The movie Marshall focuses on one case in 1941 in Bridgeport, Connecticut that was co-lawyered by the famed Thurgood Marshall (Chadwick Boseman). He was sent by the NAACP to defend a black man who had been accused of raping his employer’s wife, Mrs. Eleanor Strubing (Kate Hudson).
The Connecticut judge deemed that he was not to speak in the court so he had to use the voice of his other lawyer, Sam Friedman (Josh Gad) as they sought to defend Joseph Spell, the family driver (Sterling K. Brown). As the proceedings continued, they ultimately discovered that the driver was telling only a part of the truth about the events of that fateful night.
It was a highly contentious time and both Marshall and Friedman were roughed up by hired thugs during the trial. Yet they endured to the end. Thurgood Marshall’s brief encounter with a woman at a bar led him to re-phrase his questions for Joseph Spell. In essence, she said that men will be men and women will be women.
This led Marshall to question the driver again and the truth rolled out like the lifting of a heavy blanket of fog. Once the truth was uncovered, the case took a huge turn as many witnessed and a victory emerged for both of the lawyers and their defendant.
Thurgood Marshall was not there to hear the closing arguments nor the reading of the verdict but he left Friedman detailed instructions on how to close out the case. He had been called to help a young teenager who was in trouble in the Deep South.
This is an ample slice from the life of the renowned Supreme Court Judge. Go see this movie with its landmark cast and see how Chadwick Boseman does it again with his excellent portrayal of Judge Marshall!
Lynn M. October 21, 2017
Lynn M's Reflections 
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