5. Witness For The Prosecution
Director Billy Wilder mastered several genres throughout his career - film noir with Double Indemnity, the screwball comedy with films such as Some Like It Hot and Kiss Me Stupid, the Hollywood satire with Sunset Boulevard, and the prison drama with Stalag 17. Wilder made his foray in to the courtroom drama with 1957's Witness For The Prosecution, whose script, co-written by Wilder, was based on a short story and play by the master of the mystery novel, Agatha Christie. The film tells the story of a man named Leonard Vole (Tyrone Power) who is tried for the murder of a rich widow, Emily French, with whom he became friends. It turns out that French had made Vole the main beneficiary of her will, giving Vole a clear motive. Vole hires for his lawyer Sir Wilfred Robarts (Charles Laughton), who is returning to work after a recent heart attack. There's also the matter of Vole's wife, Christine (Marlene Dietrich), whom Vole met in Germany and married, bringing her to England. Christine becomes a witness for the prosecution. In typical Christie fashion, the twists in the tale are very effective and well orchestrated. Without spoiling things for those yet to see the film, I'll just say that the twists involve a mysterious cockney woman and some letters addressed to a man named Max. The film succeeds as a twisty courtroom drama but the real highlight of the film is the playfully antagonistic relationship between Robarts and his nurse, Miss Plimsoll, played by Laughton's real life wife Elsa Lanchester. I also love the contrast between Power's more expressive and impassioned performance and Laughton's droll manner. Laughton's reading, directed at Dietrich, of "...or you not in fact a chronic and habitual LIAR" is one of the great line readings in movies. Dietrich is effective in playing an icy and reserved woman who at the end of the film reveals her emotional vulnerability. Power's casting works because of his background as a matinee idol. Is this a red herring, tricking us in to thinking he's innocent, or is he truly innocent? Like many of Wilder's other films, Witness For The Prosecution achieves a perfect blend of darkness and comedy, creating something that's both cynical about human nature but also extraordinary humane.