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The Star Chamber
Directed by	Peter Hyams
Written by	Roderick Taylor
Starring	Michael Douglas Hal Holbrook
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	August 5, 1983
Running time	109 min
Language	English
IMDb profile

The Star Chamber is a 1983 crime drama film written by Roderick Taylor and directed by Peter Hyams. It stars Michael Douglas and Hal Holbrook. Its title is a reference to the Star Chamber, a notorious court in 17th century Britain.

Judge Hardin (Douglas) is an idealistic Los Angeles judge who gets frustrated when the technicalities of the law prevent the prosecution of two men who are accused of raping and killing a 10-year-old boy. They were driving slowly late at night and attracted the suspicion of two police officers, who wondered if the van's occupants might be burglars. After checking the license plate for violations, the policemen pulled them over for expired paperwork, 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 lost their reason to pull over the van -- and Hardin has no choice but to throw out any subsequent discoveries, i.e. the bloody shoe. Hardin is even more distraught when the father of the boy attempts to shoot the criminals, but misses and shoots a cop instead. Subsequently, the father commits suicide while in jail. After hearing all this, Judge Hardin is approached by his friend, Judge Caulfield (Hal Holbrook), who tells him of a modern "Star Chamber": a group of judges who identify criminals who fell through the judicial system's cracks and then 'do something about them'.

Judge Hardin participates in the proceedings of one of the cases, which the Star Chamber declares the criminal as "guilty." A hired assassin is then sent to kill the criminal. When his chance comes, Judge Hardin presents the case of the two criminals, who are declared guilty. However, a police detective (Yaphet Kotto) comes to Judge Hardin with evidence that someone else raped and killed the boy. Realizing he just condemned two innocent men to death, Judge Hardin attempts to warn them and discovers that they are not as innocent as he thought. After they attack him, Hardin is ironically saved by the hitman, disguised as a police officer. He then prepares to shoot Hardin to eliminate any witnesses, but the detective shows up in time and kills the hitman. The movie ends with the Star Chamber deciding another "case" without Hardin, who is outside in a car with the detective, recording their conversations.

• Michael Douglas .... Superior Court Judge Steven R. Hardin
• Hal Holbrook .... Judge Benjamin Caulfield
• Yaphet Kotto .... Det. Harry Lowes
• Sharon Gless .... Emily Hardin
• James Sikking .... Dr. Harold Lewin (Daniel's father)
• Joe Regalbuto .... Arthur Cooms
• Don Calfa .... Lawrence Monk

• The Star Chamber at the Internet Movie Database