Sunday, July 17, 2011

Movie Moments: #84


Witness for the Prosecution (1957)

Comment:
One of the best court room dramas that you will ever see, plus a killer ending, well worth watching.  Still good despite being more than 50 years old.  Like me.

Synopsis:
Noted criminal defence barrister Sir Wilfrid Robarts agrees to take on the defence of an American, Leonard Vole, who is charged with the murder of a rich older woman, Emily French.  The Crown alleges that Vole had caused French to become enamoured of him and to change her Will in his favour, then killed her.  Vole’s German wife, Christine, provides him with an alibi but then becomes a witness for the prosecution, stating that her husband admitting that he killed Emily French and that her conscience now requires her to tell the truth.  Watch it to learn the rest.

Quote:
Sir Wilfrid: Kings, prime ministers, archbishops, even barristers have stood in the dock.

Link:
Cross examination by Sir Wilfrid:

Trivia:
Charles Laughton, who plays Sir Wilfrid, and Elsa Lanchester, who plays the nurse Miss Plimsoll, were husband and wife in real life.
Marlene Dietrich was so sure that she would be nominated for an Oscar that she rewrote the opening to her Las Vegas act in anticipation.  She was not nominated and was crushed.


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