Wilder always a pleasant surprise
March 5th, 2007 by Bill
I guess a good movie directed by Billy Wilder isn’t much of a surprise but Witness for the Prosecution came as a nice one last night because I wasn’t expecting to watch it and because it was a film I knew almost nothing about.
It was quite by accident I came by it. I was skimming through channels and discovered I have TCM. Well, since moving and getting myself hooked up with cable I haven’t gone through to see what actually shows up on my TV.
So … I watched Witness for the Prosecution. It wasn’t a great print and there was a kind of greenish hue to it all but I could live with that if only because it had Marlene Dietrich (not to mention Tyrone Power and Charles Laughton).
Curious observation: I’ve been watching (or trying to watch) a number of much more current films lately and I’ve seen few that have really captured my interest. Visually, they are much more interesting with their cinematography, editing, sound and so on. But in terms of story, this 1957 film of Wilder’s captured my interest immediately and held it, something these other films have yet to do.
I have yet to determine why. I hope it’s not some grouchy notion about old films being better because I really do not believe that kind of nonsense. I think, though, there is a very definite difference in sensibility, and thus approach, that must inform the movies.
But I’ll have to mull on it some more.
(Note: I also watched The Prestige again last night and found I enjoyed it a great deal more this second time. And that, too, is kind of interesting.)
I love this movie, largely for Laughton, but the whole cast does very well indeed. Simon Callow said Laughton was conveying decency, a surprisingly uncommon thing on screen. It is a hard quality to make interesting, let alone fascinating as Laughton does.
As someone who is most happy watching old movies, I think I am just so accustomed to the studio-era aesthetic that a lot of modern movies are jarring by contrast (though I certainly go to see them, when I can).
It’s interesting what you (and Callow) say about Laughton and decency. I agree it is an extremely difficult thing to do on screen. It’s one of the things I liked about the The Terminal (2004). That movie doesn’t seem to have wowed too many people but it did me. One of the elements I loved most was Tom Hank’s character, who is essentially a nice guy - a difficult role to do well.
I watched The Prestige the other night too. Really enjoyed seeing a plot that was different and surprising. Not that it was original overall, but the basic premise, the big twist that the story hangs on, surprised me.