Witness for the Prosecution

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
original movie poster
Directed by	Billy Wilder
Produced by	Arthur Hornblow Jr.
Written by	Agatha Christie (play) Larry Marcus Billy Wilder Harry Kurnitz
Starring	Tyrone Power Marlene Dietrich Charles Laughton Elsa Lanchester
Music by	Matty Malneck Ralph Arthur Robert
Cinematography	Russell Harlan
Editing by	Daniel Mandell
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date(s)	February 6, 1958
Running time	116 min.
Language	English
Budget	$3,000,000 (estimated)
IMDb profile

Witness for the Prosecution is a 1957 film based on the short story, and play, by Agatha Christie, It tells the story of Sir Wilfrid, a master criminal barrister who takes the case of a man on trial for murder. While he expects that the defendant's wife will stand up for him in court, she unexpectedly agrees to appear for the prosecution in a trial while multiple twists and turns occur that will test the lawyer's skill to the limit.

The film was based on The Witness for the Prosecution, one of Christie's short stories, first published in 1933 in the collection The Hound of Death.

The first performance of Witness for the Prosecution was in the form of a live telecast which aired on CBS's Lux Video Theatre on 17 September 1953 and which starred Edward G. Robinson, Andrea King and Tom Drake [1].

The first film version of the story was made in 1957 and stars Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton, and Elsa Lanchester. It was adapted by Larry Marcus, Harry Kurnitz and the film's Austrian-born director Billy Wilder.

The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Charles Laughton), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Elsa Lanchester), Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Picture, and Best Sound.

1 Other adaptations
2 Trivia
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Other adaptations

In 1982, Witness for the Prosecution was remade for television, starring Ralph Richardson, Deborah Kerr, Beau Bridges, Donald Pleasence, Wendy Hiller, and Diana Rigg. It was adapted by Lawrence B. Marcus and John Gay from the original screenplay and directed by Alan Gibson. The IMDb profile for this version of the film can be found here

Another adaptation also exists but not much is known about it other than it was made in 1949 and had a run time of 25 minutes^{[citation needed]}. It appears to have been a television play for the UK.

[edit] Trivia

In the book, Reel Justice, the authors noted that a lawyer of Sir Wilfrid's experience should have been able to disallow Christine Vole's testimony for the prosecution on the grounds she was a "putative spouse" of Leonard Vole. A putative spouse is a person someone (in this case, Leonard Vole) sincerely believes he or she is legally married to. For the purposes of the trial under that situation, Christine would, in effect, still be considered Leonard's wife and spousal privilege would apply.

[edit] See also

Witness for the Prosecution (play)

[edit] External links

Witness for the Prosecution at the Internet Movie Database

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

Witness for the Prosecution

Agatha Christie
Detectives: Hercule Poirot • Miss Marple • Tommy and Tuppence • Ariadne Oliver • Arthur Hastings • Superintendent Battle • Chief Inspector Japp • Parker Pyne
Novels: The Mysterious Affair at Styles • The Secret Adversary • Murder on the Links • The Man in the Brown Suit • The Secret of Chimneys • The Murder of Roger Ackroyd • The Big Four • The Mystery of the Blue Train • The Seven Dials Mystery • The Murder at the Vicarage • The Sittaford Mystery • Peril at End House • Lord Edgware Dies • Murder on the Orient Express • Three Act Tragedy • Why Didn't They Ask Evans? • Death in the Clouds • The A.B.C. Murders • Murder in Mesopotamia • Cards on the Table • Death on the Nile • Dumb Witness • Appointment with Death • And Then There Were None • Murder is Easy • Hercule Poirot's Christmas • Sad Cypress • Evil Under the Sun • N or M? • One, Two, Buckle My Shoe • The Body in the Library • Five Little Pigs • The Moving Finger • Towards Zero • Sparkling Cyanide • Death Comes as the End • The Hollow • Taken at the Flood • Crooked House • A Murder is Announced • They Came to Baghdad • Mrs McGinty's Dead • They Do It with Mirrors • A Pocket Full of Rye • After the Funeral • Hickory Dickory Dock • Destination Unknown • Dead Man's Folly • 4.50 From Paddington • Ordeal by Innocence • Cat Among the Pigeons • The Pale Horse • The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side • The Clocks • A Caribbean Mystery • At Bertram's Hotel • Third Girl • Endless Night • By the Pricking of My Thumbs • Hallowe'en Party • Passenger to Frankfurt • Nemesis • Elephants Can Remember • Postern of Fate • Curtain • Sleeping Murder
As Mary Westmacott: Giant's Bread • Unfinished Portrait • Absent in the Spring • The Rose and the Yew Tree • A Daughter's a Daughter • The Burden
Short story collections: Poirot Investigates • Partners in Crime • The Mysterious Mr. Quin • The Hound of Death • The Thirteen Problems • Parker Pyne Investigates • The Listerdale Mystery • Murder in the Mews • The Regatta Mystery • The Labours of Hercules • Poirot's Early Cases • The Harlequin Tea Set
Plays: Akhnaton • The Mousetrap • Witness for the Prosecution • Verdict • Rule of Three • Fiddlers Three