Witness for the Prosecution (1957)

Witness for the Prosecution is an American crime film first released in 1957, directed by Billy Wilder.  The film is based on a play by Agatha Christie and stars Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton, Elsa Lanchester and John Williams.  Our overall rating for this film is: excellent.


Despite his ill health and the protestations of his nurse, the celebrated barrister Sir Wilfrid Robarts agrees to defend Leonard Vole, who is charged with the murder of a widow he had befriended.   Vole’s only hope is the testimony of his wife Christine, who alone can provide an alibi for him at the time of the killing.  The case against Vole is pretty damning but even Sir Wilfrid is taken aback when Christine appears as a witness for the prosecution and declares that her husband is indeed the murderer...

Billy Wilder may not be the obvious choice to direct a film adaptation of an Agatha Christie play, but he certainly delivers the goods with his flair for breezy narrative pacing, imaginative camerawork and witty tongue-in-cheek comedy.   Christie’s ingenious plot (which has more twists than a custom-built helter-skelter for corporate tax advisors), coupled with Wilder’s directorial brilliance and unflagging humour, makes this one of the most entertaining courtroom dramas ever.

In common with many of Wilder’s great comedies, Witness for the Prosecution is a film that positively brims with talent, an ensemble piece in which the many supporting artistes give as much pleasure as the star actors.  Charles Laughton is certainly magnificent as the ailing lawyer Sir Wilfrid, whose constant vitriolic wrangling with his nurse Miss Plimsoll (played by Laughton’s real life wife Elsa Lanchester) is one of the film’s main delights.   Equally amusing is Una O’Connor as the prim Scottish housekeeper who so obviously deserves to be the killer (but isn’t) – she had previously played the part in the Broadway production of the play and clearly relishes every line.

And who better to play the ambiguously villainous Mrs Vole than the multi-faceted Marlene Dietrich – she even gets to perform a cabaret act which recalls her appearance in the classic German film The Blue Angel (1930).   On a more sombre note, Tyrone Power appears in his final credited film role.  A few months later, whilst working on King Vidor’s Solomon and Sheba (1959), he suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 44.  Although somewhat eclipsed by Laughton and Dietrich, Power turns in a respectable performance – so convincing is he that the film’s twist ending comes as a genuine surprise.  A respectable exit for a fine actor.  No fan of Agatha Christie or Billy Wilder will be disappointed by this film.

© James Travers 2008

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