Witness For The Prosecution 1957

 

Or Witness For The Prostitution, which I told my mom as a ten year old I wanted to see very badly. I was of course greeted with howls of laughter from her and my family and didn’t know why they were bending over from laughing so hard. Anyway I actually did get to see the film as a ten year old probably alone during a matinee showing at our neighborhood Loews, and even at this early age I loved it. I think I was prepared for it from watching the Alfred Hitchcock show every Sunday night, and at this age I equated mysteries, suspense and surprise endings with him. I had no idea who Agatha Christie was or for that matter who Billy Wilder was, but I knew I had to see this one.  

Set in a pop up like set of Old Bailey in nice black and white cinematogaphy and based on the short story by Agatha Christie and the hit international play that concerns a hot off the press shocking murder of a matronly well off lonely widow and the arrest and trial of the hapless Leonard Volpe for the crime. Played by Tyrone Power in his last movie role before keeling over from a heart attack on the set of Solomon and Sheba he’s not half bad even though he makes no attempt at a British accent and I thought he was an ex patriot living   in London. He is going to trial at Old Bailey and will be defended by Sir Wilfrid Robarts an ailing barrister played to the hilt with piss and vinegar by the great Charles Laughton in a marvelous performance.


The film is opened up a little bit with a flashback here and a flashback there but is basically a one set courtroom drama loaded with colorful oversized performances that makes the film without much ado “cinematic” and is not only engrossing but highly entertaining. The movie is helped immensely by the rest of the cast especially by the great Marlene Dietrich in her mid fifty’s but still glamorous, beautiful and leggy. The director Billy Wilder plays upon her history and film lore including a flashback to her meeting of Ty Power her future husband who is an RAF pilot in occupied Berlin where Dietrich is a chanteuse with an accordion no less and is performing in a ruin of a nightclub called Die Blaue Laterne which in English is The Blue Lantern and is a sly homage to her famous pre-movie star film “The Blue Angel.”      



Dietrich is spellbinding in all her scenes playing Ty’s mysterious wife and we are kept guessing as to her motives and actions. I don’t know how much Wilder kept of the short story or the play but the sassy screenplay he co wrote with Larry Marcus and Harry Kurnitz is pungent, witty and full of surprises as any good mystery should be. There is also an adorable supporting performance from Laughton’s real life wife the great Elsa Lanchester as his much put upon nurse who watches over him like a stalking wolf. Also in the cast is the great Una O’Connor who plays the murder victim’s loyal and outspoken housemaid who has a few brilliant moments especially in the scene where she testifies in court. The movie was a hit with critics and audiences who were asked at the end of the film not to tell friends what happens, especially in the last moments of the film which shocked and jolted movie audiences. It’s here that I shut my mouth and stop writing allowing anyone who has never seen the film to savor all the jolts and surprises for themselves.