The Paper Chase (1973)

Director: James Bridges                               Writer: James Bridges
Film Score: John Williams                            Cinematography: Gordon Willis
Starring: Timothy Bottoms, Lindsay Wagner, John Houseman and Graham Beckel

For years I thought this film was based on the book by Scott Turrow entitled One-L, but in fact it was from the novel of the same name by John Jay Osborn, Jr. The film traces the trials and triumphs of a first year law student named James Hart, and The Paper Chase was so popular that it was spun off into a television series that, when dumped by CBS for low ratings, created so much viewer demand that it was picked up by Showtime and ran for several more seasons that even found their way onto PBS. It’s a curious film, one that could only be a success in the seventies, focusing on the relationship of a student to the most challenging professor at Harvard Law School, and the way in which he evolves from a meek student to someone who believes in himself and his own abilities. It’s Rocky for intellectuals, and is just as exhilarating.

Hart is played by Timothy Bottoms, who had recently been very successful in Peter Bogdonavich’s The Last Picture Show, and he’s incredibly good in the role. John Houseman plays the daunting Professor Kingsfield. He is masterful in the performance and it's easily his best known work, winning him an Oscar for best supporting actor in the process. Bottoms is befriended by the student across the hall, Graham Beckel and the two become friends of sorts, similar minds that have very different upbringings, and their push to study for finals is both humorous and ingenious. Things go well until Bottoms meets Linday Wagner and he learns the hard way that having a girlfriend will not allow him to study the way he needs to in order to be successful in school. It’s painful to watch at times, but there is also a nice twist with her character and ultimately a satisfying ending. Other members of the cast include the great David Clennon, as well as Edward Herrman, James Naughton and Blair Brown.

The film is imbued with a seventies sensibility, from bow ties and corduroy jackets to bell bottoms and big hair, but because of the law school setting it retains a certain timeless quality to it. Director James Bridges was primarily active in the seventies, writing and directing such hits as The China Syndrome and Urban Cowboy, and even went on to write for The Paper Chase television series. The film also boasts one of John Williams’ early scores, utilizing some existing classical music as well as relying on the harpsichord which he would also use to great effect on Hitchcock’s Family Plot.

It’s an intimate film, in a way, the drama being mostly self-contained within the characters, and the conflict in the film develops more from what is left unsaid than the dialogue itself. While Houseman does, in fact, have a relationship with Bottoms, he refuses to acknowledge it, continuing to ask his name the few times they speak. It’s maddening for Bottoms, who wants the recognition almost more than the grade. At the same time Wagner understands that in order for Bottoms to be successful in school he can’t continue to see her, and their breakup is tough for him because she never tells him that. It may not sound like much on paper, but The Paper Chase is incredibly inspiring and one of the greatest films of the seventies. I can’t recommend it enough.