The Star Chamber

The Star Chamber
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Peter Hyams
Screenplay by	Roderick Taylor Peter Hyams
Story by	Roderick Taylor
Produced by	Frank Yablans
Starring	Michael Douglas Hal Holbrook Yaphet Kotto Sharon Gless
Cinematography	Richard Hannah
Edited by	James Mitchell
Music by	Michael Small
Production company	Frank Yablans Presentations
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	August 5, 1983 (1983-08-05)
Running time	108 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$8 million
Box office	$5.6 million

The Star Chamber is a 1983 American crime drama, mystery thriller film written by Roderick Taylor and directed by Peter Hyams. It stars Michael Douglas and Hal Holbrook. Its title is taken from the name of the notorious 15-17th-century English court.

Plot

Judge Steven Hardin (Michael Douglas) is an idealistic Los Angeles jurist who gets frustrated when the technicalities of the law prevent the prosecution of a man who was charged with numerous murders of elderly women for their welfare money after their checks were cashed and two other men who are accused of raping and killing an eight-year old boy as part of a suspected child pornography ring. The latter two were driving slowly late at night and attracted the suspicion of two police officers, who thought the van's occupants might be burglars. After checking the license plate for violations, the policemen pulled them over for expired paperwork, claimed to have smelled marijuana, then saw a bloody shoe inside the van. However, the paperwork was actually submitted on time (it was merely processed late), meaning the police had no reason to pull over the van and Hardin has no choice (see fruit of the poisonous tree) but to exclude any subsequently discovered evidence, i.e. the bloody shoe. Hardin is even more distraught when the father of the boy attempts to shoot the criminals in court but misses and shoots one of the arresting officers instead. Subsequently, the father commits suicide while in jail only after he informs Hardin that another boy has been discovered raped and murdered and tells him "This one is on you, your Honor. That boy would be alive if you hadn't let those men go." After hearing all this, Judge Hardin approaches his friend, Judge Caulfield (Hal Holbrook), who tells him of a modern-day Star Chamber: a group of judges who identifys criminals who fell through the judicial system's cracks and then takes action against them outside the legal structure with a hired assassin.

Judge Hardin participates in one of these proceedings in which he presents the case of the two criminals. The Star Chamber declares them "guilty" and dispatches the assassin. Soon afterward, however, police detective Harry Lowes (Yaphet Kotto) comes to Hardin with conclusive evidence that someone else raped and killed the boy. Realizing that he and the Star Chamber have just sentenced two men to die for a crime that they did not commit, Hardin implores the Star Chamber to recall the assassin, but is told by the other judges that the hit cannot be canceled. For the judges' own protection, their system includes a buffer between themselves and the assassin; they do not know who he is, and he doesn't know who they are. They rationalize to Hardin that although an occasional mistake is inevitable and regrettable, what they are doing still serves society's greater good — especially, they argue, considering that the two targeted men are clearly criminals who are guilty of numerous other crimes, even if not of the specific crime for which the group convicted them.

Hardin makes it clear that he does not accept their reasoning. Caulfield warns him to back down because the group will do whatever they have to in order to protect themselves. Hardin refuses to heed this warning and says he will do whatever he can do to stop the men from being killed. He then tracks down the men in an abandoned warehouse in an attempt to warn them. However, when he arrives, they do not trust him, as he has now stumbled across their illegal drug operation. After they attack him, Hardin is saved by the hitman, disguised as a police officer, who kills the two men before they can kill Hardin. The hitman points his gun at Hardin, but at the last moment, Lowes arrives and kills the hitman.

The film ends with the Star Chamber deciding another "case" without Hardin, who is outside in a car with Lowes recording their conversation.

Cast

• Michael Douglas as Superior Court Judge Steven R. Hardin
• Hal Holbrook as Judge Benjamin Caulfield
• Yaphet Kotto as Det. Harry Lowes
• Sharon Gless as Emily Hardin
• James B. Sikking as Dr. Harold Lewin
• Joe Regalbuto as Arthur Cooms
• Don Calfa as Lawrence Monk
• David Faustino as Tony Hardin
• Larry Hankin as Det. Kenneth Wiggan
• Dick Anthony Williams as Det. Paul Mackey
• DeWayne Jessie as Stanley Flowers
• David Proval as Officer Nelson
• Michael Ensign as Judge Kirkland
• Diana Douglas as Adrian Caulfield
• Frances Bergen as Mrs. Cummins
• Robert Costanzo as Sgt. Spota

Release

The promotional poster for the film shows a large white five-pointed star illumining a platform which vaguely resembles a judge's bench in a courtroom. Left and right of the star's topmost point are three shadowy figures each, all resembling humans. In the center of the topmost point are three outlines of human heads. The implication is meant to be that all nine obvious and/or apparent humans represented are judges.

In the space formed by the wedge between the star's two bottom-most points is the following promotional statement:

"They are the most powerful members of our community.
"They have a shattering secret.
"A secret that will affect us all.
"Only one man is willing to stop them.
"On August 5 (the date of the film's 1983 premiere), you'll know who they really are."

Reception

The Star Chamber earned positive reviews from critics, where it holds a 71% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 14 reviews.

External links

• The Star Chamber at IMDb
• The Star Chamber at Box Office Mojo
• The Star Chamber at Rotten Tomatoes