The Witness for the Defense

Broadway great Elsie Ferguson starred in a couple dozen silent films and one 1930 talkie. This is the only silent known to survive and she's terrific in it. Ferguson stars as Stella, a young English woman in love with a neighbor (Vernon Steele) but his father doesn't approve and wants him to marry a wealthy woman. When Stella is summoned by her father to India, she feels she must go. The selfish father wants he to marry wealthy Captain Ballantyne (Warner Oland) so he can have a comfy life. She finally gives in and marries but the father soon dies and she's trapped in marriage with the brutish drunk. Along comes the sympathetic Henry Thresk (Wyndham Standing) who tries to lure her from the brute but she refuses him. The drunken husband is terrified that a photo he has identifies a local thug and he'll be killed for it. Sure enough he is shot dead, but Stella is accused of the murder.

During the trial, all the circumstantial evidence is stacked against the wife until Thresk appears as a surprise witness for the defense. He produces the photo and testifies that the brute was shot because of what he knew and for the photo. Stella is acquitted. But then Thresk tells her what his price is for freeing her.

Terrific little melodrama runs about an hour and offers several solid performances. The expressive Ferguson is center stage and justifies her reputation as a great actress. Others in the cast include Etienne Girardot and Amelia Summerville. Oland is memorable as the husband.

Well worth seeing.