Witness for the Prosecution

Witness for the Prosecution (dir. Billy Wilder, 1957) is worth watching solely for the characters played by Charles Laughton (in his last film) and Marlene Dietrich.  Based on a play based on a novel by Agatha Christie, this courtroom drama offers nothing new in terms of style or method.  It’s strongly marked by the characteristics of film noir, especially in its portrayal of individual characters and their betrayals of one another. But it has comic elements too, with its portrayal of the sick and aging barrister Sir Wilfrid Roberts (Laughton).  Hospitalized with a heart attack, he is instructed by his doctors on his release to rest, to avoid cigars and liquor and, especially not to take any cases that might stir him up.  His personal nurse constantly warns him about overexertion and chides him for his misbehavior.  The comic tension between them is a running gag throughout the film. Early in the film he goes to great lengths to be able to smoke his cherished cigars.  Throughout the trial at the film’s center Roberts has a series of pills with him in the courtroom which he must take once an hour, washed down with a flask of what is undoubtedly whiskey.

Each of the characters in this film has a distinct personality, even the minor ones.  The film is highly entertaining.  I liked it, but my wife hated it.  This is the kind of old film to which you simply have to surrender—surrender to its conventions, the slow pacing, the overacting, the stereotypes, the formulaic plot.  Though the plot is formulaic, what makes the film is how successfully it enacts the components of the formula. By surrendering to it, you allow the film to do its work.

The film’s title refers to a character named Christine, who appears unexpectedly to testify for the prosecution.  She’s the wife of Leonard (Tyrone Power), who is on trial for murdering a wealthy older woman.  Dietrich at the time of the film was probably 20 years older than her character.  She is sultry, imposing, and intimidating.  My wife and I both used the word “frightening” to describe how she portrayed her role.