Detective Kenneth Wiggan (Larry Hankin) and Detective Paul Mackay (Dick Anthony Williams) see a suspicious man early one morning. When they approach him, the man runs off. They pursue him through back yards and side streets. They see him dump a gun in a garbage can before running into his house. Just then the garbage truck comes down the street. Because they don’t have a warrant, they wait until the can is dumped into the truck before retrieving it from the garbage truck scoop. They arrest the man, Hector Andujar (Domingo Ambriz). It turns out that the gun was used in several murder/robberies of five elderly women for their welfare checks. The case is thrown out of court because of a technicality. Judge Steven Hardin (Michael Douglas) was presiding.
Two men Lawrence Monk (Don Calfa) and Arthur Cooms (Joe Regalbuto) are arrested for murdering a child. Evidence is found in the search of their van. Once again, the case is thrown out of court because of an improper search. Once again, the presiding judge is Steven Hardin. Both Monk and Cooms are released. The dead boy’s father, Dr. Harold Lewin (James Sikking), tries to shoot both men in court and is arrested. Shortly after that, another little boy is found tortured and murdered. Frustrated with the system Hardin goes to his mentor, Judge Benjamin Caulfield (Hal Holbrook) for advice.
Judge Caulfield tells Hardin about a group of judges that pick up where the law falls down. He calls it the court of last resort. Believing that they are dispensing justice, the nine judges on the panel review cases where the guilty party was released from justice due to technical issues. A judge will bring to the panel the case history of a vicious and violent crime where the perpetrator was let off due to a procedural technicality. The judges read the history and vote on whether or not the suspect is guilty or not. If they unanimously find him guilty a hitman, hired anonymously by the judges, is sent to kill the person they deem has escaped justice.
When Lewin commits suicide in jail, Hardin, distraught over the trial outcome, decides to bring the case to the panel. They all agree to put a hit out on Cooms and Monk. Not long after that Hardin learns that three other men were arrested for the murders and that Cooms and Monk are innocent. When he tries to have the hit cancelled, he runs into a problem. A really big problem.
“The Star Chamber” was released in 1983 and was directed by Peter Hyams. It is an American crime thriller. At one point, I believe sometime in 2020, a television series was considered but nothing, so far, has become of it.
The movie didn’t do all that well at the box office. I’m not sure why, most likely because early results were disappointing and the powers-that-be decided to replace it with “Mr. Mom” which was good for “Mr. Mom” but not for the even better “Star Chamber”. The plot and concept of the film may be slightly standard, but the film is put together rather well. There’s some half-way decent police action throughout the film as well as some nice lighting and cinematography. At times it’s rather noirish. It ended up being interesting. I liked it.
Michael Douglas’ mother, Diana Douglas, plays Hal Holbrook’s wife, Adrian Caulfield, in the movie. The original members of the Star Chamber were Judge Hardin, Judge Caulfield, Judge Archer, Judge Stoner, Judge Kirkland, Judge Bocho, Judge Fogelson, Judge Lang and Judge Culhane.