FILM · 1979 · USA
...And Justice for All
41 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (41)
- #001
The closing courtroom scene was shot on the first take.
- #002
Al Pacino was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the second time for acting alongside his acting teacher Lee Strasberg; his first nomination had been for The Godfather Part II (1974).
- #003
Director Norman Jewison said of the film's lead actor: "It's an unusual role for Al Pacino. In past films like Dog Day Afternoon (1975) and even Serpico (1973), he was the eccentric, cut off from a sane world. This time, he's the most rational person in the picture. Everyone around him and his surroundings are strange."
- #004
The film is notable for a particular scene in which a judge, Judge Francis Rayford (played by Jack Warden), fires a handgun in court. According to director Norman Jewison's audio commentary, the claim is said to be based on a judge in Texas who brought an incredible number of guns to court. Jewison cited a survey showing that in one American county, five of six criminal judges carried firearms.
- #005
When Jack Warden was seen sitting on the edge of the law four stories up, he really was there. As a safety precaution against the possibility of slipping, the director wore a safety harness under his clothes.
- #006
It was the first feature film for actors Jeffrey Tambor and Larry Bryggman.
- #007
To prepare for the role of the lawyer, Al Pacino met with lawyers, researched the legal profession and sat in on courtrooms with legal eagles.
- #008
The coffee shop scene featuring Jack Warden and Al Pacino took twenty-six takes to shoot. Reportedly, the director ate so many sandwiches that he threw up.
- #009
Al Pacino was often seen to be "in character" both on and off set because of the method acting he had studied under supporting actor Lee Strasberg. During meal breaks, Pacino was known to call Strasberg by the character's name, Grandpa, and on one occasion, when someone working on the film asked him about a contract, Pacino began legally evaluating the contract on his behalf even though he was an actor, not a lawyer.
- #010
The screenwriters' observation of real-life court hearings produced the first draft of the script that caught director Norman Jewison's interest: "It had the feeling of theater that exists in a courtroom. I don't mean the fake theatrical plays like 'Where were you on the night of January 17?' Or 'I'm sorry, Your Honor, but a surprise witness is waiting in the corridor.' What actually happens in a courtroom is far more dramatic… or funny… or tragic… depending on the circumstances."
- #011
It is one of the first major Hollywood films of the modern era to be shot only in Baltimore, Maryland. Most of the film was shot there, but some sets were built for filming on sound stages at a studio in Los Angeles. Most of the film's cast was selected for a role in New York, but none of the film was shot there.
- #012
Actor Jeffrey Tambor had to wear a wig in many scenes. Scenes seen later in the film show him bald, and since film scenes are generally not shot in order, Tambor had shaved his head for the bald scenes and therefore had to wear a wig.
- #013
Co-screenwriter Valerie Curtin said of the lead actor playing the film's main character, Arthur Kirkland: "Mr. Pacino [Al Pacino] reflects reality, unlike some actors who always seem larger than life. That's very important for this character."
- #014
Co-screenwriter Barry Levinson said of researching the film in real-life American courtrooms: "The first thing that strikes you is that you shouldn't trust your first impressions. We'd see someone and say, 'Wow, he looks like a good man,' then discover he'd massacred his entire neighborhood. The second reaction is that truth and justice are not necessarily the same thing. Every trial is a unique personal drama with different motivations and different circumstances. But we want the law — the verdict — to be the same. Absolute."
- #015
It was the last film of actor Sam Levene, who played Arnie. It capped the 75-year-old character actor's acting career spanning forty years. The picture was also one of four feature films Levene appeared in that were released in 1979.
- #016
It was Christine Lahti's first feature film. Director Jewison cast her after seeing her in The Last Tenant (1978).
- #017
During post-production, voice dubbing for Al Pacino was scheduled during the day, and at night Pacino appeared on stage in William Shakespeare's "Richard III." Pacino would later make his own "Richard III" film, Looking for Richard (1996).
- #018
It was actor Craig T. Nelson's first feature film.
- #019
Jay's reveal of his new look is very shocking. Although a young or middle-aged man with a shaved head is an ordinary sight for modern audiences, it was unheard of in the 1970s, so its impact was quite shocking.
