Witness to Murder (1954) User Reviews (71)

Amazing Cinematography & A Couple Of Good Performances

[seymourblack-1 · 7/10 · 24 April 2013]

"Witness To Murder" is a modest but entertaining thriller with some sensational cinematography and a couple of conspicuously good performances that more than compensate for its rather unremarkable plot. The story doesn't score high on originality or contain many twists but it is, nevertheless, very engaging because it's hard to resist the need to know how the plight of its main protagonist plays out. Some passages are also suspenseful and the climax is tense and exciting.

One night, Cheryl Draper (Barbara Stanwyck) witnesses the murder of a young woman in an apartment on the opposite side of the street to her own. She clearly sees the killer strangling his victim to death and then promptly telephones the police to report what she's seen. When Lieutenant Larry Mathews (Gary Merrill) visits the alleged murder scene, there is no dead body or any evidence of a crime having been committed and so he assumes that Cheryl must have imagined or dreamt the incident.

On the following day, Cheryl sees Albert Richter (George Sanders) pushing a large trunk into a station wagon and recognises him as the strangler. Through her own investigations, she discovers that there's a vacant apartment adjacent to Richter's in which he could have hidden the body when the police called and some marks on the floor seem to support this theory, as they indicate that something heavy had recently been dragged from one side of the room to the other.

Despite the fact that nobody is convinced by what she says, Cheryl keeps repeating her accusations and whenever she offers some further evidence of Richter's guilt, he cleverly provides a plausible explanation. The longer this goes on, the more convinced the police become that she's irrational and Richter exploits this situation by giving the police some letters (which he claims she wrote) that show that she's mentally ill and clearly intent on persecuting him. The police believe that the letters were written by Cheryl and soon after, have her committed to a mental hospital for observation. The ways in which she navigates her way through this experience and eventually devises a plan to convince the police of Richter's guilt are both intriguing and entertaining to watch.

George Sanders is tremendous as the villain of the piece and convincingly slimy as a seemingly sophisticated author who's actually a political fanatic and a callous murderer whose only motive is pure greed. Barbara Stanwyck is also excellent as the remarkably determined Cheryl who continues to persevere despite all the difficulties that she confronts. The way in which Stanwyck portrays Cheryl's mixture of fear and toughness is very well balanced and subtle and adds considerable interest to each new plot development.

An unexpected feature of this movie is John Alton's amazing cinematography which does so much to enhance the mood of the piece. The expert way in which light and shadow are used and camera angles are exploited to emphasise certain moments are truly outstanding as well as being aesthetically pleasing.

Tomorrow the World

[howdymax · 8/10 · 30 April 2002]

This is the kind of cat and mouse thriller that we will never make again. It is a movie that went through a process. Someone had an idea, wrote the story, set the atmosphere, and produced a white knuckled mystery. Boy, do I miss film noir.

Barbara Stanwyck plays an intelligent professional woman who sees a woman murdered in the apartment across from her. She calls the police who come to the conclusion she was dreaming. Gary Merrill plays the weary, but sympathetic, detective who investigates. They question the suspect - George Sanders - but he eventually convinces them that she is unbalanced. She becomes more and more desperate for someone to believe her all the while she is being set up. She and Gary Merrill begin to fall in love. He wants to believe her, but George has spun an insidious web. Eventually she finds herself under suspicion and is sent to the cuckoo's nest for observation. There is bizarre confrontation between Barbara and George where he actually admits the murder and proclaims himself the savior of the 4th Reich! You'll have to take it from there.

Barbara Stanwyck was a little past her prime, but she still put out the passion and energy that made her famous. George Sanders really looked tired, but displayed that old world charm that makes little old ladies melt. Gary Merrill is such a likable guy, you tend to forget that he can't act.

There was not one car chase, not one explosion, and no one fired a pistol, never mind a Mach 10. Boy I miss these movies.

