8.4
Witness for the Prosecution
1957, 1h 56min -
Agatha Christie’s masterful stage play gets a brilliantly entertaining screen adaptation courtesy of Billy Wilder, who deftly balances courtroom intrigue and black comedy for a triumph of studio-era craftsmanship. Charles Laughton is a delight as London barrister Sir Wilfrid Robarts, whose job defending the charming but suspicious Leonard Vole (Tyrone Power) against a charge of murder gets a lot harder when Vole’s cold-hearted wife, Christine (Marlene Dietrich), decides to testify against him. To reveal more would be a crime, as the nonstop twists and turns are half the fun of this all-time-classic mystery.
