cinemajesty Director Billy Wilder close to his peak of career efforts, streaming elegantly frame work over the silver screen with power house actor Charles Laughton in his follow-up project after directing "Night of the Hunter (1955)" by himself. Clearly adapting Wilder's ease in the directing chair on set to create the character of lawyer Sir Wilfried Roberts.A leading character constantly challenged by his sidetracking nurse, plays out the irony on a working life with pleasures and restrictions in balance, always hunting for another cigar smoke or a shot of cognac in his thermos cup. The audience forgives him his vices by following Laughton's journey into a female-male-female triangle flashback story, where the man Leonard Vole, played by Tyrone Powers, gets accused of murdering an older woman, who relates to him as close as a perfect stranger.The lawyer takes the case of Leonard Vole on. In his process, Laughton's character learns further characters involved, including sneaky Christine, played Marlene Dietrich in trademark manner minimalist gestures and convicting glances towards any counterpart in her way. Director Billy Wilder makes great use of Dietrich's talents in another flashback scene under occupied Germany, where she gives singing homage on stage to German actor Hans Albers in his 1954er film "Reeperbahn at Night".With beat ingredients such as those, Billy Wilder already participates secretly in a futuristic world cinema approach, where filmmakers look onto each other internationally, exchanging their feelings in an universal language with releasing films. They show recognition to one another beyond national borders, which arguably had initiated the Nouvelle Vague in France just a few months later.Despite its dark subject matter of cold-blooded murder, "Witness For The Prosecution" benefits in every sense from the cast involved, elevating a rather stiff chamber scenario to an inland empire character evolution of three main character. Everything seems to be capture in one take shots. The comforted atmosphere created by director Billy Wilder especially in Sir Wilfried Roberts' office location can be exhaled with every revisit of the picture.© 2017 Felix Alexander Dausend

Prismark10 After watching the film I felt that the actual Agatha Christie book could not be as good. Billy Wilder and his writers expand on this but more importantly make a riveting and fast paced court room drama.The interesting part is that this film was made in the USA with the usual bunch of Brits living abroad but you would not think from the courtroom scenes that this movie was made in Hollywood.Charles Laughton plays Wilfred Roberts the curmudgeonly, crafty and hefty barrister who has returned to his chambers after a period of ill health. Accompanied by his nagging nurse (Elsa Lanchester) who wants him to rest and take things easy, he immediately takes on a murder case.Leonard Vole (Tyrone Power) is charged with murder of a wealthy older woman who he has been seeing in order to secure an investment for his invention. The evidence is circumstantial but Vole comes across as naive but emotional. Marlene Dietrich is Vole's enigmatic German wife, grateful to him for bringing him over from war torn Germany.Dietrich is the defence witness who becomes the witness for the prosecution. Roberts is puzzled as to why she has switched sides and what motives she might have.The film is well paced, well crafted and director Billy Wilder just made it so easy going even though he adds some legalese here and there. Wonderful performances by all the actors. Tyrone Power does stick out as a bit odd with his mid Atlantic accent. In the court scenes he comes across as over emotional but there is another charade being played all along.

Scott LeBrun Hollywood legend Tyrone Power, in his final completed film role, plays Leonard Vole, accused of the murder of a lonely rich middle aged woman, Mrs. Emily Jane French (Norma Varden). They'd struck up a friendship, and he continued to see her in the hopes that she'd finance the inventions that he wanted to market. Now she's dead, and all evidence points to him being the killer. Taking his case is the irascible, witty barrister Sir Wilfrid Roberts (Charles Laughton, in a delicious, Oscar nominated performance), who's recovering from a heart attack.This viewer shouldn't relay too much about the plot, but, as adapted from Agatha Christies' play, it's riveting stuff. While it obviously derives from a stage work with so much focus on dialogue and performance, it's the crackling, often funny dialogue and superior acting that makes this so effective and seemingly quickly paced for a film running just under two hours. The script, written by Harry Kurnitz and the well regarded director Billy Wilder, obviously takes great delight in the twist laden scenario. "Witness for the Prosecution" is often throwing surprises at the audience, and while more savvy folk may be able to predict a fair deal, the ways in which characters and viewers alike are manipulated is nothing short of masterful.There's a great deal of humor to be found in the relationship between Sir Wilfrid and his nursemaid Miss Plimsoll (Elsa Lanchester, a.k.a. Mrs. Laughton). She's annoying in a lively, endearing way, and his reactions to her are simply priceless. Lanchester was also Oscar nominated for her scene stealing, comedic work.There are no slackers here, especially when you realize there are performances within performances being given here. Power is quite engaging, and Marlene Dietrich is highly striking as the German woman whom he took as a "wife". Wonderful support is provided by John Williams, Henry Daniell, Ian Wolfe, Torin Thatcher, Ms. Varden, Una O'Connor (that scenery devouring player from some of the Universal horror films of the 1930s, cast here as the housekeeper), Francis Compton, Philip Tonge, and Ruta Lee.The filmmaking is slick without calling attention to itself, with Wilder and company completely trusting the source material. The result is a smashing entertainment that deserves to be rediscovered.Nine out of 10.

Takethispunch Sir Wilfrid Robarts (Charles Laughton), a master barrister in ill health, takes on Leonard Vole (Tyrone Power) as a client, despite the objections of his private nurse, Miss Plimsoll (Elsa Lanchester), who says the doctor warns him against taking on any criminal cases. Vole is accused of murdering Mrs Emily French (Norma Varden), a rich, older widow who had become enamoured with him, going so far as to make him the main beneficiary of her will. Strong circumstantial evidence points to Vole as the killer, but Sir Wilfrid believes Vole is innocent.When Sir Wilfrid speaks with Vole's German wife Christine (Marlene Dietrich), he finds her rather cold and self-possessed, but she does provide an alibi. Therefore, he is greatly surprised when she is called as a witness for the prosecution. While a wife cannot testify against her husband, Christine was in fact still married to a German man when she wed Leonard (who was in the Army and part of the occupation forces in Germany). She testifies that Leonard admitted to her that he had killed Mrs French, and that her conscience forced her to finally tell the truth.During the trial in the Old Bailey, Sir Wilfrid is contacted by a mysterious woman who, for a fee, provides him with letters written by Christine herself to a mysterious lover named Max. The affair revealed by this correspondence gives Christine such a strong motive to have lied that the jury finds Leonard not guilty.