A great look at being a career woman in the '50s

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 13 January 2007]

"Witness to Murder" is a small but interesting film starring Barbara Stanwyck, George Sanders, and Gary Merrill. By 1954, Stanwyck was 47 and no longer considered leading lady material. However, because she was such a great star and actress, she could still get good roles in big films, "Titanic" and "Executive Suite" being two that leap to mind. She could also, like Loretta Young, get stuck in B movies like this one and "Jeopardy." "Witness to Murder" isn't so much a B movie as it is closer to what one was seeing on television by 1954. And it's not a B cast.

Stanwyck plays a career woman, Cheryl, of a certain age who sees a woman murdered in the apartment across from hers. The apartment belongs to an author, Albert Richter, who emigrated to America after the war. Cheryl reports the murder but no one believes her. Richter is too smooth and always one step ahead of her with the police. Cheryl is considered an hysterical single woman who has delusions because she isn't married and probably going through menopause, though this isn't out and out stated. Completely outrageous and no doubt what actually went on at the time. These assumptions were just taken for granted in the '50s. There was something really wrong with a woman who never married. Read LOSER. A woman's goal in life was marriage; the career was just a stopgap until the ring was on the finger. What must it have been like for an intelligent woman to have that mantle put on her. In this film, the police detective (Gary Merrill) is interested enough in her to at least follow the case.

All of the acting is very good, with Stanwyck really shining as someone determined to get the truth out, even if she has to do a little detective work herself. Sanders is very effective as the villainous Richter, and he's pretty scary at the end of the film. The last 15 minutes or so are exciting and will have you on the edge of your seat.

This is actually a fairly derivative film bolstered by its stars. And you can't beat the opportunity to see the attitudes toward women played out in a realistic manner. Alas, there are still touches of it today.

Stanwyck does it again !

[olddiscs · 25 November 2001]

I have been a fan of Stanwycks since I was a child (now 55 yrs)..saw and thought I knew most of her films from mid 30's- on to the TV years. Somehow, Witness To Murder escaped me, until I saw it listed to be shown on TCM (thank you Ted), this weekend 11/23, I believe... I set my vcr, and was not disappointed, what an outstanding film noir this is.. yet no one ever mentions or discusses this one !!!Stanwyck is just as good as she was in Sorry Wrong Number, maybe more controlled... Plot is similar to Hitcocks Rear Window, but it has many more twists and turns. Supporting cast is great, including 2 All About Eve alumni.. George Sanders, playing a sadistic Nazi (yes) murderer his best work since Eve, and Gary Merrill, portraying a police detective...You can see future star and Oscar nominee, Juanita Moore, (Imitation of Life '58) in an assylum scene, very effective, and Jesse White, as Merrills partner giving some comic relief... Wow, couldnt stop watching... Great to see this ignored film from mid 1950's. Is it on tape ?? Aside #1: Gary Merrill was married to Bette Davis at the time... She and Stanwyck did not get along...I would have loved to be a fly on the wall when Gary came home from work... during the filming of Witness.

Aside# 2: Stanwyck was the most prolific actress in Hollywood history!! She just kept turning them out. I remember my parents taking us to our local theatre, Regent, in Newark, NJ.. and every other week so it seemed was a Stanwyck movie... We had just seen her in Titanic, and soon she would be in Executive Suite.... what a pro, what a career, what an actress... she was such a family favorite that my older sister was named after her, Barbara......

A Cunning Adversary

[theowinthrop · 7/10 · 12 August 2006]

There should be a sub-genre in thrilling writing about the stories where somebody stumbles, accidentally, into witnessing a major crime but the perpetrator keeps countering each move with one of his or her own. The reviews on this thread keep referring to Hitchcock's REAR WINDOW, which certainly is the best known version of this plot, except for one element that is not in that film until very late. A better film to compare WITNESS TO MURDER to is actually THE WINDOW with Bobby Driscoll, Arthur Kennedy, and Paul Stewart.

Difference between WITNESS and REAR WINDOW, of course, is that in the latter film Raymond Burr is unaware of why he is the center of so much attention by the police until he sees Grace Kelly's gesture regarding his wife's ring and the only person who can see it is Jimmy Stewart across the courtyard of the apartment buildings. Then he realizes who has been tipping the cops off about him. But that is about ten minutes before the end of the film.

