History Film / WitnessForTheProsecution

* 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 Wolfrid after the trial.]]

* WhatTheHellIsThatAccent: The woman who sells new evidence to Sir Wilfrid is making a truly ''atrocious'' attempt at a Cockney accent.

A short story by Creator/AgathaChristie, 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, Ralph Richardson as Sir Wilfrid, and Creator/DianaRigg as Christine Vole. 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.

* AnnoyingPatient: Sir Wilfrid, who screams at Mrs. Plimsoll and sabotages her treatment. (Granted, she does get rather twee, but she's also trying to avert another heart attack.) She notes this difficult behavior is exactly when he was discharged from the hospital -- they got fed up with it.

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.

* AdaptationalKarma: The short story ends with Christine admitting to Leonard's solicitor that she deliberately got caught committing perjury to get Leonard, who she knew was guilty, acquitted. The film continues to show Leonard leaving her for another woman immediately after his acquittal and Christine stabbing him in rage as a consequence.

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, at age 44, suffered a fatal heart attack on the set of his next production, ''Film/SolomonAndSheba''.

What follows is a three-day trial, during which time the prosecution makes a convincing case for Leonard's guilt and Sir Wilfrid attempts to prove his innocence. After some time, a surprise witness is called, and twist after twist keeps everyone in the courtroom - and the audience - on the edge of their seats.

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''.

The film version was directed by Creator/BillyWilder and starred Tyrone Power 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''.

* AnnoyingPatient: Sir Wilfrid, who screams at Mrs. Plimsoll and sabotages her treatment. (Granted, she does get rather twee, but she's also trying to avert another heart attack.)

* AmoralAttorney: Averted. Mr. Meyers, the prosecuting attorney, is actually a very polite and civil man. He's just doing his job.

* AdaptationalKarma: The short story ends with [[spoiler: Christine admitting to Leonard's solicitor that she deliberately got caught committing perjury to get Leonard, who she knew was guilty, acquitted]]. The film continues to show [[spoiler: Leonard leaving her for another woman immediately after his acquittal and Christine stabbing him in rage as a consequence.]]

* 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 helped their son pretend to be old enough to serve so they could go off to war together as John wanted) - 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!]]

* 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 helped their son pretend to be old enough to serve so they could go off to war together) - 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!]]

* 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 - 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!]]

* 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 1920's, the period when the original story was published, as opposed to the film which had a SettingUpdate to the 1950's]].

* GenreSavvy: Sir Wilfrid suspects ''something'' is too good to be true about the DeusExMachina delivery of surprise evidence to him after Christine's testimony, though he doesn't actually solve the puzzle.

* AdaptationNameChange:
** Combined with NamedByTheAdaptation, Mr. Mayherne (the attorney) is named John Mayhew here.
** Janet Mackenzie (French's maid) is also named Janet [=McIntyre=] here.

** Sir Wilfrid Robarts is named John Mayhew here.

* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: For the attorney character, who's called John Mayhew here, 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]].

** Janet Mackenzie is also named Janet [=McIntyre=] here.

** Subverted with [[spoiler:Janet [=McIntyre=], who at first appears to be Emily French's killer due to being in love with her, but is ultimately revealed to be innocent of the crime]].

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 Mayhew.

* DarkerAndEdgier: As 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.]]
* 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. Macintyre, 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 - 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!]]

* AdaptationalKarma: The short story ends with [[spoiler: Christine admitting to Leonard's solicitor that she deliberately got caught committing perjury to get Leonard, who she knew was guilty, acquitted]]. The film continues to show [[spoiler: Leonard leaving her for another woman immediately after his acquittal and Christine shooting him in rage as a consequence.]]

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 Mayhew.