- #020
When screenwriters Valerie Curtin and Barry Levinson wrote ...And Justice for All (1979), they had star Al Pacino in mind for the lead character, Arthur Kirkland.
- #021
In the final scene of the film, Al Pacino breaks the fourth wall and looks directly into the camera with an incredulous expression.
- #022
Al Pacino worked with Lee Strasberg (Grandpa Sam) and Dominic Chianese (Carl Travers) for the second time in five years. All three actors had appeared in The Godfather Part II (1974). Strasberg played Hyman Roth and Chianese played Johnny Ola (Hyman Roth's "messenger boy").
- #023
The scenes showing the courtrooms and the interior of the courthouse were shot inside the Circuit Court building on Calvert Street in Baltimore, but the exterior shots of the courthouse actually belong to the War Memorial Building on Gay Street.
- #024
It is one of a number of Baltimore-set films written by Barry Levinson. Others include Diner (1982), Tin Men (1987), Avalon (1990) and Liberty Heights (1999).
- #025
The film was nominated for two Oscars in 1980: Best Actor (Al Pacino) and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for co-screenwriters Valerie Curtin and Barry Levinson, but the film did not win the Oscar in either category.
- #026
It was shot in Baltimore, Maryland. According to contemporary articles in Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, director Norman Jewison briefly considered shooting in Philadelphia. However, he settled on the original location mainly because of the historic courthouse with its magnificent interior designs and murals. Another factor was that the city's mayor had set up a commission to facilitate film productions.
- #027
The co-screenwriters did their research for the film in real-life courtrooms in two American cities: Baltimore, Maryland and Los Angeles, California.
- #028
The helicopter Judge Rayford flies in is a 1963 Bell 47G registered as N73983, and this helicopter was allowed to have its registration expire in 2013. The other helicopter used in the crash is a 1972 Bell 47G registered as N1468W. Shortly after appearing in this film, it was deregistered in 1979 and exported to Costa Rica.
- #029
Title designer Bob Gill was hired to design the film's poster, but he was later fired because the producers did not like his designs.
- #030
At the 1980 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, star Al Pacino won the Best Actor Award for his performance in this film, but he shared the prize with Uelese Petaia for the film Sons for the Return Home (1979).
- #031
Al Pacino and Craig T. Nelson would later appear together in the legal drama The Devil's Advocate (1997), in which Pacino would play a lawyer. A scene from that film was shot in Donald Trump's NYC apartment, and the character was inspired by Donald Trump.
- #032
In the diner scene after the helicopter crash, Jack Warden's character wears a baseball cap with a United States Marine Corps badge.
- #033
This was Sam Levene's last film.
- #034
The film's cast includes two Oscar winners, Al Pacino and Christine Lahti, and two Oscar nominees, Jack Warden and Lee Strasberg.
- #035
It is the first of five feature film screenplays written jointly by screenwriters Valerie Curtin and Barry Levinson. The films are: Toys (1992), Best Friends (1982), Inside Moves (1980), And Justice for All (1979) and Unfaithfully Yours (1984).
- #036
During Arthur's helicopter ride with Judge Rayford, they fly under the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. In the early hours of March 26, 2024, a large container ship struck the bridge's main support, and the entire main structure collapsed into the Patapsco River.
- #037
It is one of several collaborations between director Norman Jewison and producer Patrick J. Palmer.
- #038
Arthur's car is a 1973 BMW 2002. In 2021, an example of this car in excellent condition could be worth around $40,000.
- #039
It is the first of two feature film collaborations between director Norman Jewison and co-screenwriters Valerie Curtin and Barry Levinson; the second was Best Friends (1982), made about three years later and released first.
- #040
Apart from The Cincinnati Kid (1965), this is the first Norman Jewison film not distributed by United Artists or Universal Pictures.
- #041
In the courtroom scene where Kirkland (Pacino) confronts Bower (Nelson), Bower tells Kirkland that this case is the Superbowl and that he is the quarterback with three seconds left on the clock. Nelson would later play the lead and title character in the TV series Coach (1989), portraying a college football coach for eight years, and he also earned the nickname "Coach."
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