Witness for the Prosecution

One of the ten best courtroom dramas of all time according to the American Film Institute, Witness for the Prosecution is based on Agatha Christie’s hugely successful play, which in turn was derived from her own 1926 short story. The film was directed by Billy Wilder, who during his illustrious career never seemed to put a foot wrong in his choice of material or its execution. Witness for the Prosecution is one of the best films to come out of Hollywood in the 1950s. Nominated for six Academy Awards and five Golden Globes, the film is based on a carefully constructed narrative that ends with ten minutes of shocking revelations that will leave you breathless, as promised by the promotional materials of the time. It is this emphasis on narrative twists that links the film to this year’s main thematic section, Spoiler Alert! The fact that the story achieves the desired effect is also due to the first-rate cast, led by Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, and the married couple Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester. (mh)