{"id":3200,"date":"2009-01-09T10:18:20","date_gmt":"2009-01-09T15:18:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/?p=3200"},"modified":"2009-01-09T10:18:20","modified_gmt":"2009-01-09T15:18:20","slug":"favorite-law-movies-witness-for-the-prosecution-an-oldie-but-a-goodie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/2009\/01\/favorite-law-movies-witness-for-the-prosecution-an-oldie-but-a-goodie\/","title":{"rendered":"Favorite Law Movies: Witness for the Prosecution–An Oldie But a Goodie!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>This 1957 courtroom drama is based on a short story, and later a play, by Agatha Christie. \u00a0It involves the seasoned barrister and curmudgeon Sir Wilfred Robarts, masterfully played by Charles Laughton. \u00a0He takes on the murder defense of Leonard Vole (Tyrone Power). \u00a0Robarts\u2019 private nurse (Elsa Lancaster) objects, constantly reminding the barrister of his doctor\u2019s advice to stay away from criminal cases due to ill health. Vole is accused of the murder of a wealthy older woman Mrs. French (Norma Varden) who appeared to have fallen in love with him and changed her will to give Vole the bulk of her large estate. \u00a0Circumstantial evidence strongly points to Vole\u2019s involvement.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Vole claims his defense is based on the fact that his wife, Christine (Marlene Dietrich), will testify that he arrived home the evening of the murder long before it occurred. \u00a0Robarts, of course, counsels Vole that the testimony of a wife in such a situation will be suspect. \u00a0Robarts\u2019 first meeting with Christine leaves him concerned with her demeanor and sincerity.<\/p>\n

The trial of the case in the Old Bailey, with all of its pomp and circumstance, is the highlight of the film. \u00a0The prosecution first presents its circumstantial case and the interchanges between Robarts and the prosecuting counsel are noteworthy. \u00a0In one instance he objections to a line of the prosecution\u2019s evidence by stating that if his learned colleague is going to both ask and answer the same question, the presence of the witness \u201cis superfluous.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span>To the shock of Robarts and the viewing audience, the prosecution\u2019s last witness is Christine Vole. \u00a0Robarts immediately objects, but Christine then testifies that her marriage to Vole was a sham, since she was already married when she met Vole and her first husband is still alive. \u00a0Her testimony against Vole is damning, including her claim that he arrived home on the night of the murder with blood on his clothing and told her that he had killed Mrs. French. \u00a0Robarts\u2019 cross examination centers on having Christine admit that she told a number of lies before appearing in court that day and concludes with his statement that he is surprised \u201cthe testament did not leap from your hands\u201d when she took the oath.<\/p>\n

<\/span>The movie\u2019s conclusion is riveting. \u00a0Robarts is contacted by a woman (Christine in disguise) who, in exchange for a small sum of money, provides him with letters written by Christine to her \u201clover\u201d Max. \u00a0They point to a compelling motive for her to lie under oath. \u00a0He has her called to the stand again and confronts her with the letters. \u00a0Her only response is: \u201cDamn you! \u00a0Damn you! \u00a0Damn you!\u201d \u00a0Vole is acquitted and following the ensuing pandemonium Robarts is left in the courtroom with Christine. \u00a0She tells him that her letters were a fraud. \u00a0There was no Max. \u00a0Her husband told her he committed the murder and she believed that her being discredited as a witness for the prosecution was the only thing that could save Vole from conviction. \u00a0Vole reappears and willingly, due to double jeopardy protection, confirms what his wife said. \u00a0An attractive young woman then appears and she and Vole embrace. \u00a0He admits that the two of them are going away together. \u00a0Christine then grabs a knife from the counsel table and kills him. \u00a0As Christine is led away by the authorities, Robarts makes it clear that his next effort will be her defense because she did not murder Vole, she \u201cexecuted him.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This 1957 courtroom drama is based on a short story, and later a play, by Agatha Christie. \u00a0It involves the seasoned barrister and curmudgeon Sir Wilfred Robarts, masterfully played by Charles Laughton. \u00a0He takes on the murder defense of Leonard Vole (Tyrone Power). \u00a0Robarts\u2019 private nurse (Elsa Lancaster) objects, constantly reminding the barrister of his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-popular-culture-and-law","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3200\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/law.marquette.edu\/facultyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}