Witness to Murder

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......

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.

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.

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.

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.