Firstly, a massive thank you to our Patreon supporters. Your generosity touches me deeply. These supporters have become the single biggest contributing factor to the survival of DVDBeaver. Your assistance has become essential.
What do Patrons receive, that you don't?
1)
Our
weekly
Newsletter
sent to your Inbox every
Monday morning!
Please consider keeping us in existence with a couple of dollars or more each month (your pocket change!) so we can continue to do our best in giving you timely, thorough reviews, calendar updates and detailed comparisons. Thank you very much. |
Search DVDBeaver |
S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r |
Directed by Billy Wilder
USA 1957
Having just recovered from a heart attack, fabled British barrister Sir Wilfred Robards (Charles Laughton) has been ordered by his doctor to give up everything he holds dear-brandy, cigars and especially courtroom cases. Robards' already shaky resolve to follow doctor's orders flies out the window when he takes up the defense of Leonard Vole (Tyrone Power), a personable young man accused of murdering a rich old widow. The case becomes something of a sticky wicket when Vole's "loving" German wife Christine (Marlene Dietrich) announces that she's not legally married to Robards' client-and she fully intends to appear as a witness for the prosecution! At the close of this film, a narrator implores the audience not to divulge the ending; we will herein honor that request. A delicious Billy Wilder mixture of humor, intrigue and melodrama, Witness for the Prosecution is distinguished by its hand-picked supporting cast: John Williams as the police inspector, Henry Daniell as Robards' law partner, Una O'Connor as the murder victim's stone-deaf maid, Torin Thatcher as the prosecutor, Ruta Lee as a sobbing courtroom spectator, and Charles Laughton's wife Elsa Lanchester as Robards' ever-chipper nurse (a role especially written for the film, so that Lanchester could look after Laughton on the set). And keep an eye out for that uncredited actress playing the vengeful-and pivotal-cockney. Adapted by Wilder, Harry Kurnitz and Larry Marcus from the play by Agatha Christie, Witness for the Prosecution was remade for television in 1982. Excerpt from MRQE located HERE *** The undisputed star of this courtroom drama is Alexander Trauner's magnificent recreation of the Old Bailey, which is just as well, since the presence of Charles Laughton as the defence counsel, and the film's origins as an Agatha Christie novel and play, combine to give the movie a heavy - almost stolid - theatrical flavour. Tyrone Power is surprisingly good as the man accused of murdering his mistress, but the swift twists and turns of Ms Christie's plot soon drain Dietrich and Laughton's roles of any dramatic credibility. |
Posters
Theatrical Release: December 17th, 1957
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
Review: Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Box Cover |
|
CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures: |
Distribution | Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray | |
Runtime | 1:56:37.407 | |
Video |
1.66 :1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-rayDisc Size: 41,614,006,159 bytesFeature: 37,906,163,712 bytes Video Bitrate: 39.37 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video |
|
NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
||
Bitrate Blu-ray: |
|
|
Audio |
DTS-HD Master
Audio English 1556 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1556 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 /
48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps |
|
Subtitles | English (SDH), None | |
Features |
Release Information: Studio: Kino
1.66 :1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-rayDisc Size: 41,614,006,159 bytesFeature: 37,906,163,712 bytes Video Bitrate: 39.37 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Edition Details: • NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian Joseph McBride, Author of Billy Wilder: Dancing on the Edge• Billy Wilder and Volker Schlondorff discuss WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION (6:31) • Theatrical Trailer (3:08)
Standard Blu-ray Case inside slipcase Chapters 10 |
Comments: |
NOTE:
The below
Blu-ray
captures were taken directly from the
Blu-ray
disc.
NOTE: We have added 40 more large
resolution Blu-ray captures
(in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE
On their
Blu-ray,
Kino use a DTS-HD Master dual-mono track (24-bit where it was previously
16-bit) in the
original English language. Witness for the Prosecution
has scant aggression (a bar fight etc.) The score was by
Matty Malneck (some of his
music used in
Thieves' Highway,
Some Like It Hot,
The Benny Goodman Story,
Love in the Afternoon) sounding clean with consistent dialogue
in the lossless transfer. Kino offer optional English (SDH)
subtitles - something that was not available on their 2014 release - and their
Blu-ray
is Region 'A'-locked.
The Kino
Blu-ray
Billy Wilder's Witness for the
Prosecution
is is considered one of the great courtroom dramas in cinema
history. It has a dream cast with Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich,
Charles Laughton, and Elsa Lanchester. There are elements of film noir,
but is more considered a sharp legal mystery thriller. Marlene Dietrich
only accepted the part of Christine Vole/Helm (also considered for
Vivien Leigh) on the condition that Billy Wilder direct. Some may notice
that the German nightclub bar, where Leonard and Christine first meet,
is called Die blaue Laterne (The Blue Lantern), which is a
reference to Dietrich's famous film
The Blue Angel. Kino's Blu-ray
|
Menus / Extras
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
1) Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - TOP 2) Kino (2024) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
|
1) Kino (2014) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - TOP 2) Kino (2024) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
|
1) Kino (2014) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - TOP 2) Kino (2024) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray BOTTOM
|
More full resolution (1920 X 1080) Blu-ray Captures for DVDBeaver Patreon Supporters HERE
Box Cover |
|
CLICK to order from: Bonus Captures: |
Distribution | Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray |
Search DVDBeaver |
S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r |