Watch Witness for the Prosecution For Free

One of my all time favorites.

one of my absolute favorites!

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

This is a fine adaptation of one of Christie's best known works. When people rate and compare this I wonewoif they're comparing the Dietrich film, or the text. Let's face it the text is so short that the play lends itself so well to development and interpretation. It is one of her most ingenious plots, and relies on convincing characters.This features, for the most part excellent performances, Ralph Richardson steals the show, closely followed by Diana Right, who manages to make Christine as cold as ice. Pleasance and Hiller are also fine. The problem for me comes from Beau Bridges, whom was wildly miscast, lacking the emotional depth required to make Leonard convincing. I would have loved to see Simon MacKorkindale in the role, he had so much charm.Some great scenes, some wonderfully dramatic moments, particularly the theatrical finale. I'd rank it third after, firstly 1957's classic, and secondly the BBC's deliciously dark adaptation from 2016. A very enjoyable watch, 8/10

Typical 1980s American TV movie lifted only slightly because it's mostly filmed in the UK and has superior British acting talent in the minor roles.Ralph Richardson was obviously very ill when he decided to do this and sleepwalks through the part of Sir Wilfred Robarts. Diana Rigg and Deborah Kerr are just ridiculous characters, Bridges is the token 'Yank', and a host of other excellent British actors are buried under the weight of poor writing and direction.Written (supposedly from Billy Wilder's screenplay) this mess is best used as a way to look at London tourist spots if you can't be bothered to go there! "Ooh, look... there's Harrods. I buy my gloves from there!" Almost every other version of this excellent short story is better than this purile nonsense which has been specifically tailor-made for an American 'Sunday evening' audience.The only value this movie has is seeing some marvelous British actors do their thing but their efforts are entirely wasted on this nonsense.Treat yourself to the Billy Wilder version with Tyrone Power, Charles Laughton, Marlene Dietrich and Elsa Lanchester made 70 years ago. It's a million times better than this cartoon silliness.

I am amazed at the number of comments here faulting Sir Ralph Richardson's performance here and praising Dame Diana Rigg's. The situation is, if anything, the reverse. Admittedly, I hadn't seen the Billy Wilder cinema version for some years when I watched this, and therefore couldn't compare Sir Ralph's work to that of Charles Laughton (I haven't viewed this one since, either), but that isn't necessary to evaluate Rigg. She is totally miscast, in a way that is fatal to the twist ending (note the spoiler warning above, please). Unlike Marlene Dietrich, for Rigg the German accent is a complete affectation, while the cockney isn't that far from her own British speech pattern: vocally, she is quite recognizable as the other woman, at least to anyone familiar with her from other work--the fact that Rigg is kept in shadows in this scene (something that was unnecessary with Dietrich) would raise some vague suspicions of any uninitiated but reasonably intelligent viewer as well, even if her voice didn't give her away. But it does.

While this TV remake of the classic 1957 Billy Wilder film can't hold a candle to the original, it's fun if taken on its own. It's well cast and has a beautiful period feel. And let's face it, any chance to see Diana Rigg is a welcome one!!