witness for the prosecution

[eric7885]

How wrong i was on the filming location of this 1957 film,starring Charles Laughton and Tyrone Power. I thought it was filmed in the UK,no,it was filmed on the United Artists studios in California. They did and excellent job recreating the Old Bailey court chambers were good.

[NappieB]

Wow! I didn't know that! I've seen the film about 10 times... at least 7 times when it was first released... and have a copy of it on VHS.

[ChristineCB]

I rate this film as my favorite of the Countroom Genre, and perhaps as my favorite Charles Laughton film (HOBSON has more fun scenes in the early and middle parts, whereas WITNESS has the incredible finale).



I give this a nod over Jimmy Stewart's ANATOMY OF A MURDER, where George C. Scott's "hook line and sinker" scene supplies the comedic relief.



I don't think I can choose Laughton over Stewart - that's probably a tie - some years, I've preferred one, some the other. They are so different in personality and characters, though, so different physically, but both had a history of fine films.



Ultimately, my favoritism towards WITNESS lies in the support cast as much as the choice between righteous endings. I'd give more points to Marlene Dietrich than to Lee Remick.



I'd give more points to Tyrone Powers than Ben Gazzara, plus Tyrone the Real Bad Guy gets his in the end. Touché, indeed. (Or was that en garde?



And finally, I'd give any film repairing Una O'Connor and Elsa Lanchester over just about any other film. They could just sit there, for all I care, but they're energizer bunnies in a lot of their scenes. Eve Arden did fine as Stewart's legal secretary, but ANATOMY doesn't have a twosome to match Una and Elsa.



WITNESS is not without an albatross - the inclusion of Ruta Lee and her forced accent. Oh please, please - why couldn't she be a wandering American Red Cross nurse? "Think of a reason for an American girl to be there and drop the poorly done accent!" Otherwise, this would get a perfect score for me.



WITNESS doesn't have a proper match against George C. Scott, though. And I notice the musical score in ANATOMY.



Still, I end up watching WITNESS more often.

[batman]

It might sound odd Christine, but I find 'Witness..' has a sort of 'warm and accessible' feeling to it while 'Anatomy..' is distinctly 'cold and detached'. I have to be in the right mood to watch the Stewart film, but with Laughton, Power and Dietrich in the cast, 'Witness..' I can happily watch anytime.



Bats.

[Pricey]

I caught the very end of a remake on TV the other day - Ralph Richardson and Diana Rigg. Know anything about it? Presumably it's awful - like the 70s The Lady Vanishes etc etc...?

[batman]

name='Pricey']I caught the very end of a remake on TV the other day - Ralph Richardson and Diana Rigg. Know anything about it? Presumably it's awful - like the 70s The Lady Vanishes etc etc...?

I have watched the remake, mainly for Ralph Richardson. I have to say that, despite the presence of the great man, I found it to be a poor imitation of the original.



Bats.

[Hell_driver]

name='batman']I have watched the remake, mainly for Ralph Richardson. I have to say that, despite the presence of the great man, I found it to be a poor imitation of the original.



Bats.

I think if you saw the Ralph Richardson version 1st you'd think it was quite a good film, but of course compared to the Charles Laughton version it's no contest.

[batman]

name='Hell_driver']I think if you saw the Ralph Richardson version 1st you'd think it was quite a good film, but of course compared to the Charles Laughton version it's no contest.

I reckon you're right there. It's not a bad film, it's just that the original is so good, and Sir Ralph is always watchable.



Bats.

[Windthrop]

name='batman']I have watched the remake, mainly for Ralph Richardson. I have to say that, despite the presence of the great man, I found it to be a poor imitation of the original.



Bats.

They used the same script which was an advantage and I thought Bridges was better than Power, who overacts a bit in my opinion. The problem with a lot of these TV movie remakes is great cast (certainly in this case - Ralph, Kerr, Rigg et al), lavish scenery and locations but they tend not to go for top flight directors. In the case of Christie adaptations this is aprticularly true because only three of the adaptations have great directors at the helm -



Orient Express - Sidney Lumet

And Then There Were None - Rene Clair



and of course Billy Wilder with Witness

[D Cairns]

"In the case of Christie adaptations this is aprticularly true because only three of the adaptations have great directors at the helm -

Orient Express - Sidney Lumet

And Then There Were None - Rene Clair

and of course Billy Wilder with Witness"



No love for John Guillermin? Michael Winner?

[christoph404]

name='ron7885']How wrong i was on the filming location of this 1957 film,starring Charles Laughton and Tyrone Power. I thought it was filmed in the UK,no,it was filmed on the United Artists studios in California. They did and excellent job recreating the Old Bailey court chambers were good.

The second unit did some filming in London to establish some of the exteriors, such as the exterior of The Old Bailey, but otherwise as you say, all filmed in the US in the studio....

[Windthrop]

name='D Cairns']"In the case of Christie adaptations this is aprticularly true because only three of the adaptations have great directors at the helm -

Orient Express - Sidney Lumet

And Then There Were None - Rene Clair

and of course Billy Wilder with Witness"



No love for John Guillermin? Michael Winner?

Guillerman's Death on the Nile wasn't in the same league as Sumlet's offering - in my opinion. It is above average but Lumet did something rather clever with flashbacks and also made great use of his all star cast, better I think than most directors do with lavish casts. As for Winner - less said the better. His was the last of that run of movies and I find it a mess. No tension, just the usual suspects marshalled up with little energy or apparent enthusiasm.

[NappieB]

I agree with Windthrop...but even so, damn fine films! I disliked the remake of WITNESS but only because it pales beside the original.

[kezzy]

I just love the scene where Charles Laughton can't stop playing on his chair-lift. It's so implausible that it's completely believable.

[ProfMarcus]

One more great Christie adaptation by a great director: René Clair's And Then There Were None (1945).

[Buffalo_Chuck]

This gets my vote as a favorite. Batman wrote about the accessibility of it compared to the coldness of ANATOMY, and I haven't used those words, but his viewing attitudes are the same as mine. I like both films, but I watch WITNESS over and over and seldom see ANATOMY.



WITNESS probably has the weakest of the supporting characters - the terrible-accented Ruta Lee. Her presence alone made me think this was an American studio set; surely if this was filmed-in-UK, they could have found any number of candidates to have delivered the lines and looks just as well, but without the poor accent. I can't think of anyone in ANATOMY that is so offensive to my tastes.



Maybe the harshness of the crime and the less unsympathizable characters of Gazzara, Lee Remick and the co-worker played by Murray Hamilton make ANATOMY a less popular film on my viewing schedule. There really are a lot of jerks in that film, whereas WITNESS really only has Tyrone Powers. For prosecution witnesses, I'd always enjoy Una O'Connor over Murray Hamilton.