Witness for the Prosecution

Is there anything Billy Wilder couldn't do? War films, film noir, cross dressing comedies, sex comedies, dark comedies, devastating dramas ... and, of course, a courtroom drama.

This was the first film in my recent Billy Wilder fest that I hadn't previously seen. And it was a damn good one.

Charles Laughton was incredible. He was crafty, serious when he needed to be, and overall hilarious. Boozing in court is always funny.

Tyrone Power was good enough. An interesting tidbit about him is that he died while working on his next movie after suffering a heart attack during a fight scene.

And Dietrich. Dietrich! Holy moly. Truly amazing. Her acting blows me away. And I can't believe she was 56-years-old when this movie came out. She looked great.

The movie kept throwing out red herring after red herring. It also completely surprised me at times. Clue after clue built up the intrigue. And then the last 15 minutes were one twist and turn and surprise after another. Brilliant. A super fun movie.

Directed by Billy Wilder
1957
TCM