Teresa Reviews “The Witness for the Prosecution” (2016)

Teresa reviews “The Witness for the Prosecution” (2016) and thought it was a good moody and atmospheric remake of the short story.

Fidelity to text: 4 candlesticks

The plot’s expanded but remains tightly focused on five people (and a cat).

Quality of movie on its own: 4 candlesticks

Great acting, sets, staging, cinematography, score, but I had to guess motivations and wonder where the bodies were.

Read more of Teresa’s Agatha Christie movie reviews at Peschel Press.

Also, follow Teresa’s discussion of these movie on her podcast.

Did you notice ‘The’ in the title? That’s your first clue this film is unrelated to the twice-filmed stage play Witness for the Prosecution (1957 and 1982). It’s based on Agatha’s original short story, initially titled Traitor’s Hands (1925). She was unhappy with the ending because Leonard Vole got away with murder. Decades later, she rewrote the story into the play where, even though Leonard got away with murder in court, justice in the form of his vengeful wife arrived shortly thereafter when she discovered what a lying, cheating dog he really was.

Don’t expect that quasi-happy ending here, where murderers get their just desserts. This film is a tragedy for everyone concerned. Well, except Leonard and Romaine, although their happy ending is not assured. They are still who they are: Leonard is a charming, shiftless ne’er-do-well and completely believable liar and Romaine… She gave up hope long ago and has no moral scruples left. If she decides she’s better off without him, he’ll never wake up. If he decides he wants someone else, he’ll murder her without hesitation and then, without her brains to save him, he’ll hang.

It’ll work itself out.

The center of both film and story is John Mayhew, solicitor. He’s not a barrister. As an American, it’s strange that there are two classes of lawyers in England. Solicitors meet clients, provide legal advice, and do the dog’s work of preparing cases. Barristers put on the red gown and wig and present the case before the bar. It’s a class thing, demonstrated throughout the film. One scene to look for is when Sir Charles, barrister, explains to Mayhew, solicitor, why Janet McIntyre behaves so possessively about Emily French. In his experience, lady’s maids and valets are all like that. For his part, Mayhew has obviously never met a lady’s maid or valet before.

Mayhew is at the very bottom of the legal system. He’s poor, wearing suits that date back to before the war. He’s soliciting clients in the jail, going from cell to cell, asking if anyone needs a representative. He doesn’t have clients seeking him out by name. He finds Leonard, arrested for the murder of Emily French, and takes on the case for a pittance.

They bond almost immediately. Leonard with his lost, puppy dog eyes and air of naïve innocence must remind Mayhew of his son, died in the war because he’d willingly lied about his son’s age so they could enlist to fight the Kaiser together. The son died on his 17th birthday, but his father survived the gas attack. The guilt and grief don’t end. Saving Leonard, so obviously harmless, would be an act of redemption for Mayhew. Adding to his virtuous appearance, Leonard’s sole concern is how his arrest will affect his common-law wife, Romaine.

When Mayhew watches Romaine sing a sentimental ballad on stage, while sitting on a silver crescent moon (you’ll see the real crescent moon at the end of the film), he’s overcome with emotion. He sobs in his seat. When Romaine meets him, she immediately realizes what kind of man he is: a romantic. The problem with romantics is they can be unrealistic, believing what suits them and not asking questions that would reveal the unpleasant truth. Ask yourself why Mayhew didn’t find out why Romaine became the star of the stage show. He assumed but he didn’t know. When he met “Christine” and she told him how Romaine had permanently scarred her to steal her place in the spotlight and her man, Mayhew believes her and doesn’t confirm her story. Poirot or Miss Marple never believe what they’re told; they always seek confirmation.

Nor does Mayhew, after the trial’s over, return to Limehouse to pay “Christine” her money for giving him the letter proving Leonard’s innocence. It was pretty obvious she needed money desperately. Yes, Mayhew was in the hospital for several days, but he never returned to see if that scarred, ailing woman was being cared for.

When he was in the hospital, Leonard came to visit. He and Mayhew discussed Leonard settling some money on Janet McIntyre. Because Leonard was declared innocent, he inherited Emily French’s entire estate and Janet — who in previous wills got a nice bequest — got nothing. Mayhew told Leonard he shouldn’t give Janet a penny. What did he think Janet would live on? Leonard inherited 185,000 pounds (in 1923 money!), plus the estate, stocks, bonds, antiques, arts, and jewelry. He could easily spare a few thousand pounds. Leonard was so rich that he told Mayhew to accept a 40% commission after selling Emily French’s house.

It’s while at the house, getting it ready for sale that Mayhew discovers what happened to Mimi, Emily French’s cat. Mimi’s been drowned in the pond. Could the person who drowned the cat have been the murderer? Mayhew persuades Detective Inspector Breem to investigate and Janet ends up hanging for the killing.

I really liked how Sarah Phelps fleshed out Emily French. What kind of older woman pours out her interest and affection and money on a feckless but handsome young man? We call them cougars today. Emily enjoys having young men at her beck and call.

She also fleshed out Mayhew’s wife, Alice. Alice has been grieving their son for years. Mayhew, who claims he loves her, is so oblivious that he doesn’t see her pierce her finger with a needle. She’s trying to feel something and he doesn’t notice. Nor does he notice that she never wears the beautiful scarf he gives her. As she tells him, he doesn’t want love. He wants forgiveness.

Romaine got fleshed out too. She’s been hardened by life and, even in a crowded theater, she’s isolated. You never see her act on stage. She’s always a chorus girl or a singer, not playing Lady Macbeth.

I did not like how Leonard and Romaine met. She would have never been on the battlefield and where were the other soldiers? That field should have been littered with dead bodies along with spent shells, destroyed vehicles, and debris. That battlefield was almost as pristine and empty as the tidal flats Mayhew walks across into the sea under the crescent moon. I would have accepted Leonard and Romaine meeting in some behind the front-lines whorehouse or a seedy bar. Not in the trenches.

The entire production was moody and atmospheric. Even the air contributed. That choking yellow haze you see constantly, exacerbating Mayhew’s cough, is the famous London smog. It’s a mixture of coal and wood smoke from countless stoves and factories, mixed with industrial pollution of every description.

There’s so much to like in this tragedy. The class differences, the backstage scenes, Janet’s complex relationship with Emily French, Leonard and Romaine’s lying self-justification, and Toby Jones’ amazing performance as Mayhew.

Just don’t expect a happy ending for anyone and be prepared to see Mimi the cat dragged from her watery grave.