The situation in WITNESS TO MURDER is almost identical to THE WINDOW. Barbara Stanwyck happens to see a woman being strangled in an apartment near her's by George Sanders. But Sanders (like Paul Stewart in THE WINDOW, notices her and prepares accordingly. He (like Stewart) has nothing to hide when the police (Gary Merrill and Jesse White) show up. He is soon analyzing Stanwyck for them as a neurotic spinster who hallucinates. And he is quite convincing.

The difference between Sanders and Paul Stewart in their comparative film parts is that Stewart killed his victim in an argument over business (Sanders was in a sexual rage). Moreover, whatever one thinks of Stewart's glib and careful killer, he is not getting deeper and deeper into crime out of any political or intellectual views. Put another way: if Bobby Driscoll had not witnessed what happened, but was sound asleep (and Stewart was sure of it), Stewart would have hidden the dead body somewhere, and he and Ruth Roman would have packed up and moved to another city. Roman's loyalty to him would have reassured that there wouldn't have been any problems on that end.

But with Sanders he approaches the situation from a "spiritual" side that Stewart would have found incomprehensible. We learn (and it is a point that Merrill finds odd and troubling) that this suave, courteous, and intellectual man is a defender of Nietzche's "superman" theories (as twisted by the Nazis) and apologist for the policies of the Nazis in several books. His treatment of his initial victim, and his subtle and continuous persecution of Stanwyck are of a piece (he does not believe such inferior types should threaten him). Towards the end he even intends to make her death appear to be a suicide. Stewart felt Driscoll was a viable threat to his freedom and security, but he never has a speech suggesting the boy was a biological inferior.

WITNESS TO MURDER is a good thriller, but it is not one of the all time great ones. Still it is a worthy picture, the only one where Stanwyck and Sanders appeared in together. So I give it a "7" on the scale, recommending it as an interesting version of the hunted turned hunter genre of thriller.

Timing and touches

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 17 January 2021]

Perhaps Barbara Stanwyck was looking to score another Oscar with Witness To Murder. Her fourth and final nomination was with Sorry Wrong Number. In that film she overhears a murder plot.

In this one she sees neighbor George Sanders commit a strangulation on some woman. But the police show up and no body and no signs of struggle. Still Stanwyck persists and detectives Gary Merrill and Jesse White do their best..

We learn too early that Sanders did the deed which robs us of suspense. Still Sanders is at his caddiest and that's always a treat.

The best scenes are Stanwyck in a mental ward and she's in with a lot of those you would have seen in the Snake Pit. Wonderful scene allowing all the players including Stanwyck to overact and stay in character.

Timing is everything and Witness To Murder was released first so it was no copycat. But Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window with the same premise and all those Hitch touches came out far superior and this film was forgotten.

Stanwyck and the cast do a good job though and Witness To Murder should not be forgotten.

typical of this genre, but good

[rj-27 · 7/10 · 22 December 2000]

It's interesting that both this film and "Rear Window" came out in the same year, since the base plot is identical: person witnessess murder through apartment window in opposing apartment and spends rest of movie trying to convince everone else what they saw. While the Hitchcock movie is more stylish and elaborate, this film definitely keeps your attention. Typical of movies of the 50's, the villain is disposed of in the climax, thereby eliminating any necessity of bringing them to justice. Stanwyck, as usual, gives her best "woman in distress", hysterical performance.

Sorry, Wrong Window.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 9 July 2015]

"Next time you kill someone, pull your shade down", acerbic detective Jesse White tells George Sanders after Barbara Stanwyck reports that she witnessed him strangling a woman to death. Sanders is a not-so-reformed Nazi who obviously enjoys the cat and mouse game he is about to embark on with the single middle-aged Stanwyck, a career woman whose one mistake was getting up in the middle of a windy night to shut her window. When she steals a pair of earing's from Sanders' apartment as possible evidence, she's threatened with arrest, but ends up on a date with happy-go-lucky detective Gary Merrill. He listens to her claims that Sanders killed some poor girl, but reminds her humorously that if they arrested everybody in Los Angeles for looking like a criminal just because of their eyes, then practically the whole population would be in lock-up.

