Witness for the Prosecution

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Billy Wilder directs. Russell Harlan behind the camera. Matty Malneck scores. Daniel Mandell cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in German, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Shot for just $3.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 2Made its money back 3.0× over at the box office.
• 369 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 4Dialogue crosses 2 languages: German, English.
• 5Directed by Billy Wilder, shot by Russell Harlan. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 6Original score by Matty Malneck. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 7Editor Daniel Mandell shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 8Tyrone Power and Marlene Dietrich and Charles Laughton carry the top of the cast.
• 9Marketing tagline: "The most electrifying entertainment of our time!".
• 10IMDB entry: tt0051201 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 11Classified under 12 themes, including "based on novel or book", "nurse", "widow", "cigarette".
• 12Released under 20 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography

Russell Harlan

Original score

Matty Malneck

Editing

Daniel Mandell

Production design

Alexandre Trauner

Costume design

Joe King

Makeup / hair

Ray Sebastian

Runtime

116 min · 1h 56m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$3,000,000

Box office

$9,000,000

Return

300% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

NR

IMDB

Witness for the Prosecution (1957) ↗

Also by

Billy Wilder

• 
  Sunset Boulevard

  1950 · ★ 8.3
• 
  The Apartment

  1960 · ★ 8.2
• 
  Double Indemnity

  1944 · ★ 8.1
• 
  Some Like It Hot

  1959 · ★ 8.1
• 
  Ace in the Hole

  1951 · ★ 7.9
• 
  Stalag 17

  1953 · ★ 7.7

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

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Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Witness for the Prosecution (1957) ORIGINAL TRAILER [HD 1080p]

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION (Masters of Cinema) New & Exclusive Trailer

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Andres Gomez2012-11-26
  ★ 8/10

  Great thriller with superb classical interpretations. The plot moves sometimes too lazily.

  Read full review ↓
• Shreyance Parakh2017-05-04
  ★ 10/10

  Why don't they make THESE movies anymore? Apart from being a GREAT courtroom drama_(which some people don't think this movie is)_, this movie is so much FUN and ENTERTAINING to watch.Especially because of the characters of Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester. But Tyrone Power and Marlene Dietrich were convincing too in their portrayal of an innocent, afraid for his life man and a disloyal, unloving, poker faced wife respectively. Some people might say that they predicted the ending half way down the movie but i am not quite sure as to how they predicted the ACTUAL ENDING before it really unfolded before their eyes? This movie is great not only in the part played in court but also in the scenes shot in Sir Wilfrid Robarts's office(also due to Miss Plimsoll's caringly lovably irritating character!). Perhaps the people(the minority I'd like to believe) who don't think this movie deserves the high ranking and rating that it's got saw this brilliant piece of art as more of a suspense thriller.But I loved this movie as a delightfully ENTERTAINING, MYSTERIOUS, DRAMA ! I rate this 10 just because I haven't seen any other CLASSIC courtroom drama that was intense throughout(barring some light hearted scenes with Sir Wilfrid Robarts) and yet in the end I somehow felt light-hearted and had a smile on my face rather than a thought provoking look on it. The commentary in the ending credits was innocently adorable for our times of social networking "The management of this theater suggests that for the greater entertainment of your friends who have not yet seen the picture you will not divulge to anyone the secret of the ending of Witness for the Prosecution!" And mind you I am a big fan of 12 Angry Men and How to Kill a Mockingbird! But this movie too is equally good in a different way altogether!

  Read full review ↓
• John Chard2019-10-01
  ★ 9/10

  I'm constantly surprised that women's hats don't provoke more murders. Leonard Steven Vole finds himself on trial for the murder of a wealthy widow from whom he has inherited a fortune. Top barrister Sir Wilfrid Robarts takes up the defendants case, but he, along with everyone else, is stunned when Vole's seemingly loving wife Christine turns up to testify against the defendant. Based on Agatha Christie's successful 1953 play, "Witness For The Prosecution" benefited from fine tuning from master director Billy Wilder and writing partner Harry Kurnitz. Here the dialogue becomes razor sharp and the characters are fully realised with quite wonderful results, but chiefly the masterstroke here is not letting a court room drama become just that, a court room drama. The film plays out with no wasted scenes, no moments of boredom, and it has such vim and vigour you sometimes forget that there actually is drama in the story. The cast here are on fine form, Wilder had wanted to work with Charles Laughton for some time, and it's obvious that both parties here are getting the best out of each other. Laughton is a pure delight as Robarts, a sharp tongue, all bluster and cheeky into the bargain, his interplay with Miss Plimsoll (Laughton's real life wife Elsa Lanchester) is quality, and it's another testament to Wilder's genius for putting them together. Tyrone Power, in what would be his last completed film before sadly passing away, is devilishly smart as Vole, whilst Torin Thatcher is great as the gruff prosecution barrister Myers. Yet as good as they all are, they all sit in the shadow of Marlene Dietrich and her turn as Christine Vole, sultry and femme fatalistic, it's a sizzling performance that crowns this delightful film. It occurred to me overnight that it's probably the closest film that Wilder got to being Hitchcockian, and I'm pretty sure the big master of suspense himself would have enjoyed this one. It's a mystery that is dramatic, it's a thriller that is also funny, it's pretty much a multi genre classic. 9/10

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• ED

  Edward Small Productions

  US

Key crew

• AdaptationLawrence B. Marcus
• NovelAgatha Christie
• Production AssistantDoane Harrison
• CastingWilliam Maybery
• Second Assistant DirectorFrank Losee
• Technical AdvisorBasil Bleck
• Makeup ArtistRay Sebastian
• PresenterEdward Small
• Production DesignAlexandre Trauner
• EditorDaniel Mandell
• ProducerArthur Hornblow Jr.
• SoundFred Lau
• Script SupervisorJohn Franco
• Makeup ArtistWally Westmore
• Makeup ArtistGustaf Norin
• Costume DesignJoe King
• Assistant DirectorEmmett Emerson
• Special EffectsLee Zavitz
• Costume DesignEdith Head
• Executive ProducerEdward Small
• Makeup ArtistCharles Gemora
• Costume DesignAdele Parmenter
• Still PhotographerMadison S. Lacy
• Set DecorationHoward Bristol

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• based on novel or book
• nurse
• widow
• cigarette
• letter
• trial
• murder
• lawyer
• courtroom
• murder mystery
• tiki culture
• suspicious

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1957-12-17NR

Also known as

International titles

• Testimone d'accusaIT
• Testigo de cargoES
• Témoin à chargeFR
• Testemunha de AcusaçãoBR
• 控方证人CN
• 情妇CN
• Bezwarend getuigeBE
• Свидетел на обвинениетоBG
• Anklagerens vidneDK
• TodistajaFI
• 情婦JP
• Μάρτυρας ΚατηγορίαςGR
• Åklagarens vittneSE
• 검찰 측의 증인KR
• 검찰 측 증인KR