{"id":1176,"date":"2013-03-25T10:52:42","date_gmt":"2013-03-25T14:52:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tr10023.com\/?p=1176"},"modified":"2014-02-25T19:40:20","modified_gmt":"2014-02-26T00:40:20","slug":"charles-laughton-in-witness-for-the-prosecution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.tr10023.com\/?p=1176","title":{"rendered":"Charles Laughton in ‘Witness for the Prosecution’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Witness<\/a>

‘Witness for the Prosecution’: Original Poster<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

When Billy Wilder was asked to name the best actor he ever worked with, his reply was immediate and final: \u00a0“Charles Laughton<\/a>.” \u00a0Wilder worked with Laughton only once, but it’s easy to see why he held him in such high regard: \u00a0Laughton really was one of the most remarkable actors of his time. \u00a0Unlike Claude Rains, Laughton was often terrible — he veered far beyond the bounds of sentimentality time and again, and if he weren’t held in check, he had a tendency to ham it up. \u00a0But in the right material — not necessarily good material — with the right director, Laughton was as great as they come. \u00a0The picture Billy Wilder directed him in was an adaptation of Agatha Christie’s stage play, “Witness for the Prosecution.” \u00a0With one notable exception, the acting is of so high a calibre, one barely can tell how thin the material is or notice the many holes in the plot. \u00a0The cast is full of first rate character actors, along with one or two amusingly second rate character actors (e.g., Henry Daniell, the ubiquitous Nellie from the 40s and 50s). \u00a0But the star is unquestionably the third-billed Charles Laughton, who appears to be having a fine time as the eminent barrister, Sir Wilfred Robarts (known by his admirers as “Wilfred the Fox”), who defends a man by the name of Leonard Vole in a murder trial.<\/p>\n

Most of the picture takes place indoors, in one of two settings — Sir Wilfred’s law offices, and a courtroom at the Old Bailey. \u00a0Laughton and the supporting cast put on such a great show, there’s no sense of claustrophobia. \u00a0Indeed, the only claustrophobic scenes are those outside of the main settings . . . and that’s due almost entirely to Tyrone Power<\/a>, who has top billing in the picture. \u00a0Power, at 44, is at least ten years too old to play the defendant, repeatedly referred to as “young man” — and looks at least twenty years too old. \u00a0The poor man died the following year, and he looks as if he might drop dead at any second. \u00a0He was never a good actor; when he was young, he was so stupendously attractive, nobody seemed to notice — but he aged badly (in “Witness for the Prosecution,” he often looks like Bela Lugosi — see below). \u00a0Without his youthful good looks, Power’s incompetent line readings had nowhere to hide. \u00a0Never mind — the rest of the cast are game, and more than a few of them have aces up their sleeves.<\/p>\n

\"Ravages<\/a>

The Ravages of Time: Tyrone Power circa 1937, Power 1957, Bela Lugosi circa 1932<\/strong>
O fearful meditation! Where, alack,<\/strong>
Shall time’s best jewel from time’s chest lie hid?<\/strong>
Or what strong hand can hold his swift foot back?<\/strong>
Or who his spoil of beauty can forbid?
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 — William Shakespeare, Sonnet 65<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

Leonard Vole is accused of the murder of Emily Jane French, a well-to-do widow who had befriended him several months before her death. \u00a0Mrs French is played by the estimable Norma Varden<\/a>, who had more than 150 credits to her name when she died. \u00a0She is perhaps best known as the wife of the monocled Englishman in the zebra-striped tie who gets his pocket picked in the first scene of “Casablanca.” \u00a0She was also the dithery clubwoman who is nearly strangled at a party by Robert Walker in “Strangers on a Train.” \u00a0Mrs French is a small role, but Varden makes the most of it. \u00a0I’m always glad to see her whenever she pops up in a picture.<\/p>\n

\"Norma<\/a>

Norma Varden as Emily French: She is, what is known in Agatha Christie stories, “ripe to die.”<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

Varden’s amusing, pathetic Emily French is but one of several lively performances in the picture. \u00a0I’m particularly fond of the hatchet-faced, always welcome comedienne, Una O’Connor, who was so memorable in “The Invisible Man,” “Bride of Frankenstein,” “The Adventures of Robin Hood,” and indeed, every one of the 84 pictures she appeared in. \u00a0Her turn as Emily French’s devoted servant, Miss Janet McKenzie in “Witness for the Prosecution” was her last, and perhaps her very funniest. \u00a0I hope you can tell from the pictures below that she is riotously funny every second she’s on the screen. \u00a0She’s also perfectly believable: \u00a0she does not play Miss McKenzie as a sweet old dear — no Helen Hayes she — no, she plays her as a querulous, suspicious old bitch. \u00a0There’s nothing remotely camp or overbroad about her desiccated little termagant . . . just honest hilarity. \u00a0Here she is in the witness box.<\/p>\n

\"Witness<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Witness<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Witness<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Witness<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Witness<\/a>

Una O’Connor: The many moods of Janet McKenzie — all of them ill-humored.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

Francis Compton, likewise, is wonderfully droll as the learned judge. \u00a0He was primarily a stage actor. \u00a0This was the last picture he appeared in.<\/p>\n

\"Francis<\/a>

Francis Compton as the Judge<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

What all of these actors, beginning with Laughton, have in common is that they elevate the material. \u00a0By their very nature, courtroom dramas rely more heavily on exposition than most other movie genres, so it’s important that the actors who speak the exposition have enough personality to make the retailing of facts interesting. \u00a0Here’s an example of what I mean. \u00a0This is Sir Wilfred’s opening statement to the jury, before he puts his client on the stand. \u00a0In it, he tells us only what we already know. \u00a0The speech lasts just under two and a half minutes. \u00a0Except for an insert about halfway in, Wilder lets Laughton deliver it in a single take. \u00a0I expect Laughton did the whole speech in one take, and Wilder chose to add an insert to keep it from being overly static. \u00a0But it’s a marvel of great acting. \u00a0A recitation and repetition of facts that Laughton makes riveting, by sheer force of technique and personality. \u00a0In his heyday, it was said that Laughton could wring tears from an audience by reading the phone book. \u00a0The clip below suggests that this claim was not an exaggeration.<\/p>\n