Review of Witness for the Prosecution (1957) by Jeffrey C — 28 Aug 2010

Witness For the Prosecution is film that not only is another good drama from the 1950's, but also possibly an unintentional and successful comedy. I thought the scenes with Charles Laughton were hilarious, how he disregarded is poor health and did things, like smoke and drink alcohal, which could have triggered more problems.

The little disputes with his nurse (or real-life wife Else Lanchester) were hilarious. Those two, along with the never aging Marlene Deitrich, were terrific. Great and twisted storyline along with good dialogue.

Certainly a different film in comparison with the court masterpiece Anatomy of a Murder, another film in which I recently seen. Not as good, but still great. Another fine film under Billy Wilder's repetoire.

NOTE: If you eventually see these two films, watch "Anatomy" before "Witness" because legal inaccuries can be seen in the latter of the two (and are very humourous). Also, watch for a young Ruta Lee, who sits next to Lanchester in the courtroom.