Witness for the Prosecution (1957)

**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!

I might be asking for trouble here, but did Charles Laughton ever actually make a bad film? He leads this one as the brilliant but curmudgeonly barrister "Sir Wildred Robarts" with oodles of charisma and style. Marlene Dietrich portrays the evil, manipulative "Christine Vole" marvellously and even Tyrone Power, more the matinée idol than the serious actor, delivers as required in Billy Wilder's outstanding rendition of the Agatha Christie story about a man accused of murdering an elderly lady who has just happened to leave him a great deal of money in her will. Elsa Lanchester is suitably annoying/scary/lovable as the nurse trying to keep her ailing charge from keeling over mid-trial and a slew of other capable British actors - including a wonderfully charismatic turn from Una O'Connor in the witness box - fill in the supporting roles well. It is one of those very rare occasions where everything just gels perfectly and it really is fun to watch. Some of Laughton's wry asides and put-down lines are genuinely laugh out loud too. Had it not come up against "Bridge on the River Kwai" then I'm sure it would have garnered at least one Oscar!