Charles Laughton stars as the beleaguered and aging
Barrister Sir Wilfrid, who has just been released from the hospital. He is
recovering from a severe heart attack and cannot take on any more important and
exciting cases. A private nurse, played by Elsa Lanchester, follows him about
to ensure that he takes his pills and does not smoke his favorite cigars. Much
of the film has him outwitting her efforts.(Laughton and Manchester were real
life husband and wife.)
Tyrone Power plays an innocent man accused of a capital
crime. He meets and befriends an elderly widow who turns up dead one week after
having named him heir to her estate. The only person who can provide him with
an alibi is his wife, Marlene Dietrich, who plays her character with an icy
coldness. She claims that her marriage to Leonard Vole (Power) was a sham and
this allows her testimony to be used against her husband, much to his
detriment.
Billy Wilder drew remarkable performances from both
Tyrone Power and Marlene Dietrich. Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester are
superb in their respective roles and the whole production is flawless.
Ultimately setting her husband free with false testimony
and a surprise witness, the ending is explosive as the full realization of what
has transpired is laid bare before your eyes. In a climactic scene worthy of
Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder pulls off an ending in which the schemers become
their own victims.
With one of the best courtroom scenes ever filmed, this
is a movie not to be missed.
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