Trivia for
Witness for the Prosecution (1957) More at IMDbPro »

• The film was shown in London for a Royal Command Performance, but beforehand the Royal Family had to promise not to reveal the surprise ending to anyone else.
  
  
• Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester (the nurse, Miss Plimsoll) were real-life husband and wife.
  
  
• The studio where filming was going on had an agreement hanging outside the door that everyone who came in had to sign, promising they would not reveal the surprise ending.
  
  
• Unsure if he could play a man with a heart condition, Charles Laughton (Sir Wilfrid) staged a heart attack in the pool one day at home. His wife, Elsa Lanchester (Miss Plimsoll), and a houseguest panicked and pulled him from the water, at which point he explained his trick. Elsa's reaction has not been recorded.
  
  
• In order to show just one of Marlene Dietrich's famous legs, an entire scene was written that required 145 extras, 38 stunt men and $90,000.
  
  
• When Leonard Vole (Tyrone Power) meets Mrs. French (Norma Varden) for the second time - in the movie theater - Vole tells Mrs. French that the movie is about Jesse James. Tyrone Power starred as the famous outlaw in Jesse James (1939).
  
  
• Marlene Dietrich was so certain she would be nominated for an Academy Award for her performance as Christine Vole that she recorded a new introduction to her Las Vegas show mentioning her nomination. She was not nominated, and was crushed.
  
  
• While it is generally supposed that Agatha Christie chose the name Vole after the ratlike rodent of the same name, in fact the word has several other meanings also relevant to this character. In cards, a "vole" means the winning by one player of all the tricks of a game. And the expression "go the vole" can mean either to venture everything on the chance of great rewards, or to try one thing after another, usually a variety of occupations - all perfect descriptions of Christie's ingeniously named "Leonard Vole".
  
  
• Charles Laughton appears as himself, talking directly to the audience, in the lengthy 4 minute trailer.
  
  
• Alfred Hitchcock said "Many times, people have told me how much they enjoyed Witness for the Prosecution (1957). They thought it was my film instead of Billy Wilder's. And Wilder told me people asked him about The Paradine Case (1947), thinking he had done it."
  
  
• The press book, reviews and various articles about the production stated that the principal cast members themselves did not even know the ending of the film until the last day of shooting, when the final ten pages of the script were presented to them.
  
  
• The film followed the basic story of Agatha Christie's play, but director and co-screenwriter Billy Wilder opened up the story by including numerous scenes that did not take place solely in the courtroom, as the play had, and changed the emphasis from "Leonard Vole" to "Sir Wilfrid Robarts." The character of "Miss Plimsoll" was added to the film, and the name of Leonard Vole's wife "Romaine" was changed to "Christine."
  
  
• The courtroom setting, which cost $75,000 to build, was a recreation of an actual courtroom in London's Central Criminal Courts, The Old Bailey.
  
  
• Charles Laughton modeled his characterization of "Sir Wilfrid Robarts," including the use of a monocle to intimidate Leonard, on Florance Guedella, an Englishman who was both Laughton's and Marlene Dietrich's lawyer and who was famous for twirling his monocle while cross-examining witnesses.
  
  
• The original play "Witness for the Prosecution" by Agatha Christie opened at Henry Miller's Theater on December 16, 1954 and ran for 645 performances. Una O'Connor reprises her role in the movie.
  
  
• This was the final film for Tyrone Power, who died shortly after completion.
  
  
• Una O'Connor was the only member of the original Broadway cast of the play to repeat her role on film.
  
  
• There is a Bride of Frankenstein (1935) connection to this motion picture, both Elsa Lanchester and Una O'Connor costarred in that monster classic.
  
  
• This was Una O'Connor's last big screen motion picture.
  
  
• William Holden was the first choice for Leonard, but he was unavailable. Billy Wilder and the producer Arthur Hornblow Jr. then went to Tyrone Power, who turned down the part. Other actors considered for the role included Gene Kelly, Kirk Douglas, Glenn Ford, Jack Lemmon, and even Roger Moore. Eventually, Tyrone Power accepted the role when he was offered both Witness for the Prosecution (1957) and Solomon and Sheba (1959) for $300,000 each. Before he could complete Solomon however, Power had a fatal heart attack and was replaced by Yul Brynner. Ava Gardner and Rita Hayworth were also considered for the role of Christine Helm.
  
  
• The Tyrone Power character's last name is Vole. Aside from what has already been mentioned, the word "voleur" in French translates in English to burglar, embezzler, housebreaker, intruder, peculator, robber, and thief. Many of which could apply to Power's character.
  
  
• [June 2008] Ranked #6 on the American Film Institute's list of the 10 greatest films in the genre "Courtroom Drama".
  
  
• The plot deals with Charles Laughton's character recovering from a severe heart attack while defending Tyrone Power's character. In reality, this would be Tyrone Power's last complete film - he would die of a heart attack while on the set of his next film less than one year after release of this one.
  
  

• SPOILER: To perfect her disguise as the "Cockney Woman", director Billy Wilder did a series of screen tests of Marlene Dietrich. The first attempt almost ended the idea when, after making up Dietrich in wigs, contact lenses, false eyelashes, false teeth and shoulder pads, Wilder commented that she looked less like a Cockney woman on screen and more like "George C. Scott in drag".
  
  

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