Sanders, in the meantime, plots his own form of retribution against Stanwyck, and ultimately, she ends up in a mental ward of the local hospital where, while not quite the snake pit, she begins to question whether or not she did in fact dream the whole thing. But this doesn't stop Sanders from furthering his plans which includes breaking into her house, typing threatening letters on her typewriter, and ultimately, planning her "suicide" with his Nazi-like methods. He even makes an unwanted pass at her, but it's obvious that even if she fell for his phony charms, she'd end up a naked corpse in Griffith Park just like his previous victim.

While this obviously was made and released quickly to precede the very similar "Rear Window" (released four months later), it doesn't stand the test of time as the Hitchcock thriller did. The performances are all excellent, and Stanwyck's fear seems real, even when mixed with her courage and determination. Sanders plays it really cool. This ranks among his most evil of characters, with the Nazi element of his past added to make him even more nefarious. It's interesting to note, though, that when Stanwyck discovers that he was involved in the Nazi party, it pretty much just roles off her back as if she was thinking, "Figures". Merrill isn't one of those tough Robert Ryan/Sterling Hayden detectives, so that reduces the "film noir" element of the structure, but the dark photography (especially the gripping climax) truly gives it a "noir" perspective. I just love the open construction sight Stanwyck runs into which has a cavern filled with glass and planks that truly becomes the entry way to hell in the end.

Grab her she's insane!

[sol-kay · 7/10 · 6 June 2011]

***SPOILERS*** Actually released three months before the very similar 1954 Alfred Hitchcock color crime classic "Rear Window" the black & white crime thriller "Witness to Murder" has a woman Cheryl Draper, Barbara Stanwyck, watch in horror outside her window as her next door neighbor Albert Richter, George Sanders, strangle a woman later to be identified as Joyce Stewart, Lyn Thomas,in his apartment.

Reporting the incident to the police Cheryl is shocked to find out that there's no evidence or a dead body to have Richter arrested for the crime he "supossidtly" committed. The well spoken, in both German & English, and sophisticated Richter an ex-Nazi and now both historical writer and engaged to marry mega rich widow Mrs. Overhill plans to put the squeeze on Cheryl by either making her look or driving her insane in order to get her out of his hair. Richter plans start a new Nazi movement, with Mrs. Overhill's millions, here in the USA with him becoming the leader or "Fuhrer" of it.

The accusations about Richter by Cheryl go completely over the head of investigating LAPD detective Larry Mathews, Gary Merrill, who despite falling in love with Cheryl can't believe a word she says. That's how skillful Richter spins a web of deception in making Cheryl look as nutty as a fruitcake in her accusations against him! Richter is so good in making Cheryl look nuts that she's put against her will into the psycho ward of the L.A Municipal Hospital for mental observation!

What turns out to be Richter biggest mistake is his thinking that he's actually an invincible "Aryan Superman" or Nazi and in his complete and total arrogance admits to Cheryl his crime in him tinkling that no one would believe her! This off the wall nut-case felt that Joyce, a local hooker, had outlived her usefulness and thus disposed of her like he would a used Kleenex tissue after having a last fling with her!

We as well as Cheryl get a real good insight in how Richter's sick mind works when in the middle of a sentence he breaks out in his native German boasting how his crazed and Nazi like ideas will become the new world religion with him being the "Big Man" in charge of it!

***SPOILERS*** Cheryl running for her life as well as freedom,in her about to be put in a mental asylum, with both Richter and the LAPD that includes Larry Mathews in pursuit is trapped on top of a 30 floor high-rise construction site with Richter, in trying to make it look like a suicide, about to push her off. It's then that Larry realizes that Cheryl was right about Richter all along and instead of having her arrested and put away tries to keep Richter from murdering her! As a reward for his both insanity and criminality, both in Germany and here in the USA, Richter gets a final send-off when he slips and falls, in his attempt to murder Larry, by dropping down or getting shafted an 300 foot elevator shaft and in the process breaking dozens of wooden boards as well as all his bones before he finally hits bottom!

