Tonight's Movie: Witness for the Prosecution (1957) at the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival

This week I'll be taking a look at the last two "new to me" films seen at last month's 2018 Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival in Palm Springs.

WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION (1957), seen on Saturday at the festival, technically wasn't actually new to me, insofar as I had seen it as a teenager; however, I remembered nothing about it other than that I had liked it. It's rather surprising I'd never gone back to it in the years since, given how much I like Tyrone Power, but seeing it on a big screen was a great way to revisit it!

Ironically, although I was enjoying it quite well, I faded out a bit toward the end of the movie -- it was the fourth film I'd seen that day so I suppose that will happen once in a while! Shortly after I got home I ordered the Kino Lorber DVD, and I just rewatched the last 40 minutes or so of the movie. I'm glad I did, as I had missed a couple key plot points last month before I tuned back in for the final minutes.

WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION is based on an Agatha Christie play; director Billy Wilder cowrote the screenplay with Harry Kurnitz, based on an adaptation by Lawrence Marcus.

Charles Laughton plays Sir Wilfrid Roberts, a famous barrister in failing health. He's supposed to be sticking to boring cases which won't tax his energy but instead Sir Wilfrid takes on the defense of Leonard Vole (Power), accused of murdering a wealthy woman (Norma Varden) who left him a fortune in her will.

Vole claims he didn't know about the will and had befriended the lonely woman in hopes she might finance one of his inventions. He also claims to be happily married to Christine (Marlene Dietrich), whom he met in Germany during the war. Christine provides Leonard with an alibi, but things get interesting when she's called as a witness for the prosecution.

There are a number of twists and turns from that point, none of which will be revealed here! The film is quite theatrical in its presentation and rather shows its stage roots, between the limited number of sets and the somewhat exaggerated performances of the leads, but the style fits the story. It's a very entertaining film, well worth checking out.

Laughton is surrounded by some wonderful players including Elsa Lanchester in a terrific turn as the nurse supervising his convalescence from a heart attack; his colleagues are played by a trio of great character actors, Ian Wolfe, John Williams, and Henry Daniell. Laughton and company, especially Lanchester, provide some good laughs to balance out the suspense of the murder trial.

Power is quite creepy as the sleazy, slippery Vole. Sadly, this was his last released film before his untimely passing in 1958, just 44 years old.

I had completely forgotten Ruta Lee was in this until quite recently, and it was wonderful to have her at the festival to share stories about making the movie, which I wrote about in my May 12th festival recap.

WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION runs 116 minutes. It was filmed in black and white by Russell Harlan.

Kino has also released this film on Blu-ray. It was released on VHS in 1999.

This film is available to rent via streaming on Amazon.