real life these two never served. Still First Monday In October you'd like to think would be how they got along with even a little romance thrown in once the two got to know each other. Douglas never got along with colleagues, especially those who had a different point of view. Still Matthau is one of his patented curmudgeons and Clayburgh do have a good cinema chemistry which makes First Monday In October a pleasant piece of viewing.

source: First Monday in October

Walter Mathau left many wonderful performances for us to enjoy, and here is another one of them. In what could be a rehearsal for GRUMPY OLD MEN, it's great to see how he and Jill Clayburgh bounce off each other. Their characters are so different and opposite, yet they're like two pillars holding up the roof of the system. I find it difficult to fault this movie, It's enjoyable from start to finish.

Let's see. We need to cast a justice of the United States Supreme Court. Who would be good? I can't say that Walter Matthau would come to my mind very readily. And yet, as I sat there watching this film again after 34 years, it occurred to me that perhaps, this was Matthau's best performance because it is not at all type casting. And his repartee with Jill Clayburgh when they were discussing * is just brilliant. Of course, today this film seems dated. We have more than one female justice of the Supreme Court, and indeed, one was selected right about when this film came out. There is one big problem with this film from my perspective. The ending leaves everything up in the air. So much more could have been done with the conclusion of the film. Beyond that, it's a very nice production (and for film buffs, one of the producers was actress Martha Scott). Other than the interiors of the Supreme Court, much was shot on location. The cast was excellent. As I already indicated, Walter Matthau was superb here in his role as a liberal curmudgeon on the Supreme Court. And, there's great chemistry with Jill Clayburgh, who played the first female member of the Supreme Court. Barnard Hughes was just right for the role of Chief Justice. Jan Sterling had a minor role as Matthau's wife. James Stephens was a young actor who sort of disappeared after a while, but I always thought he was excellent, as he is here. While not a perfect film, it's darned good, and I rather admire it. A strong "7".

Dan Snow (Walter Matthau) is a liberal Supreme Court Judge. He is sadden by his friend's death, his conservative opposite on the bench. He is horrified when the President picks Orange County conservative judge Ruth Loomis (Jill Clayburgh) to be the new replacement despite her being the first female Supreme Court Judge. The issues being fought over almost seem quaint at times. It kinda goes back and forth without finding a direction. Their arguing is not any fun and gets tiresome rather quickly. There is humor in Matthau's grumpiness and some banter. At least, they don't get together which partially saves this.

There's one scene where Walter Matthau's character is having a heart-attack and when Jill Clayburgh asks him if he's OK, he replies with a smile on the face that he likes all that. I can say that "First Monday In October" is just like this situation, I can say that I liked some things of the film but I'm gonna say with a painful expression on my face. Matthau and Clayburgh are wonderful but the movie doesn't fly high in imagination and in space simply because it's a filmed play, with long dialogs that neither were interesting or too funny to be put on the screen to be classified as a comedy on serious matters like the election of a female judge to occupy a seat in the Supreme Court. The subject is too serious to be taken fun of, in fact, I've never seen a movie with this theme being hilariously funny without being a goofy comedy (except the last minutes of "The Bonfire of the Vanities" which is brilliant). Ronald Neame directs a boring plot, with some sparkles between the main characters who exchange great lines about court ethics on trials, and specially about Matthau's conduct in not watching a obscene film called "The Nymphomaniac Naked" which was the case whether that film was * or an art film; the "fake" trial where Matthau plays the director of such film is the most memorable moment of the film; and the funniest being the scene where all the judges are taking a photograph which seems to be an impossible mission to the photographer since all the characters can't stop arguing and laughing at each other over their different points of view. "First Monday In October" is 80% drama and 20% comedy, as you see there's no balance between the two genres and that's why it was difficult to swallow and digest the film as being a good film; it almost got there, but I was expecting something like "House Calls", a previous work starring Matthau and Glenda Jackson, that had a rivalry that later becomes a romance between the two, and with some dramatic moments, without killing the humor away. Instead, all I've got was an almost dated subject with few humor, vast quantity of drama, touching performances. It goes into many ways to end up being humorless. Made to be as substitute for sleeping pills. 5/10