Director: Billy Wilder

Writers: Harry Kurnitz; Larry Marcus; Billy Wilder

From a play by: Agatha Christie

Keywords: Mystery, Courtroom

Name	Occupation	Birth	Death	Known for
Henry Daniell	Actor	5-Mar-1894	31-Oct-1963	British-American character actor
Marlene Dietrich	Actor	27-Dec-1901	6-May-1992	The Blue Angel
Elsa Lanchester	Actor	28-Oct-1902	26-Dec-1986	Bride of Frankenstein
Charles Laughton	Actor	1-Jul-1899	15-Dec-1962	Island of Lost Souls
Ruta Lee	Actor	30-May-1936		Former hostess, High Rollers
Tyrone Power	Actor	5-May-1913	15-Nov-1958	Witness for the Prosecution
Torin Thatcher	Actor	15-Jan-1905	4-Mar-1981	The 7th Voyage of Sinbad

REVIEWS

Review by Mark J. Shallow (posted on 12-Dec-2008)

That reliable cinematic workhorse, the courtroom drama, is admirably showcased in this film version of Agatha Christie's hit play. The genius of Billy Wilder, who directed, is plainly evident throughout. Despite the unlikely histrionics at the very end of the film, Wilder and his players capture and hold the audience's attention. There could never have been an instance of more felicitous casting than Charles Laughton as Sir Wilfrid Robards. Though much-maligned during his career for chewing the scenery, here his characterization sparkles with incisive wit and cunning as the aging lion brought into the arena one more time. The byplay between himself and his real-life wife, Elsa Lanchester, who plays his delightfully nagging nurse, reverberates with a sort of venemous charm that is impossible to dislike. Marlene Dietrich, as the wife of the accused murderer, is the epitome of continental hauteur, and the fencing between her and Laughton has a compelling edginess to it. The only flaw in this otherwise brilliant film is the casting of an Anerican actor (Tyrone Power) as the man charged with murdering his wealthy benefactress. This was the last film for the former Fox star, and he seems distinctly out of place among his European counterparts. He was an odd choice to play Leonard Vole, given the fact that Christie wrote the character as being British.

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