Saturday 30 March 2024

Witness for the Prosecution (1957 Billy Wilder & co-scr)

It's a sneaky bastard, and an atypical Wilder film.

Unusually, Marlene is guilty of some overacting. You would have thought that she and Billy being old friends from the Berlin days he would have got exactly what he wanted from her, but I think in the courtroom scenes she just goes too far (as does Tyrone Power). It was she who wanted the part and asked Billy to direct it.

But... "Marlene was coached how to speak Cockney, by Noel Coward, who was a close friend of hers". He didn't do a very good job.

Charles Laughton is well supported by Ian Wolfe, Elsa Lanchester, John Williams and Henry Daniell; Una O'Connor is the dead woman's maid, and the lady in question is Norma Varden (The Major and the Minor, Strangers on a Train).

The Old Bailey is by Alexander Trauner. Shot by Russell Harlan, edited by Daniel Mandell, music by Matty Malneck.




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