Winning Witness

Fred Gwyne as the Judge

The Winning Witness!
Marisa Tomei  as Mona Lisa Vito 
My Cousin Vinny



D.A. Jim Trotter: Ms. Vito, what is your current profession?
Lisa: I'm an out-of-work hairdresser.
D.A. Jim Trotter: An out-of-work hairdresser. In what way does that qualify you as an expert in automobiles?
Lisa: It doesn't.

Marisa Tomei won best supporting actress  as Mona Lisa Vito

D.A. Jim Trotter: Now, uh, Ms. Vito, being an expert on general automotive knowledge, can you tell me... what would the correct ignition timing be on a 1955 Bel Air Chevrolet, with a 327 cubic-inch engine and a four-barrel carburetor?
Mona Lisa Vito: It's a bullshit question.
D.A. Jim Trotter: Does that mean that you can't answer it?


 

DA Trotter challenges witness credenti

Mona Lisa Vito: It's a bullshit question, it's impossible to answer.
D.A. Jim Trotter: Impossible because you don't know the answer!
Mona Lisa Vito: Nobody could answer that question!
D.A. Jim Trotter: Your Honor, I move to disqualify Ms. Vito as a "expert witness"!
Judge Chamberlain Haller: Can you answer the question?
Mona Lisa Vito: No, it is a trick question!
Judge Chamberlain Haller: Why is it a trick question?
Vinny Gambini: [to Bill] Watch this.
Mona Lisa Vito: 'Cause Chevy didn't make a 327 in '55, the 327 didn't come out till '62. And it wasn't offered in the Bel Air with a four-barrel carb till '64. However, in 1964, the correct ignition timing would be four degrees before top-dead-center.
D.A. Jim Trotter: Well... um... she's acceptable, Your Honor.
 
COMMENTS FROM THIS FILM CRITIC
If you have watched this scene, then you know exactly why I say--Go watch it!   Good humor and real comedy shows sharp contrasts between actors.  The plot brings the actors into a a head-on collision--and humor erupts! In this scene, the sophisticated judge and DA run into the most unlikely witness in a "Yankee out of work hairdresser" with an accent to roll their ties around and a fundamental knowledge of auto mechanics that turns them on their heads. The least expected expert bails out the defendants (Ralph Machio), their attorney (Joe Pesci) and turns the status quo on it head. 

Believe it or not--I sometimes find Jesus as a comic figure turning the status quo of society around.  The first shall be last and the last shall be first.  Out of death comes life. A manger is the throne of the messiah. Check out the credentials of his disciples! 

This is a long way from the movie.  But frankly, I'd rather be the last in society named first by Jesus than the other way around.  And it starts because I regard others that way.