Agatha Christie’s adoring letter to Billy Wilder
With over two billion copies of her bibliography having been shifted, Agatha Christie is the best-selling author in history. Her vast back catalogue of mysteries has been a regular source of adaptation for film and television.
Her first book – The Mysterious Affair at Styles – was published in 1921. However, it would be another three decades before one of her creations found itself gaining major awards season recognition in Hollywood. When it happened, it was directed by one of Hollywood’s greatest-ever filmmakers and wasn’t even based on a novel.
Instead, Billy Wilder’s 1957 hit Witness for the Prosecution was based on the play of the same name that debuted four years previously, which was itself expanded from the 1925 short story Traitor’s Hands. It would go on to land six Academy Award nominations, including ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’. Even though he left empty-handed, the director wouldn’t have been too distraught, considering he ended his career with seven Oscars from a combined total of 21 nods.
The story finds Tyrone Power’s Leonard Vole on trial for the murder of a wealthy woman, with Charles Laughton’s formidable veteran lawyer brought in as the defence. His innocence depends on his vindictive wife supporting his alibi, which goes awry when she exploits a loophole in the legal system to take the stand as part of the prosecution. This being a Christie tale, though, there are plenty more twists to come.
Inadvertently setting a precedent that Hollywood still adheres to more than half a century later, the critical and commercial success of Witness for the Prosecution made Christie’s back catalogue a veritable goldmine. Writers, producers, and directors still haven’t stopped mining for adaptations on screens big and small.
Wilder’s movie was the tenth feature derived from Christie’s writing since The Passing of Mr. Quinn became the first in 1928, but after just ten being made over the course of 29 years, a further nine were released within a decade. Witness for the Prosecution stood out to its creator, though, so much so that she even penned a glowing letter to Wilder after seeing the film for herself.
Seeking to clear the air, she wrote: “[Producer] Larry Bachman tells me that you never heard whether I liked your picture Witness for the Prosecution. Well – I did. What’s more – I enjoyed it – a thing I never did do when seeing a film made from one of my books!”
Continuing, she said, “You did a wonderful job, and I admire that film very much still.”
Prior to her death in 1976, Christie’s adaptations had become so constant that she rarely ended up commenting on them at all. However, Wilder clearly won her over with a dramatic courtroom thriller that entertained audiences the world over.
