Twist after twist, one of the most enthralling courtroom dramas. Billy Wilder strikes again!

Back in 1957, this must have been a real doozy of a twisting-and-turning plot.

Too clockwork in his machinations (Laughton's right: everything IS a bit too tidy), but SPOILERS the realization that Dietrich never even actually committed perjury provides a damning cynicism for the ideal of legal justice, a cynicism so deep that even Laughton's apparent faith in a cosmic justice cannot entirely obliterate it.

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Yeah, but don't you think that it's a bit ''over-twisted''?

Outstanding performances by Laughton, with excellent support by real life wife, Lanchester, as his patient nurse. Power, as the alleged killer, and Dietrich, as his enigmatic wife, are top-notch.

A trial drama packed with a spectacular finale, Billy Wilder's insightful dialogues and then there is Charles Laughton, who deserves a sentence of his own. He delivers a tremendously energic, sincere and overwhelming perfomance as Sir Wilfrid Robarts.

Excellent performances here--and a great story. It suffers a little from the fact that--in spite of fine, direction--it still feels like a stage play.

This film is incredibly fun, which is surprising given the gravity of its subject matter and the seriousness with which it is addressed. Laughton facilitates this duality with his ability to slip between these two genres with ease, bridging the antics of his nurse and the seriousness of the court. Dietrich reinforces this interesting juxtaposition with her serious vaudevillian, as does Power with his villainous everyman. The final twist is a surprising delight that fits the scene perfectly.

Wildly implausible ending mars it considerably. And the Lanchester-Laughton matchup grew pretty sitcommy after a while. Still, Laughton is a lot of fun, and Marlena is cool. Power hams it up unmercifully in places (sure, it turns out that was for a purpose, but still...).

Witty, wry and tightly scripted, Billy Wilder puts his clear mark on this Agathta Christie mystery. Especially the heart problem of Laughton's barrister and his amusingly annoying nurse (created by Wilder for the film) is a funny and welcome addition to the whodunit machinations. Laughton (with elegant, threathening use of a monocle!) is of course as incredible as ever, and Dietrich plays her dame with proper exaggeration in court (hint..wink).

Clever script with lots of jokes. Surprising twist, but disappointing somehow.

Superb courtroom drama with sublime performances from Laughton and Dietrich and a script decades ahead of it's time.

I just didn't find it particularly well-written or engrossing. It has an interesting, albeit completely ridiculous, twist at the end, but everything else about this is so painfully familiar and obvious. And while Laughton is certainly great, the rest of the cast is really boring.

An extremely satisfying and well-written film. The dialogue has such perfect timing, whether it's comedic banter or dramatic courtroom diction.

The script here is a hell of a winner; when it needs to be, it's witty, sexy and thrilling, sometimes all at once. Charles Laughton is hilarious, Marlene Dietrich is deliciously complex, and Tyrone Power is simply helpless. I love it when a film takes place in just a few interiors and dynamically exploits every angle it can to avoid getting stale. It's just a great, fun courtroom thriller.

That last half an hour is a show stopper if I've ever seen one. Marvellous!

As good of dramatist as Wilder is, his comedy does nothing for me. The majority of the gags are so obvious and predictable that you can anticipate them 15 minutes in advance. Laughton's character is good, but there are horrendous instances of overacting throughout the film: the shrill housekeeper, the doting old widow, the distraught defendant. Worst of all, the plot is driven by hairpin twists (true to Agatha Christie form), half of which are unsurprising, while the other half are illogical.