Mister Hart, here is a dime. Take it, call your mother, and tell her there is serious doubt about you ever becoming a lawyer.

The story centers on Hart, a brilliant young law student from Minnesota who attends Harvard Law School and becomes obsessed with one of his teachers, Professor Charles W. Kingsfield, Jr. Hart becomes an expert on Kingsfield's subject, contracts; he reads everything about the subject, including all of Kingsfield's papers, most of which are not on the reading list. He goes so far as to break into the law library to read Kingsfield's original law school notes. Hart becomes such an expert that Kingsfield asks him to contribute to a paper.

At the same time, he begins a relationship with Susan Field, who turns out to be Kingsfield's daughter. Susan stands aloof from the law-school rat-race and dismisses all the things Hart cares about most.

At the end of the term, Professor Kingsfield really means something to his students, but he still does not know their names. For him, the class is only a group of people, the students simply names on a paper. He does not even recognize Hart after several encounters and classroom debates. After one incident, wherein Kingsfield asks Hart to leave the class, Hart says in front of the lecture hall, "You are a son of a bitch, Kingsfield."

After much effort preparing for the final exam, Hart's grade is delivered to him, but he simply makes a paper airplane out of his final report card, and sends it sailing into the Atlantic Ocean without looking at it.

I saw this movie on TCM one night and really thought it was well done. It is a great movie to show would be lawyers who are about to go to law school or even ready to pass the bar to become one. The movie is well written and has a nice side plot of a love story. The greatness of this film is it's like other films I like. The era of this film is why I really like watching films. I think re-watching a film like this gives you a feel of how great films like this from 1973 should be. Even some the authenticity of the behind the scenes of going to law school and studying for those dreadfully hard tests show in the film.

I know three friends who are lawyers and let me tell you, all three have seen the film and love how great film shows how some law professors are that way in real life. I would recommend to any film buff or anyone who wants to get into law. Hope this film will have you enjoy what goes on behind the scenes of what it is like to be a lawyer. Enjoy!