Defenders: Taking the First
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Andy Wolk
Beau Bridges
Martha Plimpton
Jeremy London
Jordan Bridges
Clifton Collins Jr.
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Follows the courtcase of a young man who has been beaten to death by members of a reactionary organization rallying against minorities. Although lawyers Don and M.J, Preston are morally opposed to the brutality of the case, they find themselves acting as counsel for one of the defendants who has been charged with murder. In an effort to correct the obvious injustice that claimed a young boy's life, the Prestons take on a wrongful-death lawsuit against the leader of the right-wing group and find themselves caught up in a legal battle involving the First Amendment.
Director
Andy Wolk
Cast
Beau Bridges
Martha Plimpton
Jeremy London
Jordan Bridges
Clifton Collins Jr.
Chris Wiggins
Philip Casnoff
Mimi Kuzyk
Camilla Scott
Irene Lopez Kutchilan
Diego Fuentes
Marilo Nunez
Nancy Palk
Lili Francks
Jeff Topping
Kris Holden-ried
Richard Fitzpatrick
Christopher Redman
Bernard Behrens
Donna Goodhand
Robert Bockstael
John Winston Carroll
Sugith Varughese
J. J. Evans
Mauricio Rodas
Michael Ayoub
Deborah Pollitt
Bill Lake
Billy Oliver
Crew
Rita Bertucci
Paul Boucher
Lesley Boylen
Shelley Boylen
Beau Bridges
Lisa Brown
Lisa Brown
Kathleen Climie
Ira Cohen
Rod Crombie
Suzette Daigle
Shem Ellis
Chris Faulkner
Sy Fischer
Susan Forrest
Terri Frank
Roger Glidden
Barbara Gordon
Kathleen Graham
Sylvia Grant
Stewart Grayburn
Natalie Hart
Rob Hepburn
Lindsey Hermer-bell
Kevin Hollands
Ben Mark Holzber
Fritzi Horstman
Mark Hunter
Shauna Jamison
Jonnie Katz
Jason La Padura
Megan Less
Tommy Lockett
Darren Marsman
Terry Mccauley
F A Miller
F A Miller
Peter Miskimmin
Helen Mossler
Steve Mrkobrada
Andrew Munger
John C Newby
Julian Peters
Randi Richmond
Derreck Roemer
Stan Rogow
Lauren Schaffer
Ken Smith
Kimberly Memory Stanley
Andy Wolk
Peter Wolk
Edward York
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Miscellaneous Notes
Aired in United States October 25, 1998
Third in a series of telefilms based on the 1960s television courtroom drama of the same name. "The Defenders: Payback" premiered on Showtime on October 12, 1997; the second installment, "The Defenders: Choice of Evils," premiered on January 18, 1998.
The original series, "The Defenders," aired on CBS from 1961 to 1965 and starred E.G. Marshall and Robert Reed as a father-and-son legal defense team.
Telefilm is dedicated to actor E.G. Marshall who died in August 1998.