Nine months before Rear Window, and less original, but a superb noir suspense film

[secondtake · 8/10 · 14 February 2011]

Witness to Murder (1954)

This talented, gripping crime drama is a little outside the party in many ways, and even now it shamefully falls under the radar with reviewers and on wikipedia. But if you overlook a couple of creaky elements, like the police carelessly revealing their witness to the killer at the start, you will find a great B-noir.

I say B-noir because it was produced by Chester Erskine Productions (this is their only movie) and released by United Artists (who distributed lots of the independent small company releases). And this is interesting because the movie has a stellar cast. The leads alone are big name stuff, Barbara Stanwyck and George Sanders. But keep going down the list and you'll find both detectives are well known noir and drama actors (especially Gary Merrill), the apartment manager is the guy who shouts out the window in "It's a Wonderful Life," and there is the incomparable Juanita Moore (from Sirk's "Imitation of Life") in a insane asylum scene.

Add to this ace noir cinematographer John Alton ("Border Incident" and "The Big Combo") and uncredited screenwriter Nunnally Johnson ("The Three Faces of Eve" etc.) and you have all the ingredients for a great movie. And it is great in many ways. The plot itself, which I don't like to spend time on, is a classic one--someone sees a murder out their window. And of course, the murderer finds out they've been seen.

If this sounds like Hitchcock's "Rear Window" you are right, and there are many echoes, even with the killer showing up at the witness's apartment. But wait just a second--both movies are the same year. In fact, "Witness to Murder" was released first by nine months. At the time, it did fine at the box office, but it is history, and the vagaries of video release through various studios who buy and sell rights to these movies, that has forgotten this. And with the plot so similar to "Rear Window," the less flashy, black and white, low budget "Witness to Murder" never had a chance against the Technicolor Hitchcock release, which is a far more inventive masterpiece.

Stanwyck and Sanders maybe be approaching their years of decline in popularity (Stanwyck had a second birth in television's "Thorn Birds"), but they are both great here. When Sanders breaks out in German, it's a shock because it is utterly convincing. And when Stanwyck does anything, like take the burning supper out of the oven, or light a match, or run for her life, she does it with modern, natural ease. This is a smart movie, and director Roy Rowland's best movie, from what I can tell--neither you nor I are likely to see any of the others (of his fifty movies, two are available on Netflix, DVD and streaming both).

But see this one. It uses lots of clichés, but it uses the very well.

Rear Window meets Gaslight-- the results are underwhelming

[MissSimonetta · 6/10 · 22 February 2022]

WITNESS TO MURDER is a rather routine woman-in-peril movie likely to remind you of more famous thrillers like REAR WINDOW (which came out the same year) and GASLIGHT. Barbara Stanwyck sees a murder committed across the street, but after an examination of the killer's apartment, the police find no evidence and assume Stanwyck is seeing things. Stanwyck is convinced otherwise and her desire to see justice done puts her in the bad graces of the murderer, an ex-Nazi who tries to make both the cops and Stanwyck herself believe she's outright insane.

Unlike REAR WINDOW, there is never any doubt a murder was committed, and WITNESS TO MURDER never goes to any surprising places. There are echoes of interesting themes: the Nazi intellectual was not an uncommon antagonist in films like this (see THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE and NOTORIOUS as well), and there is the usual gender lens through which to view the gaslighting of our middle-aged, unmarried career woman. However, these themes are only at the surface and they never really get any exploration from the script or the performances.

What lets this movie down most are some rather gaping logic issues. Most thrillers can be accused of plot holes and such (even Hitchcock's masterpieces), but the ones here particularly strain credulity, such as Stanwyck's behavior. I can see her losing it once, but when you are accused of being a raving lunatic, it's best not to react like one every single time the bad guy goes to gaslight you in public. And then there is the climax-- Stanwyck knows the bad guy wants to kill her and make it look like a suicide, so when running from him, where does she go? A high-rise under construction, complete with rickety scaffolds. Brilliant.

