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The Paper Chase Reviews

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The tribulations of first-year law students at Harvard, specifically a brilliant but naive young man who, as with most of his fellow aspiring attorneys, is in fearful awe of a demanding, ego-deflating professor (John Houseman, who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar and reprised the role in the TV series adapted from the film).

John Houseman had already distinguished himself as a writer (JANE EYRE), a producer (EXECUTIVE SUITE, THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL) and the story editor of CITIZEN KANE before winning the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for this, his second role. Bottoms is a Minnesota-bred law student who comes to Harvard and the lecture hall of Houseman, an instructor who seemingly takes great pleasure in puncturing his students' egos. Bottoms falls in love with Wagner. Essentially, this is a military school plot with a change of venue. Bridges secured an Oscar nomination for his adaptation of the novel, and the film was also nominated for Best Sound.