TYRONE POWER   MARLENE DIETRICH   JOHN WILLIAMS   

CHARLES LAUGHTON   RUTA LEE   

AND  ELSA LANCHESTER  

star in

WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION

DVD - Region 4 - PAL - NEW and SEALED - Never played!! - G-rated - Black-and-White - 1957-release - 111-minutes - Original DVD release in Australia 

Ailing barrister Sir Wilfrid Robarts is thrust back into the courtroom in what becomes one of the most unusual and eventful murder cases of the lawyer's career when he finds himself defending Leonard Vole, a man being tried for the murder of a wealthy woman. 

With Robarts choosing to represent him, the two find themselves up against Leonard's cold-hearted wife, Christine - who, in a surprising turn of events, chooses to appear in court against her husband.

Tied With Primal Fear with the Best Ending to a Courtroom Drama.

Saw this for the first time when I was in 12th grade and thought I had taken a class I could go to sleep in; Film Studay.

 I had worked very hard in school up until my senior year, and had done well in very advanced classes so I could get into a good college. 

It didn't matter now what I took since my applications had already been sent out. 

Well it turned out I had an amazing teacher, and it was the most interesting class I ever took in high school as he introduced us to so many black and white classes that I never would have watched at home. 

On the Waterfront, Chinatown, Citizen Cane, Ben-Hur, Lawrence of Arabia, Gandhi and my favorite, Witness for the Prosecution. 

From the minor laughable things, like Laughton constantly trying to outfox Plimsoll (his nurse) over whiskey and cigars (and then that surprise ending about that), to the inside of an English courtroom from another era, to the incredible acting by Laughton and Dietrich and of course an ending very few people I think could have guessed, this movie had me so engrossed, I came home from school the day we finished watching it (this was in the VHS era well before the Internet) trying desperately to figure out how I could get a copy of the movie and watch it ten more times. 

It is amazing how much older Laughton looks than he really is here (43). 

Maybe that is why he died at only 63, and even more of a shame for Laughton was that he had to hide his private life from then intolerant public. 

Just a fabulous movie, with all of the smaller parts performed wondrously. You don't want to rent this you want to buy it.