Bill Wilder was a genius. His sense of dark comedy was sometimes considered to be way ahead of contemporaries. His film Witness For The Prosecution adapted from Agatha Christie work is a fine example. Like most of Christie’s work, WFTP is full of drama and twists and is remembered for rated highly as a courtroom drama in league of Anatomy Of A Murder.
Sir Wilfred Roberts is ill and advised against taking up on any criminal lawsuit. However, he reluctantly picks up case of Leonard Vole who is charged with murder of an elderly lady for property. His relationship with her is also in the grey area of immorality. However, he has the strong backing of his wife who is ready to provide an alibi. Vole pleads not guilty. Roberts places his points strongly and slowly proves points raised by prosecution dubious. However, his efforts are thwarted by appearance of Mrs. Vole for the prosecution. Roberts, ailing, needs to fight against odds for something he is not sure worth fighting for. what happened? Well, we are not allowed.
There are two outstanding performers - Charles Laughton who plays Sir Wilfred Roberts and Tyrone Power who plays a role of a criminal Leonard Vole. While Charles brings in the wittiness to the story with quirks, Tyrone is able to break his on-screen persona of a hero and plays role of a grounded person with great ease. Marlene Dietrich and Elsa Lanchester play their part well.
The USP of this film was the climax. The publicity and the screening… and also the legend was built around the iconic climax of this film. If you watch it, don’t tell the climax even to your best friends.
Written By: Sujoy Ghosh
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