"Witness for the Prosecution"

[youtalkfunny]

When first assembling my NetFlix queue, I asked for "courtroom drama" suggestions. "Witness for the Prosecution" got a lot of run, so it was high on my list. I watched it today.

Charles Laughton (who had played Capt Bligh opposite Clark Gable about 30 years earlier) is the lovable, grumpy old man lawyer. Tyrone Power comes to him when he is charged for murder. Power's only alibi is his wife, Marlene Dietrich. She's not too convincing, so Laughton decides not to use her. So the prosecution finds a loophole, and compels her to testify as the "Witness for the Prosecution".

My take:

--Billy Wilder directed, so right away, you know it's worth watching.

--Based on an Agatha Christie play. That girl knew her stuff.

--Laughton is fantastic. He's the reason you should watch this film. He looks good in that "British Lawyer" wig, too.

--Marlene Dietrich. Wow, I had no idea. I had never seen her before. It turns out that Madeline Kahn's impersonation of her in "Blazing Saddles" was spot-on. Every time Marlene Dietrich spoke in her Elmer-Fudd-meets-Colonel-Klink voice, I busted out laughing, even though she has no funny lines.

Actually, she did have some funny lines: the awful song they gave her to sing, where she sounds, once again, like Madeline Kahn making fun of her.

She's supposed to be this big sexpot from back in the day, but she dresses like an old woman in this one, save for one brief moment when her pants leg is torn, exposing one awesome looking leg. It looks like Billy Wilder had a hottie to work with, and decided not to flaunt it. Too bad for us.

The film is famous for its surprise ending (a voice-over during the closing credits urged theatergoers to resist the urge to spill the beans to their friends), which may have been novel back then, but it's been done 1000 times since.

As much a fan of courtroom fare that I am, I still came close to giving this one a thumbs down. I couldn't take Dietrich seriously. Put any other actress in that role, and the film gets an extra star on the 1-4 star rating system. The twists were laughable, especially the anonymous tipster who offers up the key evidence on the last day of the trial.

Only Laughton's enjoyable performance saves this one.

I give it two stars out of four: watch it if there's nothing else on.

[esad]

Madeline Kahn's impersonation of Marlene Dietrich is actually based on another movie "Destry Rides Again."

In that movie, Deitrich plays a saloon performer just like Kahn's character in "Blazing Saddles."

The problem is that the performance is a little ruined for most people because they've seen "Blazing Saddles" and it's amost impossible to not compare Dietrich to Kahn.

[Nonononono]

youtalk,

Let's review for a moment please. Recently you posted that you were underwhelmed by The Third Man. Now you hated Witness for the Prosecution.

Both films are among my all-time favorites.

My advice to you?

Keep up the good work, you're on the right track. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

I guess maybe I need to have another look at the picture since it's been a while. Admittedly on paper it doesn't look like anything special. Tyrone Power was a well-known bad actor. Charles Laughton could ham things up when he lost his enthusiasm. Agatha Christie's plot was a bit silly. Marlene Dietrich could be a one-woman freak show. And Billy Wilder, although a genius, had nowhere near a perfect batting average.

I'm sorry, what were we talking about again?

[andyfox]

It's very corny, but I've always loved it. Elsa Lanchester was also wonderful in it.

Laughton was something special, no doubt about it. I just bought the DVD of The Night of the Hunter, the only movie he directed. See it if you haven't.

[econophile]

i watched this last year. didn't care for it much. i'd also avoid anatomy of a murder.

[youtalkfunny]

OMG, I loved "Anatomy of a Murder". JS and GCS can bring it.

[John Cole]

My God, Man! Have you no soul?

I've seen Anatomy quite a few times, and in many ways it's a groundbreaking work, one that almost pushed the Hays Code into extinction. Of course, Preminger always seemed to be on the verge of doing so. Superb performances, especially from the leads and the judge.

[John Cole]

Lanchester and Laughton were married in real life--and they must have made quite the pair.

BFI also has a fine title devoted to The Night of the Hunter.

Link

[ericd]

Since you mentioned Laughton and Lanchester, I just watched them in "The Big Clock". I bought that after watching them in "Witness for the Prosecution". I really enjoyed both movies.

[Wynton]

It's been many years since I've seen "witness for the prosecution," but I thought it was great at the time. And I'd be quite surprised if I had a different view now.