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Witness for Prosecution (1957) - Billy Wilder
Brief synopsis: An aging lawyer (Charles Laughton) decides to represent seemingly innocent man (Tyrone Power), who is charged for murder.
Witness for Prosecution is a very cleverly written court-room drama, with some witty dialogue. But despite having quite a serious theme, comedic elements were established early in the beggining. Mainly manifested through Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchaster's banter, who were in fact a married couple in real life. Their interactions were quite funny and they understandibly had very good chemistry. However I felt that comedic elements were kind of a double edged sword, as I couldn't really take the story too seriously because of it.
Charles Laughton was an absolute menace in this film! With his charismatic screen presence and ability to be both goofy and authoritative, he simply outshined everyone who appeared with him on the screen.
Despite not possessing his dashingly good looks from 40's anymore, Tyrone Power's charm still remained untouched, and he was very believable in portraying his seemingly good-natured and desperate character, eventough he had occasional slips of overacting. Still I thought he was a very odd choice for the role, as I got the impression that his character was supposed to be a bit younger and British.
Marlene Dietrich had a similar problem as Power with overacting in my opinion, most notably visible in the "Damn You!! " scene. However I was impressed with her versitality, and she was very convincing as Power's cold-hearted wife.
Like I mentioned the script was very cleverly written, with many plot twists. And I was always left guessing what will happen next. Some of them really took away from the story's realism though, but it was still a very entertaining watch. Eventough I kind of sensed the main twist, I was still in awe, during the final scene. The complete change in main characters persona's at the end, which were build up throughout an entire film, was really jaw-dropping.
Rating: -
Brief synopsis: An aging lawyer (Charles Laughton) decides to represent seemingly innocent man (Tyrone Power), who is charged for murder.
Witness for Prosecution is a very cleverly written court-room drama, with some witty dialogue. But despite having quite a serious theme, comedic elements were established early in the beggining. Mainly manifested through Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchaster's banter, who were in fact a married couple in real life. Their interactions were quite funny and they understandibly had very good chemistry. However I felt that comedic elements were kind of a double edged sword, as I couldn't really take the story too seriously because of it.
Charles Laughton was an absolute menace in this film! With his charismatic screen presence and ability to be both goofy and authoritative, he simply outshined everyone who appeared with him on the screen.
Despite not possessing his dashingly good looks from 40's anymore, Tyrone Power's charm still remained untouched, and he was very believable in portraying his seemingly good-natured and desperate character, eventough he had occasional slips of overacting. Still I thought he was a very odd choice for the role, as I got the impression that his character was supposed to be a bit younger and British.
Marlene Dietrich had a similar problem as Power with overacting in my opinion, most notably visible in the "Damn You!! " scene. However I was impressed with her versitality, and she was very convincing as Power's cold-hearted wife.
Like I mentioned the script was very cleverly written, with many plot twists. And I was always left guessing what will happen next. Some of them really took away from the story's realism though, but it was still a very entertaining watch. Eventough I kind of sensed the main twist, I was still in awe, during the final scene. The complete change in main characters persona's at the end, which were build up throughout an entire film, was really jaw-dropping.
Rating: -