History Film / WitnessForTheProsecution

The play began its life as a short story titled "Traitor's Hands, first published in 1925; it received its current title as part of the 1933 story collection ''The Hound of Death''. Christie eventually grew dissatisfied with the ending and changed it when she rewrote the story as a play.

* ChewingTheScenery: Christine on the stand: "Damn you! DAAAAMN YOU! DAAAAAAMN YOOOOOU!" Possibly intentional, as we learn at the end that her entire testimony was a performance, and this "over-acting" could be a part of that.

* ShesGotLegs: American servicemen in the shabby Berlin club where Christine is playing demand to see her legs, and get drunk enough to actually rip her pants off. This scene was written into the movie specifically for some Marlene Dietrich {{Fanservice}}.

The play began its life as a short story titled "Traitor's Hands," first published in 1925; it received its current title as part of a 1933 story collection, ''The Hound of Death''. Christie eventually grew dissatisfied with the ending and changed it when she rewrote the story as a play.

A 1982 TV Movie adaptation featured Creator/DeborahKerr as Sir Wilfrid's vigilant nurse, Creator/RalphRichardson as Sir Wilfrid, Creator/DianaRigg as Christine Vole, Creator/DonaldPleasence as Mr. Myers, Creator/WendyHiller as Janey Mackenzie and Creator/MichaelGough as the judge.
Incidentally, as this film is over 50 years old, nothing below is spoiler-tagged. If you ever plan to see it, don't read anything further.

The play began its life as a short story titled "Traitor's Hands," first published in 1925; it received its current title as part of a story collection, ''The Hound of Death''. Christie eventually grew dissatisfied with the ending and changed it when she rewrote the story as a play.

A short story by Creator/AgathaChristie in 1925, made into a 1953 play, which was then adapted into a 1957 film.

A 1982 TV Movie adaptation featured Creator/DeborahKerr as Sir Wilfrid's vigilant nurse, Creator/RalphRichardson as Sir Wilfrid, Creator/DianaRigg as Christine Vole. Creator/DonaldPleasence as Mr. Myers, Creator/WendyHiller as Janey Mackenzie and Creator/MichaelGough as the judge.

* CourtroomAntics: Mild compared to some cases, but Sir Wilfrid plays a few tricks during the trial. Leonard also loudly contradicts Christine's testimony from the gallery, for which the judge does threaten to throw him out of court.

The film version was directed by Creator/BillyWilder and starred Creator/TyronePower as Leonard, Creator/MarleneDietrich as Christine and Creator/CharlesLaughton as Sir Wilfrid. Tyrone Power's last film, as he suffered a fatal heart attack on the set of his next production, ''Film/SolomonAndSheba''.

->'''Leonard Vole''': But I've done nothing! This is England! You don't get arrested or convicted for something you haven't done!\\
'''Sir Wilfrid''': We try not to make a habit of it.

A 1982 TV Movie adaptation featured Creator/DeborahKerr as Sir Wilfrid's vigilant nurse, Creator/RalphRichardson as Sir Wilfrid, Creator/DianaRigg as Christine Vole. Creator/DonaldPleasence as Mr. Myers, Creator/WendyHiller as Janey Mackenzie and Creator/MichaelGough as the judge. In 2016, a two-part TV adaptation, following the book rather than the play, was broadcast by Creator/TheBBC, from the creators of the 2015 adaptation of ''Literature/AndThenThereWereNone''. It starred Creator/TobyJones as John Mayhew.

* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: Leonard, the remorseless and heartless murderer is stabbed and killed by Christine after he reveals that he's been using her all this time.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Both Leonard and Christine had both fooled Sir Wilfrid for the right verdict, though they both meet hard justice in other ways. Sir Wilfrid is still somber at being duped into freeing a guilty man, though is ultimately encouraged to take up another case, namely Christine's trial for the murder of Leonard.]]

* DidYouActuallyBelieve: [[spoiler: Leonard reveals he has a girlfriend, gloating having used Christine for his purpose the whole time. Said girlfriend is quite the SmugSnake herself, sneering at Christine how deluded she was, as she is far older than Leonard.]]

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[spoiler: Both Christine and Diana were in on Leonard's scheme and had a similar cruel wit as he has. Unlike Leonard however, Christine genuinely loved him, and killed him in a heartbroken rage after he was revealed to be a user. Diana in turn broke down in horrified tears at the sight of his murder, implying her love was genuine too.]]
* FauxAffablyEvil: [[spoiler: Leonard. Even after it's revealed that he's a cold hearted and manipulative murderer he still acts politely and offers Sir Wilfred even more money for getting him off. It's all an act of course and just another way of manipulating the people around him, much like the act he's been putting on for the entire film.]]

