Trivia for
Absence of Malice (1981) More at IMDbPro »

• Writer Kurt Luedtke, a veteran newspaperman, based the protagonist of this film on the real-life son of a reputed gangster in Detroit. The alleged gangster was tried and convicted of the crime. At his retrial potential jurors were asked if they had seen this movie, to determine if they would be prejudiced in their evaluation of the evidence. Ultimately the gangster and his partner were both convicted and sentenced to jail terms for labor-related extortion.
  
  
• Paul Newman and director Sydney Pollack were both gourmet chefs and had a running culinary competition throughout filming with Sally Field as the judge. Though a good sport at first, Sally grew tired of eating gourmet night after night, and began begging off her judging duties in favor of hamburgers and omelettes at local diners.
  
  
• Luther Adler's last film.
  
  

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