Witness For The Prosecution (1957)

26 December 2021

Charles Laughton is Sir Wilfrid Roberts, a barrister having suffered a recent heart attack. Upon returning to work, he takes on a seemingly hopeless criminal case. This story is written by Agatha Christie, and with screenplay and direction from Billy Wilder. This film also stars Tyrone Power and Madeline Dietrich. The weakest part of this story is the constant nursing that accompanies Roberts' legal work that acts like comedic relief, but it kept the story for getting too dry or dark, and it ages well.

The film was nominated for 4 academy awards, but lost most of them to The Bridge on the River Kwai (and one to Sayonara). I love both these films but this this one is stronger overall it's about 40 minutes shorter (at 1h56m) and the story's much more suspenseful, so it's a little disappointing how it didn't get as much acclaim. Though as it's 64th on the top 250 IMDb list at this time, it's deservedly winning the long game compared to Kwai at 175.

At the time of this writing you can see it free with ads on Pluto TV. Highly, highly recommended. 10/10