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Post by pimpinainteasy on Mar 10, 2019 4:42:18 GMT
charles laughton owns this. how he owns this movie. i had seen him play a similar role in PARADINE CASE. wasnt too impressed by DEITRICH. this is the first time im seeing her. but she plays a cold teuton very well. the film is a real masala courtroom drama. LAUGHTON has the best lines written for him. the twists are really over the top. another classic from BILLY WILDER. i wonder whether somebody in bollywood remaked this. amitab should have done it in the 90s. LALETTAN could play LAUGHTON's role after he is done with all the flops.
(8/10)
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Post by movielover on Mar 10, 2019 5:26:05 GMT
charles laughton owns this. how he owns this movie. Truer words were never spoken. Laughton is hilarious and steals the movie with his performance. One of my favorite movies from the 1950s.
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Post by mattgarth on Mar 10, 2019 5:58:45 GMT
And a tip of the hat to Laughton's real life spouse Elsa Lanchester as his no-nonsense nurse. They were both Oscar nominated for those roles.
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Post by mikef6 on Mar 10, 2019 6:02:41 GMT
charles laughton owns this. how he owns this movie. i had seen him play a similar role in PARADINE CASE. wasnt too impressed by DEITRICH. this is the first time im seeing her. but she plays a cold teuton very well. the film is a real masala courtroom drama. LAUGHTON has the best lines written for him. the twists are really over the top. another classic from BILLY WILDER. i wonder whether somebody in bollywood remaked this. amitab should have done it in the 90s. LALETTAN could play LAUGHTON's role after he is done with all the flops. (8/10) Not in Bollywood, but in 1982 “Witness” was made for British TV with Diana Rigg as Christine, Ralph Richardson as Sir Wilfred and Beau Bridges as Leonard Vole. The movie database has a page for a new “Witness” based on a 2017 announcement. Ben Afleck is attached as director. No other names are given. There has apparently been no more progress for the last two years. “Witness For The Prosecution” began life as a short story by Agatha Christie. It had a super twist in the very last line. When Dame Agatha wrote (or authorized to be written) a version for the stage, she added yet another twist on top of the first one. Then came the Billy Wilder directed movie version that took the surprises even farther and added a third shocking twist. If anyone would like to know specifically how these surprises were added and exactly what they are, I will be glad to answer a PM. I just think that putting a complete explanation in this thread – however dire the Spoiler Warnings might be – would end up ruining it for some people.
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Post by politicidal on Mar 10, 2019 16:19:36 GMT
7/10. Good trial movie.
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Post by BATouttaheck on Mar 10, 2019 19:44:07 GMT
BEST to see it the first time with NO IDEA that it even has a twist or two or three.
BUT it works as long as you don't know what the twist /twists is/are !
Then see it again and again because it's just as good when you do know.
But not the FIRST TIME !
The Richardson/Deborah Kerr/Rigg/Bridges version is good BUT it doesn't have that specialness provided by Laughton/Lancaster !
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Post by Dramatic Look Gopher on Sept 15, 2021 2:47:29 GMT
Well folks, I finally saw Witness For The Prosecution for the first time ever. It's a movie that I should have seen long ago, but just never got around to it. Anyway, I'm very glad I did; it was superb. Batouttaheck perfectly stated that it is best to see it the first time with no idea about the twists, and that's exactly how I went into it. I actually didn't know hardly anything about WFTP, just that it was a courtroom drama, so not knowing much made it all the more enjoyable. It's like just when you thought things were wrapped up in a straightforward manner, there's much more to it. What a treat this was!
As was mentioned already, Charles Laughton steals the show. He easily gave the best performance and was an absolute delight as the cantankerous lawyer whose poor health barely enables him to provide the best defense for the accused Tyrone Power (who I found was just okay in his role). The witty script serves Laughton well and I just love the back-and-forth banter between him and his nurse, who he often belittles.
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Post by factchecker2point0 on Sept 22, 2021 19:00:17 GMT
I think the first time I saw it I was in high school in the 80's. Awesome film!
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Post by politicidal on Sept 22, 2021 21:09:36 GMT
Rewatched it this past weekend and I liked it better the second time.
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Post by marshamae on Sept 22, 2021 23:35:36 GMT
Laughton perfectly delivered the wonderful Wilder lines and his battle with Elsa Lanchester was spectacular . I loved loved loved Tyrone power. It was one of his finest performances. It’s too bad Marlene DEITRICH could not manage a believable working class British accent . That whole twist was a failure because she was recognizable. The rest of her performance, especially her duels on the Witness stand with Laughton were wonderful and her Damn You Damn you! Is one of those movie quotes I am always looking to work into a conversation. Her weariness at the end and of course, her song were great. |
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