The Witness for the Prosecution
- The Witness for the Prosecution
The Witness for the Prosecution is a famous short story by Agatha Christie, initially published as "Traitor Hands" in "Flynn's Weekly" edition of January 31, 1925. In 1933 the story was published for the first time in the collection "The Hound of Death" that appeared only in the United Kingdom. The American audience had to wait until 1948 when it was included in the collection "The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories".
Plot
Leonard Vole is arrested for the murder of his elderly friend Emily French, a woman who depended on his advice in managing her money. Because Emily made him her principal heir, not aware that he was a married man, things look bad for Leonard's defense. But the final blow comes when his wife, Romaine, agrees to testify, not in Leonard's defense, but as a witness for the prosecution.
In a much-celebrated plot twist, it turns out that Romaine was in fact working to free her husband all along. By first giving the prosecution its strongest evidence and then arranging for new evidence to come to light that discredits her testimony, it is more likely that Leonard will be acquitted than if she was simply a defense witness. It is then revealed that Leonard actually did kill Emily.
Plot alteration
The original story ended abruptly with the major twist, Mrs. Vole's revelation that her husband was indeed guilty. Over time, Agatha Christie grew dissatisfied with this ending (one of the few Christie endings in which a murderer escapes punishment), and added the tidier coda when she adapted the story as a play.
Publishing History
*1925 "Flynn's Weekly" January 31 - as "Traitor Hands"
*1933 "The Hound of Death"
*1948 "The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories"
Film adaptation
*1957 "Witness for the Prosecution"'
TV Adaptation
*1949 [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0295036/ Witness for the Prosecution]
*1982 [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084911/ Witness for the Prosecution]
Play
* 1953 "Witness for the Prosecution"
* 2002 Witness for the Prosecution ("Russian": Свидетель обвинения)
External links
* [http://www.philsp.com/mags/flynns.html Flynn's Weekly at Galactic Central]
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Look at other dictionaries:
Witness for the Prosecution (disambiguation) — Witness for the Prosecution commonly refers to:* The Witness for the Prosecution , a short story by Agatha Christie * The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories , a collection containing the short story * Witness for the Prosecution (play) … Wikipedia
Witness for the Prosecution. (1957) — An Agatha Christie courtroom thriller with Charles Laughton as a defense barrister fighting back from disastrous testimony by Marlene Dietrich against his client (Tyrone Power). With Elsa Lanchester, Una O’Connor, Ian Wolfe. Nolo’s Plain English… … Law dictionary
Witness for the Prosecution — Infobox Film name = Witness for the Prosecution (1957) image size= 150px caption = original movie poster director = Billy Wilder producer = Arthur Hornblow Jr. writer = Agatha Christie (play) Larry Marcus Billy Wilder Harry Kurnitz starring =… … Wikipedia
The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories — Infobox Book name = The Witness for the Prosecution and Other Stories title orig = translator = image caption = Dust jacket illustration of the first US edition author = Agatha Christie illustrator = cover artist = country = United States… … Wikipedia
Witness for the Prosecution — Filmdaten Deutscher Titel: Zeugin der Anklage Originaltitel: Witness for the Prosecution Produktionsland: USA Erscheinungsjahr: 1957 Länge: 113 Minuten Originalsprache: Englisch … Deutsch Wikipedia
Witness for the Prosecution (play) — Infobox Play name = Witness for the Prosecution image size = writer = Agatha Christie date of premiere = September 28, 1953 country of Origin = United Kingdom original language = English Witness for the Prosecution is a play adapted by Agatha… … Wikipedia
Witness for the Prosecution — Témoin à charge (film, 1957) Pour les articles homonymes, voir Témoin à charge. Témoin à charge Tyrone Power … Wikipédia en Français
witness for the prosecution — one who testifies for the prosecuting counsel … English contemporary dictionary
Witness for the Prosecution — Voir Témoin à charge … Dictionnaire mondial des Films
WITNESS — (Heb. עֵד, one that has personal knowledge of an event or a fact. The evidence of at least two witnesses was required for convicting the accused (Num. 35:30; Deut. 17:6; 19:15; cf. I Kings 21:10, 13). Commercial transactions of importance took… … Encyclopedia of Judaism