I love Stanwyck and she's the main reason I watched this, but it's not one of her better moments. If you are not a fan of hers, you can safely skip.

Great example of "Film Noir:" Just watching the patterns of shadows is a treat

[tuckerdog · 9/10 · 26 July 2000]

This is a great example of "film noir," as every scene has some sort of shadow pattern on the wall, the floor, the faces. All shots are done with key light on the faces. The patterns suggest "jail," "locked up," "flight" (as in a train track), "trapped," (as in a cobweb), and others. There isn't one scene that doesn't have a shadow in it! Even the day time sequences. And the actors that had great careers: Stanwyck, Gary Merrill, Claude Akins, even Jesse (the original maytag repairman) White, and, of course, George Sanders, who plays a "deNazified" ex-Nazi. Whew! Great stuff.

Love Stanwyck, but . . .

[lizharrold-189-240771 · 6/10 · 15 September 2021]

I found this a rather cardboard storyline with a predictable outcome. The noir filming seemed a bit more like covering up very scant set and costume details. It felt like a step down for her in script, storyline and direction. I know I will anger some, but I love noir and this wasn't top notch despite a good cast.

Witness to Murder- Bringing in Gaslight Anyone? **1/2

[edwagreen · 5/10 · 13 January 2007]

Barbara Stanwyck witnesses a murder and the culprit, played by the usually sinister George Sanders, is trying to drive her insane after this event. Gary Merrill is the detective who tries to sort this all out while he is falling for Cheryl (Barbara).

The flaw here is in the writing. Sanders, as Mr. Richter, should have immediately been under much more suspicion as he was a former Nazi who came into this country legally. Who can believe that one? In addition, he is an author whose books justify the deaths of certain people. Sounds horribly familiar to me.

Stanwyck gives her usually good performance as a tormented woman who is driven mad by Richter.

The roof scene finale is exciting but comes too late following big errors in the movie writing.

In this effective, pre-feminist potboiler, the Barbara Stanwyck character is considered an unreliable witness because she's a middle-aged, single, career woman.

[bob-959 · 29 January 2004]

In addition to its solid performances, tight storytelling and John Alton's superior cinematography, what makes "Witness to Murder" particularly powerful today is the movie's pre-feminist view of its leading character's dilemma. "But I saw the murder, I SAW the murder," the Stanwyck character insists. Yet no one believes her because 1) she's a woman; 2) she's unmarried; 3) she's menopausal. Nobody even blinks an eye when she's dumped in a mental hospital, which gets viewers really riled because they share her point of view. The audience sees the murder along with Stanwyck and can feel her humiliation, anger and frustration. That's why the movie works.

Broad Strokes of the Noir Style

[LeonLouisRicci · 7/10 · 31 October 2012]

The John Alton photography is layered thick and shadowy in this late Film-Noir entry. Almost every scene is back lit with diagonals and impressions draping the proceedings and it is this atmospheric artistic display that highlights this often filmed story.

The characters and conventions of the Noir cycle by this time have become familiar but the shear broad strokes of the style are undeniably effective. The odd take on the villain being of Nazi descent with delusions of grandeur while meant to be of a deep personality flaw, is obtrusive and distracts from believability. It is an unwanted and unneeded take on the psychological persona of the killer.

The mental hospital scene is a standout as is the finale through the construction site. The only drag is the relentless unbelieving of the authorities that wears out its welcome fast but in the long view does not hold the film back from its better parts.

Front window

[jotix100 · 7/10 · 19 June 2009]

The story begins on a windy night in Los Angeles. Cheryl Draper gets up from bed to close her bedroom window, and lo and behold, she looks across the street at an apartment facing hers, only to see a man strangling a woman. She calls to notify what she had witnessed, little does she know she is dealing with a cunning man, Albert Richter, who will make her life miserable.

