Most of Billy Wilder's films have a strong aura of cynicism manifested in the actions of the characters and the development of the themes. Witness for the Prosecution (1958) is atypical in some ways--it is more isolated in time and place than most of Wilder's films because it is a courtroom drama which keeps largely to one setting. Its protagonist is every bit as cynical in his way as the heroes of other Wilder films, such as Double Indemnity (1944) or Sunset Boulevard (1950), and, like those other characters, he is ultimately duped by his own cynical nature. Like many Wilder characters, in fact, the barrister Sir Wilfrid alternates between being an effective practitioner of his particular profession and an observer who is presented with a vision of the actions of someone even more cynical and manipulative than he.
Sir Wilfrid is recovering from a heart attack and is anxious to get back to work. He is saddled with a nurse who is supposed to see to it that he maintains a proper schedule and does not work too hard, and, perhaps because he is so intent on working anyway and on outwitting her, he allows himself to be drawn into a case with a number of peculiar features and is fooled by his client and the client's wife. In any case, he performs magnificently in court and "proves" that his client is innocent, but, once he has done so, the wife reveals to Sir Wilfrid that the husband is not innocent at all and that she has made him appear innocent by portraying a witness who demonstrates the man's innocence with false testimony. When the husband betrays the wife in the courtroom after the trial, the wife kills him and engages Sir Wilfrid to defend her.
An element that recurs in many Wilder films is the idea that the female is deadlier than the male, and the ending on Witness for the Prosecution bolsters this idea. The husband uses the wife to get himself acquitted of a murder he did commit, but he foolishly betrays the wife and...