Witness For The Prosecution

Guilt or Not Guilty?

Director: Billy Wilder
Release Date: 1957
Rating: U
Running Time: 115 mins
Genre: Noir/ Courtroom Drama
Actors: Charles Laughton, Tyrone Power, Marlene Deitrich

Billy Wilder takes on Agatha Christie after writing and directing this noir courtroom drama of a man, Leonard Vole (Tyrone Power) pleading his innocence for a murder he is accused of commuting. It will take the brain power of lawyer, Sir Wilfred Robarts (Charles Laughton), the most successful but angry barrister in England, to prove Vole's innocence whilst all the evidence builds up against them. But it may take more than a good lawyer for the jury as the evidence stacks up against Vole with an almost certain death penalty awaiting him.

Witness For The Prosecution like such films as 12 Angry Men before it, forces the audience to question their own thoughts and morality in proving a man's innocence or guilt. Though maybe not a film that would appeal to a large audience, especially given its age and plot, it is a film that would be able to grab any person and keep them thoroughly entertained throughout. Maybe not a Wilder film that has necersarily aged the best, it still holds up as a classic that audiences can still appreciate.

One of the most edge of the knife dramas from the 1950's, another masterpiece by the incredible Billy Wilder who has once again managed to find the perfect balance between the noir suspense and comedy.

8/10