Writer: Wendell Mayes

Wendell Mayes adapted Anatomy of a Murder, which was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay and remains one of the most technically accurate courtroom films made, preserving the ambiguity of the case instead of resolving it for the audience.

He also wrote The Poseidon Adventure, In Harm’s Way and Death Wish, moving between prestige adaptation and commercial genre without apparent difficulty.

Anatomy of a Murder is the one that lasts, partly because the script refuses to tell the audience whether the defendant is lying.