Witness for the Prosecution

Witness for the Prosecution

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

This review may contain spoilers.

At one point Charles Laughton, assessing the resolution of the high stakes murder trial at the heart of this movie, declares, “It’s all a bit too easy.” That of course sets up a plot turn that really upends most everything that came before. It’s very Christie-an in its twistiness, but even though it’s meant to subvert the tidiness of the plot, it still feels overly pat and Hollywood. Still, it’s enough to have Laughton in the role of the irascible, irrepressible barrister Sir Wilfrid Robarts. His extravagantly rolled Rs and imperial elocution, along with his rich, baritone delivery, makes every line a feast. There’s a fine supporting cast too, but even Tyrone Power, who here is still able to remind us why he was such a star, pales in comparison to Laughton.

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