Am ersten Montag im Oktober

You have to hand it to Walter Matthau, the older he gets, the more feisty his characters become!!

This is a sorely underappreciated minor gem with two brilliant performances from Matthau and Clayburgh. Their chemistry is wonderful. All in all the film is clever, funny, original, and down right fun!!!

If you happen to find this film at your local video store, check it out...its well worth discovering!

Clayburgh did a fantastic job of balancing Matthau's usual strong performance. The two struck a rapport that I never expected, and they ran off with the movie. I gave it an 8 instead of a 10 mostly because the script and cast couldn't keep up with them. Also, they have some weak spots when they go for light-hearted comedy. For me, the real shining light of the entire show was the way the two managed to continue an understandable discussion of the hot issues in jurisprudence of that time -- at least fifteen minutes of viewing are justified by that historical perspective alone. In short, it's heart-warming, well-acted in the leads, and technically tighter than most viewers would realize.

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".

President Ronald Reagan's appointment of Sandra Day O'Connor as the first woman Supreme Court Justice in the USA in 1981 may have inspired this movie even though the original play was several years earlier.

Jill Clayburgh stars as the unattached, conservative, and sprightly Ruth Loomis from California who remains undaunted as the new Justice. Co-star Walter Matthau (Dan Snow) is the cantankerous, veteran liberal Justice with whom she repartees on various legal issues. Obviously there are long dialog scenes. Snow is an advocate of free speech and expression. "I'll defend everybody's right to speak and every man's right to be wrong!" he exclaims. Snow also rails, "There are only eight of us left against all of her." There is one odd exchange delivered by Justice Loomis during her confirmation: "The F.B.I. is wrong in reporting to you that I have no children. Ideas are my children, and I have hundreds of them." Yikes! But, exhibiting good chemistry, both stars are at the top of their game. Clayburgh and Matthau are both quick-witted and likable.

The movie was shot on location in the District of Columbia and also in California. As the plot is rather thin, the acting carries the movie. It is not bad, but it is also no classic.

The US Supreme Court elects its first Madam Justice, an attractive, widowed judge from California; the first issue on the docket is whether a Nebraska zealot pining for family values can ban a pornographic film (it's title: "The Naked Nymphomaniac"). Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee's script, based upon their play, is cognizant of the effects of a female voice on the Supreme Court, but doesn't give Jill Clayburgh's Ruth Loomis anything but obvious points to make. She is a Woman, hear her Roar! The cutesy repartee with fellow Justice Snow (an uncomfortable-seeming Walter Matthau) matches her women's-lib quips with his scratchy retorts, and no matter how truthful Loomis' arguments may be, everything in this version is underlined with whimsy. It's a poor substitute for strong political comedy, coming off more like a Hepburn-and-Tracy cast-off unearthed in a filing cabinet. *1/2 from ****