* SelfDisposingVillain: [[spoiler: Sir Wilfrid realises he has vindicated a guilty man, which Leonard and Christine gloat he cannot try a second time. However Leonard instantly betrays Christine for another girl afterwards, in turn a heartbroken Christine stab him in a rage in front of authorities, leading to her arrest and both of them to meet their comeuppance.]]

* SmugSnake: [[spoiler: Leonard gloats excessively at having played Sir Wilfrid and Christine to serve his ends, and now he has gotten away scot free, complete with a very callous DidYouActuallyBelieve to Christine. He never suspected this might push Christine off the deep end however, and he is promptly murdered himself.]]

* UncertainDoom: [[spoiler: Leonard is last seen being tended to for his stab wound, though a conversation suggests he is very unlikely to be saved.]]

* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: The woman who sells new evidence to Sir Wilfrid is making a truly ''atrocious'' attempt at a Cockney accent. [[spoiler: Of course, the woman in question is not Cockney or even English to begin with... as Christine reveals to Sir Wilfrid after the trial.]]

!!The 2016 television adaptation contains examples of:

* AdaptationNameChange: Janet Mackenzie (French's maid) is named Janet [=McIntyre=] here.
* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: For John Mayhew in particular. To begin with, he's given a tragic backstory [[spoiler: involving the death of his son during the First World War in a gas attack]] that continues to haunt him throughout the plot. Then, it's taken UpToEleven by the end where [[spoiler: he discovers, in rapid succession, that he has unwittingly helped a murderer get away scot-free, has contributed actively to sending an innocent woman to the gallows, and that his wife doesn't love him and has never forgiven him for coming home from the war while their son didn't.]] All this ultimately leads [[spoiler: to him committing suicide]].
* AdaptationalVillainy:
** Subverted with [[spoiler:Janet [=McIntyre=], who at first appears to be Emily French's killer due to having been in love with her, but is ultimately revealed to be innocent of the crime]].
** Played straight with [[spoiler:Romaine, who comes across as a far more manipulative and cruel person than the relatively more sympathetic character she was in previous adaptations]].
* AwfulWeddedLife:
** John Mayhew's life is revealed to be this in the final episode. He and his wife Alice were once happily married, but as he points out on a holiday following the trial, she never says that she loves him anymore. [[spoiler: Having just learnt that he helped the guilty Leonard, escape his well-deserved death]] John confronts her and pleads for her to show him some affection. Alice however, acts evasive. In the end, when John won't stop, she finally cracks and reveals that NO - she ''doesn't'' love him anymore. Alice makes it clear to John that her affection for him ended when he allowed their underage son to accompany him to the trenches, where he died and John lived. She then tells her husband flat out that she will honour their marital vows, but that is it. She will never love him again and does not care if he cheats on her.
** It is heavily implied that Leonard and Romaine's marriage is this as well. Romaine's final statement is implied to be a veiled death threat and that if necessary she will kill Leonard.
* DarkerAndEdgier: When compared to the 1957 film and the play it is based on, and even arguably the original short story. [[spoiler: There are explicit sex scenes, a lot of swearing and a complete lack of PoliticallyCorrectHistory (most notably in the scene where Leonard's senior counsel refers to him as a victim of "the perfidy of women"). Leonard Vole gets away with murder, without the KarmicDeath he suffered in previous adaptations. Romaine also comes across as a far more manipulative and cruel person than the relatively more sympathetic character she was in previous adaptations. Emily French's maid is convicted of her murder and hanged. Worse still, the attorney John Mayhew is a man battling his own personal demons involving his son's death in the war, which his wife blames him for, and the miniseries ends with him, overwhelmed by both his depressing personal situation and the knowledge that he has helped a murderer get away and helped send an innocent woman to the gallows, killing himself by walking into the sea.]]
* DeathByAdaptation: [[spoiler: Janet [=McIntyre=] and John Mayhew]].
* DownerEnding: This adaptation ends on an even more cynical note than Christie's original short story - [[spoiler: Leonard Vole gets away with murder, inherits Emily French's wealth, and lives a life of luxury abroad with Romaine (though it is very subtly implied that being the manipulative bitch that she is, she might someday decide to do away with him as well); Ms. [=McIntyre=], Emily French's maid, is convicted of the murder, seemingly driven insane though the court proceedings and eventually hanged; John Mayhew eventually discovers his own unwitting culpability in causing these miscarriages of justice to happen and is naturally devastated but worse still, when he tries to take some solace in the fact that he did what he did to provide for his wife, she admits to him that she simply cannot reciprocate his love because she has never forgiven him for the death of their son during the war (John wanted to go off to war together with his son, and they did, with John falsifying the latter's age) - leading Mayhew to kill himself by walking into the ocean. Really, it's a bleak ending for pretty much ''every'' character in the story, except perhaps Romaine, who's possibly the most evil of the lot!]]
* MythologyGag: The fellow actress whom Romaine replaced [[spoiler:and impersonated]] is named Christine, which is what Romaine's character was renamed to in other adaptations.
* NamedByTheAdaptation: Mr. Mayhew (the attorney) is named John Mayhew here.
* PsychoLesbian: Subverted with [[spoiler:Janet [=McIntyre=] (see AdaptationalVillainy above).]]
* RevisedEnding: The ending is based upon Christie's original version from 1933, [[TheBadGuyWins where Vole gets away with the murder]]. Most of the other film or television adaptations show Vole [[KarmaHoundiniWarranty getting his comeuppance]] immediately after being acquitted, once Romaine learns Leonard was cheating on her.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Mayhew is subjected to one by Vole and Romaine, who both declare that he has no right to criticise them, given that his generation, in their words, "murdered the younger generation" by sending them to their deaths during the first World War. Given that Mayhew's son was one of those people, this not only has an element of truth to it but cuts deep. They also gloatingly remind him that he was the one who called for Janet MacIntyre's death even though Leonard wanted to pay her off.
* SuicideBySea: The miniseries ends with [[spoiler:John Mayhew]] drowning [[spoiler:himself]] in the sea at the end after hitting the DespairEventHorizon, [[spoiler:when his wife reveals she no longer loves him, and he learns that the man he helped liberate was in fact guilty of the crime he was accused of]].
* TruerToTheText: To a significant extent, being based on the original Christie short story as opposed to the 1957 film, which was based on the play. [[spoiler: This adaptation, most notably, retains the original ending - Leonard Vole gets away with murder, inherits Emily French's money, and is free to live a life of luxury with Romaine. Also, the character names are identical or close to what they were in the original story, as opposed to the film. This adaptation is also set in the 1920s, the period when the original story was published, as opposed to the film which had a SettingUpdate to the 1950s]].
* WhamShot: The reveal of [[spoiler: Leonard's new wife: it's Romaine]].

* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Despite dialogue that uses distinctly British words and turns of phrase, and nothing in the movie suggesting his character is anything but English (he was in the RAF), Tyrone Power speaks with his native American accent.
** This isn't entirely true. Early in the film, when Leonard and Mayhew are consulting with Sir Wilfrid, they have to explain to Vole things like the difference between a barrister and a solicitor, implying that he doesn't completely understand the British legal system because he's a foreigner. While it makes sense for Vole to play the AudienceSurrogate so certain concepts can be explained for an American audience, it's never explained why he lives in the UK or why he joined the RAF.

** This isn't entirely true. Early in the film, when Leonard and Mayhew are consulting with Sir Wilfrid, they have to explain to Vole things like the difference between a barrister and a solicitor, implying that he doesn't entirely understand the British legal system because he's a foreigner. While it makes sense for Vole to play the AudienceSurrogate so certain concepts can be explained for an American audience, it's never explained why he lives in the UK or why he joined the RAF.

** This isn't entirely true. Early in the film, when Vole and Mayhew are consulting with Sir Wilfrid, they have to explain to Vole things like the difference between a barrister and a solicitor, implying that he doesn't entirely understand the British legal system because he's a foreigner. While it makes sense for Vole to play the AudienceSurrogate so certain concepts can be explained for an American audience, it's never explained why he lives in the UK or why he joined the RAF.

** This isn't entirely true. Early in the film, when Vole and Mayhew are consulting with Sir Wilfrid, they have to explain to Vole things like the difference between a barrister and a solicitor, implying that he doesn't entirely understand the British legal system because he's a foreigner. While it makes sense for Vole to play the [[AudienceSurrogate]] so certain concepts can be explained for an American audience, it's never explained why he lives in the UK or why he joined the RAF.