Witness For The Prosecution (1957)
Director: Billy Wilder
Writers: Billy Wilder, Agatha Christie
Actors: Charles Laughton, Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Elsa Lanchester, John Williams
Courtroom dramas are some of the most iterative sub-genres of movies ever. There seems to be this tried and true formula that this genre cannot seem to get rid of and it plagues the success of anyone that follows in its footsteps. Obviously you have some great examples of films that branch off and try to create something unique but for the most part courtroom films heavily rely on similar tropes. We’ve all seen the long and complicated case where the audience’s mind is jumping back and forth due to the immeasurable amount of evidence, arguments, testimonies, and so on. One of the weakest elements of these dramas that end up following this trend is the over reliance on the case and not on the characters. It hinders the entire story structure as viewers aren’t invested enough with the actual characters in this complicated web to ultimately care at the end. That is where Witness For The Prosecution shines as it breaks down that notion and brings forth a simple case. The actual case and people involved can be explained in a matter of minutes, yet each element is given its time and more importantly we are subjected to much needed character development. It was a breath of fresh air and it is what kept me interested throughout the entire film.
The greatest element that Witness For The Prosecution presents is the character of Wilfred Robarts, as Billy Wilder decides to change Christie’s original character and add his health condition. His constant battle between his health and his need to bring justice is incredibly compelling. It allows the viewer to follow along the emotional roller-coaster Wilfred is on. It creates an interesting dynamic when it comes to the tone of the film, as your tone is intrinsically bound to that of Wilfred since the entire film is seen through his eyes. That in itself gives us another interesting moment and one of the most important ones in my opinion. Wilfred performs as he calls it the “Monocle Test” where he reflects light from his monocle as he questions certain people. This test is not only important for Wilfred to be able to tell lie from truth but it is also a moment in which us as viewers are able to make a decision. The moment he used the test on both Leonard and Christine was the one in which I made my decision on those characters. Even though I didn’t know it at the time, that short scene with the test influenced how I viewed both Christine and Leonard and it made the punching ending more impactful.
Not only was Witness For The Prosecution great tonally and on an emotional level, but it also delivered a compelling plot. As explained before, many courtroom dramas tend to focus solely on the complexity of the case that it forgoes any form of character development. This film on the other hand straddled the line perfectly between giving the characters time to evolve in front of our eyes and presented a compelling crime. The case itself may not be complicated on a surface level, but it holds a lot of depth that slowly seeped its way into our eyes. That is the key to a successful courtroom drama and it is why this film had a positive impact on me. One of my gripes however with this aspect is that due to how few pieces we had to deal with, you start to run all the scenarios in your head and one of them ultimately ends up being the right answer. Well with this story I managed to predict some of what happened but not all, as Wilder ends this films with multiple consecutive blows in such a short time, you don’t know how to process all that you have seen.
Witness For The Prosecution was an exhilarating crime drama. The constant tonal shifts that are closely linked with that of Wilfred’s health conditions created a brilliant foundation to pace the plot with. The plot itself as I explained was simple to a great benefit. The slow trickle of facts does not feel wrong as you are at the edge of your seat waiting for the solution to this simple yet complex puzzle. Wilder delivers countless jabs as the film goes on yet he turns it to 11 at the final couple of minutes as the story suddenly delivers a flurry of raging blows that knock you out and pick you back up just to put you down again. It was jarring at first but worked because the impact was felt. Although some may find the former half of the film to be a bit slow and dull, it still managed to impress me even though its strength clearly lied in its latter portion. Witness For The Prosecution may not be Wilder’s most impactful or memorable pieces, yet it is still a great mark on his incredible career.
