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Witness for the Prosecution · 1957 — 第 8 / 27 章 · 3'07" · B2

Christine Vole Meets the Lawyers, Explained：call it what you like

Christine Vole arrives expecting to be treated as a fragile, hysterical foreign wife, and quietly refuses the part. Told her husband has been charged with murder, she answers, "Call it what you like. What is the next step?" — no tears, no faint, just a demand for facts. Wilfrid, meanwhile, tells her he is too ill to defend Leonard.

あらすじ

At Sir Wilfrid's chambers, the lawyers prepare to break the news to Leonard Vole's wife. Mayhew warns that she is a foreigner, so they should expect hysterics and have smelling salts ready. Christine Vole then walks in, cool and composed, and says she never faints. She is told Leonard has been arrested and charged with murder; her response is to ask what the next step is.

MeetingsCourtroomExplainingSaying noLawyer & clientB2mediumbritishClean
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注目の表現

get in touch with someonebear in mindin casecall it what you like

00:00 / 03:07
Space 再生 · ← → セリフ移動 · R リピート
いま
  32. ❝ 独白the nurse's bedtime routine5 行練習ページ ↗
セリフをタップするとそこから再生

このシーンの表現

call it what you like

whatever you want to name it

When Sir Wilfrid praises her fortitude, Christine shrugs off the label and asks what comes next.

Call it what you like, it is still a lie.

このシーンの他の表現

  • get in touch with someone

    contact someone

  • bear in mind

    keep something in mind

  • in case

    so as to be ready if

  • shut up

    stop talking (rude)

  • feel sorry for someone

    pity someone

このシーンのメモ一覧

45 行のセリフに 24 件のメモ

表現 · B1get in touch with someone

contact someone

Sir Wilfrid plans to contact Mrs Vole and asks whether the other lawyer wants to sit in.

I'd better get in touch with Mrs Vole and have her come over. Will you sit in?
表現 · B2sit in on something

attend as a listener

I'd better get in touch with Mrs Vole and have her come over. Will you sit in?
発音get in touch

Link get and in as ge-din, then keep touch light.

I'd better get in touch with Mrs Vole and have her come over. Will you sit in?
表現 · B2cope with something

deal with something

Thank you, no. I'm in no condition to cope with emotional wives drenched in tears.
表現 · B1handle someone gently

treat someone softly

About Mrs Vole. Handle her gently, especially when you tell her of the arrest.
表現 · B2bear something in mind

keep something in mind

Sir Wilfrid warns his colleague to remember she is a foreigner and brace for a breakdown.

Bear in mind she's a foreigner, so prepare for hysterics, even a fainting spell.
文法 · B1so prepare for hysterics

so for result: So introduces the response that follows from the fact just stated.

Bear in mind she's a foreigner, so prepare for hysterics, even a fainting spell.
発音Bear in mind

Bear in runs together; stress mind.

Bear in mind she's a foreigner, so prepare for hysterics, even a fainting spell.
表現 · B2a nip of (spirits)

a small drink of brandy

Better have smelling salts ready, box of tissues and a nip of brandy.
表現 · B1in case something happens

so as to be ready if

Christine says she never faints, in case she fails to fall gracefully.

I never faint in case I don't fall gracefully, and I never use smelling salts because they puff up the eyes.
文法 · B2in case I don't fall gracefully

in case clause: The in case clause names the possibility the speaker is guarding against.

I never faint in case I don't fall gracefully, and I never use smelling salts because they puff up the eyes.
表現 · B2show fortitude

show courage under strain

I'm glad you're showing such fortitude.
表現 · B2call it what you like

whatever you want to name it

When Sir Wilfrid praises her fortitude, Christine shrugs off the label and asks what comes next.

Call it what you like. What is the next step?
表現 · B2stand trial

be tried in court

Your husband will have to stand trial, I'm afraid.
文法 · B2or, rather, the lack of it

parenthetical: Or rather is a parenthetical correction that sharpens the phrase before it.

My health, or, rather, the lack of it, forbids me.
表現 · B2a hopeless cause

a cause with no chance

It is regrettable. Mr Mayhew described you as champion of the hopeless cause.
表現 · B1have a serious talk with someone

talk seriously with someone

I'll have a serious talk with Dr Harrison. It was a mistake to let you come back here.
発音Shut up

In American speech the t can flap, sounding like shud-up.

Shut up. You just want to see me in those nasty shorts.
スラング · B1Shut up

stop talking — Blunt and rude; fine only between close friends.

Shut up. You just want to see me in those nasty shorts.
表現 · A2get ready for something

prepare for something

You must get ready for sleep, think beautiful thoughts.
表現 · B1feel sorry for someone

pity someone

While making the bed, the nurse says she feels sorry for Mr Vole, then turns that pity on his wife.

You know, I feel sorry for that nice Mr Vole.
スラング · B2go crazy

lose their heads — Casual for losing self-control; not for real illness.

That's what happens when we let our boys cross the Channel. They go crazy.
表現 · B1do something about something

take action to fix something

The nurse grumbles that the government should do something about foreign wives, half joking about an embargo.

