Au-dessus de la loi

Original title: Outrage!

TV Movie
1986
Not Rated
1h 34m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

After a technicality results in the release of a man being tried for the rape and murder of a young woman, her father murders the man. Admitting his guilt and refusing to use temporary insan... Read allAfter a technicality results in the release of a man being tried for the rape and murder of a young woman, her father murders the man. Admitting his guilt and refusing to use temporary insanity, the father places his attorney in a virtual no-win situation. In an extreme effort, t... Read allAfter a technicality results in the release of a man being tried for the rape and murder of a young woman, her father murders the man. Admitting his guilt and refusing to use temporary insanity, the father places his attorney in a virtual no-win situation. In an extreme effort, the attorney decides to call the judge who released the murderer originally and to challeng... Read all

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IMDb RATING

6.7/10

175

YOUR RATING

11User reviews

See production info at IMDbPro

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Trivia
Prior to filming, one late Friday afternoon, Robert Preston was ushered into Irwin Allen's office for a casual meeting and discussion. While Irwin was talking, Preston dozed off into a nap. Irwin stood at his desk, walked out of the office to check with his secretary and with his Art Director. Returning to his desk, he sat waiting, Preston awakened, and Irwin continued his conversation. Again, Preston dosed off asleep. About five minutes, Preston revived, and again the conversation resumed. After the meeting, Irwin Allen had his Production Manger take Preston over to the St. John's Hospital for a complete medical checkup. Irwin didn't want Robert Preston bailing out on him in the middle of the film shoot.

User reviews11

Featured review

8/10

The system itself on trial

Robert Preston's farewell performance is in this fine made for TV movie Outrage! If you watch this film outrage is exactly what you will feel.

The film opens with Preston buying 38 caliber pistol after being assured it will 'do the job' in a state with less stringent gun control laws then coming back to New York City and after tracking him down, emptying the pistol into the body of Stan Haze who got off on a technicality after raping and killing Preston's daughter Susan Mackin who is only seen in flashback.

After committing this act Preston walks into a police station and gives himself up and waives counsel and makes a full statement as to what he did and why.

Judge Burgess Meredith in a move who truly regrets asks young attorney Beau Bridges recently of the DA's office to take the case and defend Preston. A lawyer is supposed to defend his client zealously, but not quite as zealously as Bridges does when he put the system on trial itself.

Preston is a truly broken man, he's got one surviving child, a son who became a priest and lives and works in a remote part of South America, one son killed in Vietnam and this daughter who died. His wife Selma Archerd dies shortly after the dismissal of charges in the daughter's case. Preston feels he's got nothing to live for. Makes him a truly dangerous man to one he hates.

Purportedly the object of our legal system is justice. Justice went quite a bit awry here. When Bridges questions the whole system that led to this Outrage! he walks on the fighting side of Burgess Meredith.

Colleagues do stick together and the 'system' is what these guys live by. And as Meredith says after many contempt citations judges have long memories. His colleague on the original rape case is played by Mel Ferrer. For his defense strategy Bridges borrows from what Clarence Darrow did to William Jennings Bryan in the Scopes Monkey Trial.

Some good performances come from Linda Purl as Bridges wife and big breadwinner in the family at this point, William Allen Young as the Assistant District Attorney, and most of all from Anthony Newley.

Newley is one of those bottom feeding agents who wants the rights to Preston's and Bridges story. He's already spending his agent's commission on book and movie rights to be. He's loathsome, but he might prove necessary for the future.

This is one outstanding made for TV film and as good a one for Preston to go out on as The Shootist for John Wayne and The Misfits for Clark Gable.