Darrow = Clarence Darrow: attorney for the damned

Born in 1857 in Ohio, Clarence Darrow was to become one of the most famous and highly recognised lawyers in America, most notably through the defence of Eugene Debs during the Pullman railroad strike (1894), the Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb murder trial (1924) and the John Scopes “Monkey trial” (1925). He was a defender and a champion of the poor, an intellect, and a paradox, leaving his successful country practice in Ohio to become a Chicago based lawyer where he entertained and became the darling of the young intellectuals, his Chicago apartment the site for frequent gatherings. In 1907 Darrow successfully defended Bill Haywood and other leaders of the Western Federation of Miners, accused in the bombing-assassination of the former governor of Idaho but in Los Angeles in 1912, it was Darrow himself who was on trial, charged with an attempted bribe of a juror. This made-for-television biographical dramatization of Darrow’s life provides an insight into this brilliant, somewhat unorthodox, lawyer who relied upon the power of the spoken word. Starring Kevin Spacey as Clarence Darrow, with Erin Cressida Wilson, Rebecca Jenkins, Chris Cooper, Paul Klementowicz, Calista Flockhart.