BrianKoller's Full Review: Witness for the Prosecution
No director and writer had greater commercial and critical success during the 1950s than Billy Wilder. (Wilder's two best films were from the 1940s, however: Double Indemnity and The Lost Weekend.) While Hitchcock received only one nomination during the 1950s, for Rear Window, Wilder was nominated nine times. His output that decade ranged from 'film noir' drama (The Big Carnival) to slapstick comedy (Some Like it Hot).
But Wilder's clear preference was for comedy. Stalag 17, which could have been a grim drama, was full of comic relief. This was also the case for Witness for the Prosecution, whose best feature is the comic interplay between the lawyer and his nurse. The characters of the accused and his wife also become more comical, when the film is viewed for a second time.
The story takes place in contemporary England. Sir Wilfrid Robarts (Charles Laughton) is an barrister recovering from a heart attack. His devoted, pestering nurse is Miss Plimsoll (Elsa Lanchester). Robarts takes a case defending Leonard Vole (Tyrone Power), an unemployed no-account who is accused of murdering wealthy spinster Emily French (Norma Varden).
Circumstantial evidence mounts against Vole. Testifying against him is French's suspicious maid (Una O'Connor) and Vole's own wife, jaded former showgirl Christine (Marlene Dietrich). Robarts dapper law partner is Moore (John Williams). The no-nonsense judge is played by Francis Compton.
Witness for the Prosecution began as a short story by mystery novelist Agatha Christie. She later adapted the story as a play. Billy Wilder directed and co-wrote this film version. Wilder reworked the barrister's role and added the pestering nurse, making them nearly comic characters.
Much of the film's humor comes from Laughton trying to put one over on his offscreen wife, Lanchester. Like a bad little boy, he is always sneaking cigars and booze. Meanwhile, she hovers over him like a protective mother. This was the last of eleven films that they would make together.
The film's ending was a double shocker. Folks who had read the short story, like myself, smugly awaited the 'surprise' ending. But a second surprising plot twist follows. The rigors of the production code had forced Wilder's hand.
Further elaboration would probably have me shot. But while the ending surprises help explain (if not fully excuse) the wildly campy performances of Power and Dietrich, it doesn't make the ending any more plausible. Laughton gets to see more outrageous courtroom events in five minutes than most lawyers would during their entire careers.
Witness for the Prosecution was the final film that Tyrone Power completed. He would die from a heart attack the following year, suffered while filming a dueling scene with George Sanders in the costume epic Solomon and Sheba. His scenes would be deleted in favor of his replacement, Yul Brynner.
Witness for the Prosecution was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Laughton), Best Supporting Actress (Lanchester), Best Film Editing and Best Sound. However, the film was shut out, with The Bridge on the River Kwai and Sayonara taking the statuettes. (62/100)
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