the m0vie blog

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and this week with special guest Peter McGann, The 250 is a weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released Saturdays at 6pm GMT.

This week, Billy Wilder’s Witness for the Prosecution.

Respected barrister Sir Wilfred Robarts is recovering from a near-fatal heart attack when the case of a lifetime comes through the door. Leonard Vole has been accused of murdering a wealthy old lady, and suspicion is only increased when he’s named as the largest beneficiary of her will. Vole’s only alibi is his wife Christine, a German immigrant who swears that her husband must be innocent. Of course, a jury is unlikely to accept the testimony of a loving spouse. Sir Wilfred finds himself drawn into a tangled web of lies and deceit that lead to a truly shocking outcome.

At time of recording, it was ranked 66th on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

Show Notes:

• Recorded 22nd July 2024.
• Witness for the Prosecution at The Internet Movie Database.
• The IMDb Top 250 at time of recording.
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• The original trailer for Witness for the Prosecution, 1957.
• The original trailer for Casablanca, 1942.
• Gwen Inhat at The A.V. Club writes about how Witness for the Prosecution changed movie-going, June 2021.
• Brad Friedman at Ah, Sweet Mystery! considers the evolution of Agatha Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution, May 2016.
• Dennis Barker at The Guardian looks back on the life and career of Peter Saunders, February 2003.
• The Telegraph considers the life an times of Peter Saunders, February 2003.
• Hadley Hall Meares at Vanity Fair considers Marlene Dietrich’s relationship to her daughter, June 2022.
• Charles Silver considers Witness for the Prosecution at The Museum of Modern Art, January 2013.
• Pamela Hutchinson at Little White Lies considers the complications of Marlene Dietrich, December 2020.
• Caryn James at The New York Times considers the affair between Marlene Dietrich and Yul Brynner, January 1993.
• R.A. Buckley writes in The Modern Law Review about Miller v. Jackson, May 1978.
• Thomas Beaumount and Linley Saunders at PBS consider the decline of public trust in the United States Supreme Court, June 2024.
• Henry Gass at The Christian Science Monitor considers whether the public’s faith in the United States Supreme Court could ever be repaired, April 2024.
• Kyle Turner at Electric Lit considers Agatha Christie’s fascination with the gulf between legality and justice in Murder on the Orient Express, November 2017.
• Ruta Lee talks to The Nitrate Lady about working on Witness for the Prosecution, June 2018.
• Cláudio Alves at Almost There reflects on the decision not to nominate Marlene Dietrich for an Academy Award for her work on Witness for the Prosecution, July 2022.
• Caryn James at The New York Times considers the complicated challenges for the Academy Awards seeking to recognise oft-overlooked stars, March 1993.
• Billy Wilder talks to The Los Angeles Times about his life and career, March 1986.
• Robert W. Welkos at The Los Angeles Times considers the history and the development of auteur theory, June 1996.
• Peter Bart considers the life and career of Billy Wilder for Variety, April 1996.
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