Excellent.
This is an excellent version of Agatha Christie's play of 'Witness for the Prosecution'. It has a top cast of Britain's finest, including Sir Ralph Richardson, Diana Rigg, Deborah Kerr, Wendy Hiller, Donald Pleasence and many others. Beau Bridges plays the accused and is adequate in the role although he is inclined to be a bit wooden at times.
I prefer this version to the Charles Laughton/Marlene Dietrich version, mainly because of Diana Rigg's appearance as the Witness. As a classically trained actress she is much more believable than Marlene Dietrich whose German accent was a bit of a handicap during certain scenes of this classic play. Sir Ralph Richardson as Sir Wilfred Robarts is excellent and his scenes with Deborah Kerr provided entertaining light relief. Wendy Hiller's part was a small one, but this fine actress was superb in it.
All in all a most welcome addition to the Christie canon on DVD. The transfer to DVD is very good indeed and it is...
Billy Wilder classic coupled with a quality remake of a Wilder classic
Avanti is a 1972 Wilder comedy romance about a man going to Italy to collect the body of his father who died in a motor accident with his long term mistress. The second movie in the set is the 1982 Hallmark remake of Wilder's 1957 mystery based on the play by Agatha Christie. This is a very effective film with a great cast and capable direction.
At Last! A Magnificent Remaster of "Witness For the Prosecution" with Richardson & Rigg
First, Thank You to Amazon Special Products for making the 1982 British television "Witness For the Prosecution" available on a beautiful dvd. "Avanti" has been paired with several other films, but I care not a wit about It -- someone at Amazon thought to make available a DVD-R "on demand" of the otherwise impossible to find "Witness."
Second, every praise heaped on Billy Wilder's b/w classic with Charles Laughton, Marlene Dietrich and Tyrone Power is completely deserved. It is a film any lover of murder mystery must own and cherish. I know and love every line uttered by every character, as if there is no other possible interpretation possible. Yet when the film came out with my favorite actor, Laughton, in the award-winning stage role of Sir Wilfrid, I was strangely let down. I had seen it on stage with Francis Sullivan and Patricia Jessel on Broadway, one of the great theater triumphs of the 20th Century. I had also seen Basil Rathbone in the role on tour. I could not...
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