Gideon's Trumpet (1980)

Review by All Movie Guide
Gideon's Trumpet is among the few films to treat the law as a serious subject. The real-life history behind this case is perhaps even more amazing than the film: occasional handy man and convicted petty thief Clarence Gideon sent a handwritten petition to the U.S. Supreme Court that forced a major, long-overdue change in the law. Unlike docudramas that present a simplistic view of their subjects, Gideon's Trumpet does not falsely make its protagonist into a likable hero, and Henry Fonda's powerful performance is one of the few times that he played a character so obviously flawed as a person. It is among his best late-career performances. Despite its origins as a made-for-television movie, Gideon's Trumpet contains inventive camera work and an overall sheen of quality that belie its TV-movie status. It ranks with the best films of the early 1980s, despite not having had a theatrical release. ~ Richard Gilliam, All Movie Guide