The Magnificent Yankee is a 1950 American biographical film directed by John Sturges and starring Louis Calhern, Ann Harding, Eduard Franz and Philip Ober. Calhern had created the role of Holmes in the original Broadway production.

Plot

In 1902, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. and his wife Fanny Bowditch Holmes arrive in Washington D.C., where he is to become a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Justice Holmes spends his leisure time at his home, where he and his wife entertain guests. He becomes close with many of the young Harvard law clerks who work for him through the years. His most trusted friend is judge Louis Brandeis, with whom he spends hours debating the law. When Fanny dies in 1929, Holmes is heartbroken but overcomes his grief by dedicating himself to his court duties until his retirement at age 90.