Witness for the Prosecution (1982) on Netflix
Sir Wilfred Robarts, a barrister, leaves the hospital after a heart attack. He defends Leonard Vole, accused of killing Emily French. Vole's alibi is his wife, Christine.
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- Netflix3.6/5
- IMDb7.1/101,459 votes
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Trailer
Plot summary
Emily French, an elderly woman, had named Leonard Vole the heir to her estate. Vole, an unemployed man, now stands charged with killing her. The famed barrister Sir Wilfred Robarts takes his defense, returning to his law practice after two months in the hospital following a heart attack. Vole insists he is innocent of the charge, though the evidence gathered against him points to his guilt. Emily French's maid, Janet Mackenzie, comes back to the house, sees her employer laughing and drinking with someone, and finds the body. Mr. Myers is the prosecutor. Vole's alibi rests with his wife, Christine, a German woman.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Witness for the Prosecution (1982)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Ralph Richardson's role as Sir Wilfred Robarts in the 1982 TV film Witness for the Prosecution was his last appearance in a made-for-television film, and it also marked Deborah Kerr's American television debut.
- The TV version stays closer to Agatha Christie's original short story than the Billy Wilder film did, keeping the scene where Sir Wilfred visits the scarred Cockney woman at her apartment in a sleazy London district.
SPOILER
This adaptation opens with a prologue not in Wilder's film: Janet Mackenzie returns to her employer's house, sees Mrs. French laughing and drinking with someone, goes upstairs for a pattern, hears noise below, and discovers Mrs. French's body.
