AllMovie

Henry Fonda stars in this one-man play based on the writings of famed defense attorney Clarence Darrow. The play, constructed in the form of a monologue, traces Darrow's progress from a greenhorn lawyer to a giant in the field of civil libertarianism. Darrow (Fonda) muses on experiences ranging from his handling of the turn-of-century Pullman strike to the Leopold-Loeb murder to the Scopes "Monkey Trial" of 1925. Surprisingly, Fonda's bravura performance won him neither a Tony Award when presented on Broadway, nor an Emmy when recreated for television in 1974. Clarence Darrow was first seen on PBS; it later became a staple of such cable services as Arts & Entertainment.