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.)