MOVIE REVIEW | Witness for the Prosecution (1957)

In a nutshell, Bored & Dangerous says: “It’s one thing when a bona fide genius blows you away in a way you knew they were capable of.  It’s a whole other thing when they give you something totally unexpected.”

“But this is England, where I thought you never arrest, let alone convict, people for crimes they have not committed.”

One of the greatest things for me that has happened since starting this blog is my discovery of and appreciation for Billy Wilder.  Sure, I’d known he was a legend for a long time, and I’d seen a few of his movies.  Sometimes on purpose, sometimes inadvertently.  But it wasn’t until I started to think about them in such a detailed way that I realised just how brilliant and versatile he was as a director.  Something that was just solidified even more by watching Witness for the Prosecution.

Respected barrister Sir Wilfred Roberts (Charles Laughton) comes home after a severe heart attack.  Shadowed by his over protective and over talkative nurse, all he wants is a few minutes to sneak a relaxing cigar.  A moment he finds when a colleague arrives on his doorstep with Leonard Vole (Tyrone Power).    After a wealthy, old, female acquaintance of Vole’s was murdered and left him a substantial inheritance, Vile became suspect number one.  Claiming innocence, he went to the police unsolicited and made a statement.  Unfortunately, his eagerness to clear his name only incriminated him more.

MOVIE REVIEW | Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)

“But there’s another story, Captain Bligh, of ten cocoanuts and two cheeses. A story of a man who robbed his seamen, cursed them, flogged them, not to punish but to break their spirit. A story of greed and tyranny, and of anger against it, of what it cost”.

Clarke Gable as Rhett Butler in Gone With the Wind is one of those iconic performances that will live on forever. Clarke Gable in It Happened One Night is one I only saw for the first time a few years ago, but it immediately proved to me that his work in Gone With the Wind was no fluke. He is one watchable, charismatic, charming son of a bitch. Which is why I thought it was time I saw a bit more of his work, starting with Mutiny on the Bounty.

“In December, 1787, HMS Bounty lay in Portsmouth harbour on the eve of departure for Tahiti in the uncharted waters of the Great South Sea. The Bounty’s mission was to procure breadfruit trees for transplanting to the West Indies as cheap food for slaves. Neither ship nor breadfruit reached the West Indies. Mutiny prevented it. Mutiny against the abuse of the harsh eighteenth century sea law. But this mutiny, famous in history and legend, helped bring about a new discipline based upon mutual respect between officers and men, by which Britain’s sea power is maintained as security for all who pass upon the seas”.