This 1954 film was clearly a vehicle for an aging Barbara Stanwyck, even though the woman in the story must have been in her twenties. There are things that don't make much sense and holes in the plot, but director Roy Rowland and his writer, Charles Erskine, did what they could with a plot that goes nowhere and things are not properly explained. Nunnally Johnson cooperated with the screen treatment, but he gets no credit for it. We decided not to fight it and went along with this implausible story that shows why Barbara Stanwyck was one of the best in the business.

The suave George Sanders plays the evil man that is trying to frame Cheryl by any means. Mr. Sanders was not at his best though, even as the man who's always a step ahead of our heroine. Gary Merrill is not totally convincing as the police detective Larry Matthews attracted to Cheryl. Jesse White plays his partner.

The camera work of John Alton and the editing of Robert Swink make the film even better than it should have been under another team. Best sequence is the chase through the building under construction.

Remember the GEICO TV commercial "Let's Hide Behind the Chainsaws" well it must have been based on this film

[Ed-Shullivan · 7/10 · 9 February 2021]

I have never been a fan of Barbara Stanwyck's and this suspense film initially left me with a better than expected impression of her acting chops, but then when the last ten minutes of the film rolled around I was reminded of that recent GEICO insurance TV commercial where a bunch of young men and women are being hunted and to avoid detection one of them yells out "Let's Hide Behind the Chainsaws" which are hanging en masse from inside a garage roof where the bad guy is waiting for this bunch of fools.

Now I felt like one of those fools after sticking with this film to the bitter end, and believe me when I say it was a bitter ending. It was a very disappointing ending to an otherwise decent murder/suspense film.

I give it a better than deserving 6 out of 10 IMDB rating merely because I cannot blame Ms. Stanwyck for the writer's inability to develop a more creative ending.

An Interesting Companion to Rear Window

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 31 August 2015]

A woman (Barbara Stanwyck)'s sanity comes into question, after she claims to have witnessed a murder from her apartment window.

So, this film has the interesting distinction of coming out around the same time as "Rear Window" and shares some plot similarities -- the basic premise that a murder is witnessed out a window and the police do not believe the viewer. Due to the timing, this film has become rather obscure... how do you compare to Hitchcock?

But we have just as good of a thriller with plot twists and turns, and some unexpected developments. Was it a hallucination? Or is she being tested by the killer? One can never be too sure, as she is without the faintest shred of evidence.

Gaslighting

[bob998 · 7/10 · 12 November 2021]

To see Barbara Stanwyck being gaslit is a bit of a switch; she had always played very strong women who were smart and sensual. Here George Sanders seems to be able to manipulate her like a marionette, and Stanwyck's bag of tricks prove insufficient to save her from being sent to a psychiatric hospital. What disappointed me the most was the use of gauze for her closeups. I thought only Doris Day had to suffer this fate.

The acting is very good, particularly from Sanders, and the cinematography from John Alton is absolutely stunning in some scenes. Shame about the script.

Great movie

[twinkyeelover · 10/10 · 13 January 2007]

I just saw this today, also thanks to TCM. It was well-paced and very believable and kept my interest throughout. Stanwyck, Merrill and Sanders were all superb, as were the minor roles well-played. Barbara is one of my very favorite actresses, always bringing professionalism and passion to the roles she played. You just imagined her with a backbone of steel, a perfect feminist heroine, most especially in her later roles. There is not a wasted moment in this film, and I particularly liked the first scene with the windy backdrop, adding an air of foreboding to what was unfolding. NO ONE plays a villain better than George Sanders, and he gives his usual splendid portrayal in this film.

