Witness for the Prosecution
Sir Wilfred Robarts, a famed barrister is released from the hospital, where he stayed for two months following his heart attack. Returning to the practise of his lawyer skills, he takes the case of Leonard Vole, an unemployed man who is accused of murdering an elderly lady friend of his, Mrs. Emily French. While Leonard Vole claims he's innocent, although all evidence points to him as the killer, his alibi witness, his cold German wife Christine, instead of entering the court as a witness for the defense, she becomes the witness for the prosecution and strongly claims her husband is guilty of the murder.
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- Cast:
- Diana Rigg , Ralph Richardson , Deborah Kerr , Beau Bridges , Donald Pleasence , Wendy Hiller , Richard Vernon
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Reviews
Let's be realistic.
Fantastic!
Excellent, Without a doubt!!
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
Those who know Diana Rigg mainly for a famous TV series are probably unaware of his classical training and her distinguished stage career. in this Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, Dame Diana is "the witness" and she carries the story from beginning to end. Sir Ralph Richardson, as the lead barrister for the defense, is also elegant. Deborah Kerr is unfortunately miscast as the hovering nurse to Sir Ralph's character and Beau Bridges is completely out of his so-limited depth as the accused murderer. I haven't ever seen the original 1957 film so I can't justly compare them but the sexy, mysterious Marlene Dietrich was simply not in Rigg' s league as an actress.
The better version of Witness For The Prosecution,starring a very remarkable Diana Rigg as a frosty and yet highly intense dark lady,and presenting the most compelling courtroom drama ever seen on the screen,with a duel to death among an ambitious and insinuating prosecutor played with his usual malicious glint by a wonderful Donald Pleasance and a dying and cunning barrister played with vulnerable naughtiness by a titanic Ralph Richardson.The stellar cast is completed by the Gotha of beloved English character actors:Wendy Hiller,Richard Vernon,David Langton,Peter Sallis...even Deborah Kerr in an endearing role of comic relief.A major success,highly deserving a DVD edition,and very curiously far superior to the Billy Wilder version,exceedingly verging on glamor and comedy.
I am amazed at the number of comments here faulting Sir Ralph Richardson's performance here and praising Dame Diana Rigg's. The situation is, if anything, the reverse. Admittedly, I hadn't seen the Billy Wilder cinema version for some years when I watched this, and therefore couldn't compare Sir Ralph's work to that of Charles Laughton (I haven't viewed this one since, either), but that isn't necessary to evaluate Rigg. She is totally miscast, in a way that is fatal to the twist ending (note the spoiler warning above, please). Unlike Marlene Dietrich, for Rigg the German accent is a complete affectation, while the cockney isn't that far from her own British speech pattern: vocally, she is quite recognizable as the other woman, at least to anyone familiar with her from other work--the fact that Rigg is kept in shadows in this scene (something that was unnecessary with Dietrich) would raise some vague suspicions of any uninitiated but reasonably intelligent viewer as well, even if her voice didn't give her away. But it does.
I have never liked the murder mystery genre. However, this is one of my favorite films. I have also seen the original 1957 version starring Marlene Dietrich and think this version is far better. Why ? Because this version is more compelling, and the cast is excellent. But by far, it is because Diana Rigg is PERFECT in her role and outshines the rest of the cast.