First the good thing about this film. The acting is superb, and both Laughton and Lanchester excel as a real life couple; Laughton laying down the law as it were, and Lanchester as his feisty nurse. No real spoiler to say that he has had a heart attack and she lovingly puts up with his tantrums. Not since ' The Bride of Frankenstein ' has Elsa Lanchester given such a memorable performance. As for Tyrone Power on trial for murder he looks tired and old but is solid in his role. Marlene Dietrich is Marlene Dietrich and despite a misplaced song in the ruins of Berlin, and an equally unlikely love scene she gives her all, which is quite demanding. She even transforms herself into another person and that is quite a feat as the German accent has to go. Along with Elsa she steals the film. As for the story the surprises come and go like clockwork. The morbidity of the impending gallows leaves a nasty taste in the mouth, and the mob in the gallery watching the trial comes across with depressing accuracy. An execution has to happen and no spoilers but the baying audience in the 1950's need to see it come hell or high water. The ending which we are crassly told must not be revealed is of course aimed at the audience's satisfaction. The mob in the gallery have to be satisfied in the Upper Circle and the stalls. Based on an Agatha Christie play the scenario is typical of its era of suspicion and imprisonments, and as long as you can accept the fantasy of crime and often unjust punishment this is an excellent film. As cruel entertainment it works, and unbelievably a child of ten could see all this as long as they had money in their hands to see it alone.
Review of Witness for the Prosecution
