There are quite a few films adapted from the novels of Agatha Christie, but WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION can easily be rated as one of the best or probably the finest adaptation directed by Billy Wilder. The brainstorming novel of Christie gets transformed into an equally thrilling and entertaining movie in the genre of courtroom dramas. And this is a widely appreciated black & white classic that will seriously trouble your grey cells till the mind boggling climax reveals the real game being played behind the whole drama.
The film is about an exciting court case involving a husband-wife couple, where the suspicion keeps shifting like a pendulum towards many characters, and the last few minutes force you to sit back and think about the entire proceedings again right from the beginning. A brilliantly written mystery, it gets an equally outstanding execution on screen and the unexpected sharp twists never let you take a break in between.
Revolving around an ace defense lawyer, who has been alarmed by the doctors not to go for any other major case taking care of his health, the film becomes a delightful watch as he decides to take up a murder case getting caught in the web of deceits with many shocking revelations. The other major triumph achieved by the film is the entertaining balance it maintains between its tense content and comedy at regular intervals.
One of those early movies, where the climax was carefully kept as a secret and the viewers were requested not to reveal it to their friends after watching the film. Personally, speaking, this also happens to be the film, which guided me to read more of
Agatha Christie’s writings as an enthusiastic fan and has an interesting relationship with
Alfred Hitchcock too.
Reportedly, quoting the film Hitchcock said that,
“Many times, people have shared with me that how much they loved WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION (1957) as they assumed it to by my film instead of Billy Wilder’s. And Wilder told me that many asked him about THE PARADINE CASE (1947), assuming it to be his film instead of mine.”
Unanimously included in the list of Top Ten Courtroom Dramas by critics and film institutes, WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION is unarguably a must watch movie for lovers of this particular genre and surely among the Top 5 Greatest Courtroom Dramas I personally enjoyed the most till date. So do go for it at the earliest and have a great time in the courtroom.
Directed By Billy Wilder
Starring : Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton, Elsa Lanchester and more.
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WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION Review by Bobby Sing at bobbytalkscinema.com, Agatha Christie Films, Worlds Top 10 Courtroom Dramas, Billy Wilder Films, Movies To See Before You die, Must See Movie List By Bobby Sing, Not To Be Missed Courtroom Dramas
