tanty
Great thriller with superb classical interpretations. The plot moves sometimes too lazily.
Witness for the Prosecution
- Drama
- Mystery
- Crime
12/17/1957
116
NR
The most electrifying entertainment of our time!
When Leonard Vole is arrested for the sensational murder of a rich, middle-aged widow, the famous Sir Wilfrid Robarts agrees to appear on his behalf. Sir Wilfrid, recovering from a near-fatal heart attack, is supposed to be on a diet of bland, civil suits—but the lure of the criminal courts is too much for him, especially when the case is so difficult.
- Director:
- Writers:
- Revenue:
- $9,000,000
- Budget:
- $3,000,000
Videos
Cast
- Tyrone PowerLeonard Vole
- Marlene DietrichChristine Vole
- Charles LaughtonSir Wilfrid Robarts
- Elsa LanchesterMiss Plimsoll
- John WilliamsBrogan-Moore
- Henry DaniellMayhew
- Ian WolfeCarter
- Torin ThatcherMr. Myers
- Norma VardenEmily Jane French
- Una O'ConnorJanet McKenzie
- Francis ComptonJudge
- Philip TongeInspector Hearne
- Ruta LeeDiana
- Patrick AherneCourt Officer (uncredited)
- Don AmesBar Patron (uncredited)
- Walter BaconBar Patron (uncredited)
Reviews
shiri4frnz
Why don't they make THESE movies anymore?
Apart from being a GREAT courtroom drama_(which some people don't think this movie is)_, this movie is so much FUN and ENTERTAINING to watch.Especially because of the characters of Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester. But Tyrone Power and Marlene Dietrich were convincing too in their portrayal of an innocent, afraid for his life man and a disloyal, unloving, poker faced wife respectively.
Some people might say that they predicted the ending half way down the movie but i am not quite sure as to how they predicted the ACTUAL ENDING before it really unfolded before their eyes?
This movie is great not only in the part played in court but also in the scenes shot in...
John Chard
I'm constantly surprised that women's hats don't provoke more murders.
Leonard Steven Vole finds himself on trial for the murder of a wealthy widow from whom he has inherited a fortune. Top barrister Sir Wilfrid Robarts takes up the defendants case, but he, along with everyone else, is stunned when Vole's seemingly loving wife Christine turns up to testify against the defendant.
Based on Agatha Christie's successful 1953 play, "Witness For The Prosecution" benefited from fine tuning from master director Billy Wilder and writing partner Harry Kurnitz. Here the dialogue becomes razor sharp and the characters are fully realised with quite wonderful results, but chiefly the masterstroke here is not letting a court room drama become just t...
Geronimo1967
I might be asking for trouble here, but did Charles Laughton ever actually make a bad film? He leads this one as the brilliant but curmudgeonly barrister "Sir Wildred Robarts" with oodles of charisma and style. Marlene Dietrich portrays the evil, manipulative "Christine Vole" marvellously and even Tyrone Power, more the matinée idol than the serious actor, delivers as required in Billy Wilder's outstanding rendition of the Agatha Christie story about a man accused of murdering an elderly lady who has just happened to leave him a great deal of money in her will. Elsa Lanchester is suitably annoying/scary/lovable as the nurse trying to keep her ailing charge from keeling over mid-trial and a slew of other capable British actors - including a ...