Director Billy Wilder’s Brilliant Legal Caper
1957 | Approved | 1h 56m | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Blame it on Perry Mason. No, not the character nor the actor who played him, but on the TV series of the same name. Episodes were broadcast ad nauseam while I was growing up. It somewhat spoiled the entire legal drama/thriller genre for me, for years to come.
More recently, watching a couple of exceptional legal dramas managed to jar me out of my jadedness concerning the genre, including 1957’s “12 Angry Men” and “To Kill a Mockingbird” from 1963. These films were so well-developed and finely tuned that they single-handedly changed my entire outlook.
Right around that same golden era, another legal masterpiece with considerable gravitas was produced as well. Directed by Billy Wilder, “Witness for the Prosecution” is Agatha Christie’s runaway success of a play by the same name. If that isn’t enough, it also features an ensemble cast that is more than adequate to bring the play to the silver screen.
The film begins with renowned British barrister Sir Wilfrid Robarts (Charles Laughton), who is leaving the hospital with his personal nurse, Miss Plimsoll (Elsa Lanchester). Robarts is recovering from a cardiac event and doctors have instructed him to refrain from any sort of strenuous activities, including taking on major cases since the stress could spell trouble for his compromised heart.
Soon after arriving at his office, Robarts is just settling in when a solicitor by the name of Mayhew (Henry Daniell) shows up with a hot prospective case. Accompanying Mayhew is Leonard Vole (Tyrone Power), a seemingly hapless individual who has been accused of murdering a wealthy widow, Mrs. Emily Jane French (Norma Varden), at her residence.
Although the case seems intriguing, Miss Plimsoll makes it clear that Robarts can’t take on such a potentially stressful case.
However, when Vole’s wife Christine (Marlene Dietrich) pops up out of nowhere and her inscrutable nature not only baffles Robarts but shuts down his normally effective inquisitional strategies (including a hilarious tactic that involves the use of his monocle), he insists on taking the case, much to the chagrin of Miss Plimsoll.
Interestingly, some of the main events of the case are shown in flashbacks. For instance, viewers get to see scenes that detail how Vole first met Mrs. French (a woman old enough to be his mother), and at least from his perspective, how the two developed a friendship despite his being a married man.
But one of the most incredible flashbacks is when Vole was in the military and stationed overseas in Germany. While grabbing a drink with other troops at a run-down basement cabaret joint, he meets his future wife Christine for the very first time. She’s eking out a living as an accordion player while drunk GIs claw at her legs and launch crude jokes at her as she attempts to sing songs.
After the place erupts in a mass brawl and gets cleared out, Vole returns to work his charms on Christine. Desperate to escape her hellish basement dwelling (she lives not far from the establishment’s stage), she easily allows Vole to glom onto her: It just takes his offer of a few provisions out of a small pack of rations he happens to have on his person.
The courtroom drama that follows takes up the meat of the film and features all of the hijinks and theatrics you could wish for—and then some. And this being an Agatha Christie creation, there are plenty of twists and turns throughout the movie’s nearly two-hour running time, with a climactic ending that I never saw coming.
Twists and Humor
However, what makes this well-produced legal drama so entertaining is not only the incredible performances of its stellar cast but also all of the unexpected bits of humor sprinkled in liberally over the potentially dire proceedings; after all, a possibly innocent man’s life hangs in the balance.
Much of the humor on display is due to the believable back-and-forth banter between the cantankerous yet good-hearted barrister Robarts and Plimsoll. Her presence is so overbearing that, if it weren’t for Robarts’ scathing, rapid-fire quips, he’d be all but smothered by the woman. The scenes between the two are probably amplified because Laughton and Lanchester were married in real life.
In the end, “Witness for the Prosecution” is a taut, fascinating character study featuring crisp acting, excellent direction, and a compelling plot with many unexpected twists that will keep you guessing up until its dramatic surprise ending.
It would be criminal to miss this fine legal thriller.
‘Witness for the Prosecution’
Director: Billy Wilder
Starring: Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton
Rating: G
Running Time: 1 hour, 56 minutes
Release Date: Feb. 6, 1958
Rated: 4.5 stars out of 5
Ian Kane is an U.S. Army veteran, author, filmmaker, and actor. He is dedicated to the development and production of innovative, thought-provoking, character-driven films and books of the highest quality.
