Main Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, George Sanders, Gary Merrill, Jesse White, Harry Shannon
Release Year: 1954
Country: US
Run Time: 81 minutes
Plot
The witness of the title is Barbara Stanwyck, who insists she's seen a man strangling a girl in the apartment across the street. The murderer is George Sanders, an ex-Nazi with plenty of experience in covering his tracks. Deftly disposing of body and clues, Sanders is able to convince the authorities that Stanwyck is hallucinating. But Stanwyck persists, forcing Sanders to show his hand in a fateful climax. Witness to Murder is far beneath the talents of its stars, though both Stanwyck and Sanders, pros that they are, give the material the old "Academy Award" treatment. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
A minor but entertaining film noir thriller, Witness to Murder is elevated by the bravura performance of the always dependable Barbara Stanwyck, as well as solid work from George Sanders in a familiar vein. Witness is kept from the "A" list of noir films by its rather pedestrian screenplay. Its starting point -- a person sees a murder and no one believes him/her -- has certainly been made to work to great effect in other films (see Rear Window, released the same year), but here it comes across as "well-worn" rather than "time honored." However, there are a number of interesting twists and turns (as well as some that try too hard and test a viewer's suspension of disbelief), as well as some good, punchy dialogue and the major set pieces do give the cast a good deal to work with. Stanwyck makes the most of these, setting her jaw firmly against those who would deny her justice, and using those luminous, liquid eyes so that only an actor as bland as Gary Merrill could resist her. Director Roy Rowland also gets a big boost from John Alton's moody cinematography, a feast of shadows and key lights that never misses an opportunity to throw slashes of darkness across the screen. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
William Ferrari - Art Director, Jack Masters - Costume Designer, Kay Nelson - Costume Designer, David Berman - Costume Designer, Roy Rowland - Director, Robert Swink - Editor, Herschel Burke Gilbert - Composer (Music Score), Sylvia Fine - Songwriter, Guffroy Gilbert - Songwriter, John Alton - Cinematographer, Chester Erskine - Producer, Alfred E. Spencer - Set Designer, Jack A. Goodrich - Sound/Sound Designer, Joel Moss - Sound/Sound Designer, Chester Erskine - Screenwriter, Nunnally Johnson - Screenwriter
A woman, while looking out her bedroom window, witnesses a young woman being strangled to death. The woman reports the killing to the police, but no one believes her. In fact, the body can't even be found. The killer, an ex-Nazi, sets up the woman to make her seem insane and she's locked up in a mental institution. With the aid of a sympathetic yet sceptical police lieutenant the woman is released and confronts the killer.
