MovieChat Forums > Witness for the Prosecution (1958) Discussion > Did no one laugh at this?

Did no one laugh at this?

posted 11 years ago by canadianidiott66
30 replies | jump to latest

I am an avid and young classic film fan, who accepts the limitations of the times, and also some of the aspects of a classic film that would make it "unwatchable" or "ludicrous" to someone in my age group.

But.......

Did ANYONE laugh at all with Marlene's "DAMNNNN YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU"?

I love Marlene Dietrich. She is amazing in my eyes and iconic, but I have always found her terribly overrated (which is an entirely different discussion).

That one shot though, did NO ONE find her exclamation chuckle worry or even surprising? I jumped a little and actually laughed with her delivery. I don't even know how to explain it.

[–] spookyrat1 11 years ago

Yes I know what you're saying and I thought that was very much an overacted moment too!

[–] manage-932-700755 11 years ago

I didn't laugh. Nor do I find Dietrich overrated. I assume there might have been at least one other person besides yourself who laughed at the scene in question. I didn't; I find it realistic. People speak and react in different ways. When you get older, you may understand this better.

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] manage-932-700755 11 years ago

I did not remember writing this. But I guess I did, since my post is there.

I don't have a reaction to your post. Is my post condescending? Maybe. I'm too busy, or else I would consider why I made the points I did. I'm just not interested.

[–] darogr 11 years ago

It was appropriate for the character Dietrich was playing. This was the big moment when she was discovered to be a fraud. It was a great actress portraying a character who was an actress who was over-acting on the witness stand. It worked on every level. One of my favorite lines as it comes out of the blue from the up to then calm Mrs. Helm.

[–] FlushingCaps 11 years ago

I have to agree with darogr: There was nothing at all funny about it.

Her character was supposed to be a wife, who because she wasn't technically Vole's wife, she gave testimony against Vole which would have clinched the case for the prosecution. Then, she is supposed to be shocked at the revelation of her letters, which make her seem a liar and realize that the verdict would now surely be not guilty.

I cannot think of another reaction that would have been better for her. Obviously you didn't expect her to say, "Fiddle-dee-dee, you caught me." Had there not been other twists--had she really been caught lying, her reaction seems totally reasonable.

[–] !!!deleted!!! (5085627) 11 years ago

"Fiddle-dee-dee, you caught me" sounds good to me, FlushingCaps! Except with Dietrich's accent, saying "fiddle-dee-dee" would have sounded even more comical than "DAMMMMN YOUUUUU!"

You make some excellent points in your post, but Dietrich's delivery was still over-the-top although I'm sure that many a drag queen has enjoyed hissing this line onstage in the decades since Dietrich first hammed it out.

Now, let's all try saying "fiddle-dee-dee" with a thick German accent, shall we?

[–] Crystal (534) 6 years ago

You got me trying. :)

[–] necoleman 10 years ago

SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!

I am formerly known as HillieBoliday......Member since May 2006:

No...I think it was a very serious moment. Remember...in this particular scene, she is portraying a certain scenario in order to help get her husband acquitted. She is working to get the jury to believe her "lies" as a truth.
She needed the court to see her as trying to get rid of her husband in order to be with the imaginary Max of her letters.....and that is why she lied (although it was the truth) that her husband confessed to the murders!

We find this out at the end of the movie.

"OOhhhooo....I'M GON' TELL MAMA!"

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] PsilocybinPony 10 years ago

First of all I must say that I find it a bit annoying when people are overly critical of an actor's or actress' performance. Most especially in a microcosm, nitpicking a small bit of an overall performance. Has it not occurred to these people that there is a director involved here. Said director may have asked for a scene to be played that way. And just how many takes were shot of said scene? 1, 3, 5, or more? It could have been done many different ways, and Wilder chose this particular version to be viewed by audiences. Thank you for your considerations....

I can eat 50 eggs - Cool Hand Luke

[–] funnyguyla 10 years ago

I don't think it's nitpicky just to make the observation of the OP. I thought it was funny as well, but when the twist was revealed I understood why she was being that way, but that still doesn't mean the line delivery wasn't over the top and funny. And if they were to remake this movie today with the same script, I seriously doubt any actress would play it that way (or be directed to play it that way).

[–] gortx 10 years ago

And if they were to remake this movie today with the same script, I seriously doubt any actress would play it that way (or be directed to play it that way).

Honestly? You've never seen similar exaggerated acting when a character is trying to "fake an act" in a more contemporary film or TV show? Have you seen GONE GIRL and some of the risible stuff (although entertaining) that Affleck and Pike play act, particularly in the last scenes?

Or, are you another, "us modern people are so much hipper than those old timers!" types?

[–] GuyOnTheLeft 10 years ago

Well, we are hipper. That's hard to argue.

Another example of something that wouldn't fly today: guy is stabbed once in the gut, nurse checks pulse seconds later, guy's stone dead, no saving him.

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My top 250: http://www.flickchart.com/Charts.aspx?user=SlackerInc&perpage=250

[–] gortx 10 years ago

Well, we are hipper. That's hard to argue.

And, we hear from the narcsissistic hipster crowd.

Come back after you've won several Oscars and become one of the greatest filmmakers in the history of cinema like Billy Wilder and tell us how much more incisive you were than he.

[–] GuyOnTheLeft 10 years ago

How about if I just name some younger, hipper filmmakers I love, like P.T. Anderson or Wes Anderson? (Any Anderson will do, LOL.)

I do think Wilder's Double Indemnity is one of the greatest films of all time, but I haven't seen anything else from him that is remotely as great--certainly not this film. At least in D.I. Neff takes a while to die!

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My top 250: http://www.flickchart.com/Charts.aspx?user=SlackerInc&perpage=250

[–] gortx 10 years ago

You do realize that 50 years from now (and probably much sooner), people are going to look at PT and Wes as being far from "hip" in their eyes, don't you? Or, are your narcissistic hipster eyeglasses that clouded that you think your generation is the be all and end all of hipsterdom for all times??

The important point is to be witty and wise when you make a film, write a book, compose a song etc. Let the hipsters of latter days mock and feel superior all they want - THEY are the ones missing out on some great art.

[–] PatFilm 9 years ago

'Witness for the Prosecution' is generally regarded as one of his best movies! And I second that!!
'Double Indemnity' is one of his masterpieces!!

[–] mikekrit62 10 years ago

Well, we are hipper. That's hard to argue.

That's hilarious!

[–] gortx 10 years ago

The O.P. did watch the movie until the end, right?

Dietrich's exaggerated testimony (including the "Damn You!" was part of her act to fool the jury.

At the end of the movie --

++++++++++++++SPOILERS+++++++++++++++

Dietrich even refers to the fact that she hadn't "acted" in a long time. Compare those trial scenes with the others in the movie and it's pretty clear she was play-acting at the trial.

[–] liscarkat-2 10 years ago

Here's how you know everything: Wear a funny little hat and have some tattoos and some pieces of wire stuck into your face. That's all there is to it!