"From Hate There Is Love - True Love"

[BaronBl00d · 6/10 · 1 August 2008]

Rather simple premise here as Barbara Stanwyck wakes up and catches a murder scene from across her building - George Sanders strangling a woman. She calls the police, Sanders evades by hiding the body, and then a cat and mouse game begins between the two: one guilty yet convincingly proclaiming his innocence and another losing credibility as she is slowly "shown" to be an unreliable witness. The first 2/3rds of this film are really above-average as Sanders and Stanwyck battle wits and barbs with cop Gary Merrill refereeing. There is also another level here as well as Stanwyck is not just some woman but a single, middle-aged career woman. She is shown to be questionable because of these attributes rather than any tangible evidence. Sanders is not just your average killer either. In fact, average is never a word I would associate with Sanders as he is always urbane, polished, and skilled in the art of subtle wit. Here he is an ex-Nazi with some rad ideas(ala Nietzche)about the nature of violence and what the "Superman" or "Oberman" are destined by right to have. The philosophical underpinning is a bit forced in some places but Sanders does a pretty decent job convincing us he was a Nazi. Journeyman director Roy Rowland doesn't have much of a budget and the ending seems a way too far-fetched to me, but he does create suspense and tension throughout the entirety of the film with little "real" action. That he is able to do this can be credited to a tight script and the strong performances of the three leads. This is definitely a performance driven vehicle pedaled by Stanwyck's strong portrayal of a woman convinced she saw a murder yet constantly and consistently told by all she must have imagined it, Merrill giving a somewhat laid-back, yet subtly cunning turn as a policeman/love interest, and Sanders doing his best as some psychotic Nazi with some interesting ideas of dominance and submission. All in all a quality film noir thriller. By the way I loved the reference by cigar-chomping detective Jesse White to the Dragnet series in the film._

Middle of the road drama

[music64 · 8/10 · 12 May 2005]

I was surprised to come upon this film "Witness to Murder" tonight on TV as I hadn't heard of it before - always nice to discover an old movie with excellent, familiar actors. I get the impression of it being a part of the transitional period for some actors from movies to early TV dramas, in live productions that carry such realism as this film does.

I tuned in late and missed the first few minutes of the movie where wily Albert Richter (George Sanders) is purported to have committed his evil deed; unfortunately Sanders has always been one of my favourite actors, one of the best ne'er-do-wells (as in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Samson and Delilah, and All About Eve), and I wasn't a little old lady in those days but a budding teenager. His suave demeanour always fascinated me and he carries this over from film to film. By the way, in this 1954 movie his few lines in German weren't very convincing but his villainous role is very well set forth.

It's obvious that Barbara Stanwyck as the frustrated witness, Cheryl, carries a huge emotional burden throughout, and does it well - a real pro! This is a moderately predictable melodrama when crime inspection was more simple somehow. The music is very prevalent in most scenes and seems to override everything at times especially near the climax but that's to be expected.

Good popcorn fare! Enjoy some reminiscing moments of 'film noire' in top form.

Enjoyable

[FWVonKnorring · 6/10 · 26 February 2019]

Good players who always delivered good value.

I found the script a little wanting, but this was enjoyable nevertheless.

One little thing to watch for that interested me at least: look at how Barbara Stanwyck walks across the road near the beginning. She is so elegant! I can't think of anyone who carries themselves so well now.

Average suspense film features interesting Sanders performance

[funkyfry · 5/10 · 5 July 2005]

I found this movie to be pretty much predictable, and in every way average, despite the star presence of Barbara Stanwyck. She plays a young woman who witnesses a murder (not really giving any spoilers here, given the title) which interestingly happens in the middle of the credit sequence. Predictably, the chauvinist cops try to convince her that she dreamed it, as Sanders gets rid of the body in time to elude their not so thorough search. It gets more interesting as Sanders' character, who turns out to be an ex-Nazi philosopher, starts to send himself letters which are supposed to be from Stanwyck, who he is trying to get locked up in an asylum. The most interesting scene occurs when she confronts him about the letters, and he admits he was the murderer. "Nobody will believe you" he matter of factly tells her, "after all, you're insane." One minute he's debonair and courtly, but about 20 seconds later he's a raving lunatic yelling Hitlerian phrases in German at the top of his voice! Great scene by Sanders, but Stanwyck wasn't given much to do here, struggling through her solo scenes where she has to act out her fear and then her resolve to call her cop boyfriend, or the scenes with her and a bunch of b-actors in the asylum.

John Alton's photography, though not particularly original for the genre, was excellent. I do not believe this film should be classified as a film noir, it was basically a suspense film without noir undertones.