The government should do something about foreign wives. Like an embargo.
表現 · A2hop in

get in quickly

All right. Hop in!

「Christine Vole Meets the Lawyers」を読み解く

What's really going on

The scene upends the courtroom's expectations about women. Everyone has been told to handle the "foreign wife" gently and to brace for tears, yet Christine treats the arrest as a problem to be solved, not a tragedy to be felt. "Call it what you like. What is the next step?" she says, brushing past Wilfrid's compliment about her fortitude. Her line about never fainting — "in case I don't fall gracefully" — is both a joke and a warning: she will not perform the helplessness people expect. When Wilfrid refuses the case on health grounds, she does not plead; she lands a sharper blow, asking whether the real reason is that the cause is too hopeless to win. Even the nurse's complaints about foreign wives echo the prejudice Christine is quietly outplaying.

Theme

IdentityThe scene is about who Christine is allowed to be — labelled a foreign wife and judged before she can speak.
DeceptionChristine refuses the role she is assigned, the tearful widow; her calm control reads as a performance she has chosen.

このチャプターで学べること

  • Her composure is more unsettling than any tears.
  • A polite refusal can be sharper than an insult.
  • The nurse's small orders run the lawyer's whole day.
  • Calling a cause hopeless is also a challenge.

発音のポイント

  • get in touch — Link get and in as ge-din, then keep touch light.
  • Bear in mind — Bear in runs together; stress mind.
  • Shut up — In American speech the t can flap, sounding like shud-up.
I never faint in case I don't fall gracefully, and I never use smelling salts because they puff up the eyes.

Christine refuses to be the swooning woman the lawyers prepared for: vanity and self-control matter more to her than showing emotion.

Call it what you like. What is the next step?

She won't argue about whether her calm is bravery or coldness. She cuts the sympathy short and asks for the practical facts.

Thank you, no. I'm in no condition to cope with emotional wives drenched in tears.

Wilfrid declines to sit in on the interview, admitting he can't handle open grief — a private joke about his own impatience and poor health.

Miss Plimsoll, how alluring you look, waiting like a hangman on the scaffold.

Wilfrid teases his nurse by comparing her to an executioner ready to drag him off to bed. The black humour shows he is enjoying the fight.

このシーンについての質問

Why is Christine so calm when she hears about the arrest?

She refuses to act the part of the fragile foreign wife the lawyers expect. Instead she treats the news as a problem to work through and immediately asks what the next step is.

Why won't Sir Wilfrid defend Leonard?

He says his health forbids it; he has just left hospital and Miss Plimsoll is enforcing a rest cure. Christine suggests the real reason may be that the case looks hopeless.

What does "Call it what you like" mean?

It means "whatever you want to call it" — a cool way to refuse an argument about labels. Christine uses it to brush aside Wilfrid's praise of her fortitude.

What does Miss Plimsoll think of Christine?

She dislikes her for being foreign, assuming she must be German and blaming foreign wives for a string of problems — a piece of everyday prejudice the film quietly exposes.

Who is Wilfrid Robarts?

The famous defence barrister, convalescing at home under his nurse. He is known as a champion of hopeless causes, which is why everyone expects him to take Vole's case.

情婦 · 全 27 章

すべて見る →
次のチャプター · 第 9 章a way with womenChristine and the Green Socks
第 1 章put it in mothballsSir Wilfrid Goes Home第 2 章when her back is turnedSir Wilfrid Hides Cigars in His Cane第 3 章circumstantial evidenceVole Tries to Hire Sir Wilfrid第 4 章in the hands ofLeonard Tells Sir Wilfrid His Story第 5 章not cricketHow Vole Met Mrs French第 6 章a hot potatoLeonard Recounts the Night of the Murder第 7 章with flying coloursInspector Hearne Arrests Leonard再生中 · 第 8 章call it what you likeChristine Vole Meets the Lawyers第 9 章a way with womenChristine and the Green Socks第 10 章worships the ground I walk onChristine Denies She's His Wife第 11 章on the chance thatWilfrid Photographs Vole in Prison第 12 章gave someone ideasLeonard Meets Christine in Hamburg第 13 章clutching at a razor bladeVole Tells How He Married Christine第 14 章to a pointLeonard Vole Pleads Not Guilty第 15 章take someone by surpriseHearne Testifies About the Prints第 16 章account forThe Bloodstained Jacket in Court第 17 章hither and thitherJanet McKenzie Takes the Stand第 18 章a scheming rascalWilfrid Cross-Examines the Housekeeper第 19 章an accomplice toChristine Testifies Against Vole第 20 章a chronic and habitual liarMyers Destroys Christine on the Stand第 21 章shed new light onSir Wilfrid Calls Leonard Vole第 22 章establish an alibiMyers Cross-Examines Leonard Vole第 23 章wild-goose chaseThe Call About the German Wife第 24 章on the slySir Wilfrid Buys the Letters第 25 章a pack of liesSir Wilfrid's Blue Letter Trap第 26 章dispose ofVole Is Found Not Guilty第 27 章call someone namesChristine Reveals Leonard Was Guilty
第 8 / 27 章 · 残り約 66 分