An Army officer is accused of murdering a bartender, whom he claims he killed because the man raped his wife. He turns to a tenacious lawyer to get him off the hook, but the attorney faces a challenge because the prosecution alleges the defendant killed the barman because he was having an affair with his wife. Otto Preminger's courtroom drama, starring James Stewart, Ben Gazzara, Lee Remick and Eve Arden.

Semi-retired Michigan lawyer Paul Biegler takes the case of Army Lt. Manion, who murdered a local innkeeper after his wife claimed that he raped her. Over the course of an extensive trial, Biegler parries with District Attorney Lodwick and out-of-town prosecutor Claude Dancer to set his client free, but his case rests on the victim's mysterious business partner, who's hiding a dark secret.