FILM 1612: STAGE FRIGHT

According to Alfred Hitchcock, he ran into great difficulties with leading actress Jane Wyman. Wyman was required to appear frumpy and inelegant when she goes incognito as a maid, but the actress was reluctant to appear so plain when Marlene Dietrich appeared so glamorous. The director recounted that Wyman would cry when she would see Dietrich looking glamorous on set when she herself was in her maid disguise. Hitchcock said that she could not accept the idea of her character being frumpy or dowdy. Much to the director's chagrin, Wyman would secretly put on makeup or otherwise try to improve her appearance, thus failing to maintain her character.

In "Hollywood Babble On" Marlene Dietrich is quoted as saying, "I did one film for Alfred Hitchcock. Jane Wyman was in it. I heard she'd only wanted to do it if she were billed above me, and she got her wish. Hitchcock didn't think much of her. She looks too much like a victim to play a heroine, and God knows she couldn't play a woman of mystery - that was *my* part. Miss Wyman looks like a mystery nobody has bothered to solve."

During filming, food was still strictly rationed in London. Alfred Hitchcock circumvented this problem by having steaks and roasts flown in from the United States to be prepared and cooked at some of the city's finest restaurants. He treated himself and his leading ladies Marlene Dietrich and Jane Wyman to frequent, extravagant dinners. The director told the actresses that "Ladies must be well fed."

In an extraordinary move for the normally controlling director, Alfred Hitchcock provided Marlene Dietrich an exceptional amount of creative control for the film, particularly in how she chose to light her scenes. Hitchcock knew that Dietrich had learned a great deal of the art of cinematography from Josef von Sternberg and Günther Rittau, and allowed her to work with this film's cinematographer, Wilkie Cooper, to light and set her scenes the way that she wished.

After completing this film, Alfred Hitchcock would not work in his native Britain again for over 20 years.

Famed composer Cole Porter composed "The Laziest Gal in Town" specifically for Marlene Dietrich in this film.

Marlene Dietrich's costumes were designed by (an uncredited) Christian Dior.

DIRECTOR CAMEO: Alfred Hitchcock: turning to look at Eve in her disguise as Charlotte's maid.

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FILM 1157: WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION

TRIVIA: Alfred Hitchcock said "Many times, people have told me how much they enjoyed Witness for the Prosecution (1957). They thought it was my film instead of Billy Wilder's. And Wilder told me people asked him about The Paradine Case (1947), thinking he had done it."

Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester (the nurse, Miss Plimsoll) were real-life husband and wife.

Unsure if he could play a man with a heart condition, Charles Laughton (Sir Wilfrid) staged a heart attack in the pool one day at home. His wife, Elsa Lanchester (Miss Plimsoll), and a houseguest panicked and pulled him from the water, at which point he explained his trick. Elsa's reaction has not been recorded.

In order to show just one of Marlene Dietrich's famous legs, an entire scene was written that required 145 extras, 38 stunt men and $90,000.

Marlene Dietrich was so certain she would be nominated for an Academy Award for her performance as Christine Vole that she recorded a new introduction to her Las Vegas show mentioning her nomination. She was not nominated, and was crushed.

The studio where filming was going on had an agreement hanging outside the door that everyone who came in had to sign, promising they would not reveal the surprise ending.

The courtroom setting, which cost $75,000 to build, was a recreation of an actual courtroom in London's Central Criminal Courts, The Old Bailey.

The press book, reviews and various articles about the production stated that the principal cast members themselves did not even know the ending of the film until the last day of shooting, when the final ten pages of the script were presented to them.

Noel Coward acted as special dialogue director for Marlene Dietrich.