The Star Witness

A family witnesses a gangster commit murder and are then threatened into keeping quiet in this fine Pre-Coder directed by William Wellman. Walter Huston plays the tough district attorney who pressures the family to testify. Huston made a lot of great movies, particularly in the early '30s. He's good in this but he's outdone by scene stealer Chic Sale as the Civil War veteran grandfather who insists upon doing his civic duty and fighting back against the criminals, no matter the cost. He's hammy but in the best way. Dickie Moore is very cute as one of the little kids. The rest of the cast is solid, including Grant Mitchell, Sally Blane, Nat Pendleton, and Ralph Ince as the gangster killer. It's a movie made in the early sound era so it's a little creaky. There's also some preachiness that seems to be off-putting to some reviewers but didn't bother me much as it's all well-intentioned and understandable, especially in the time in which it was made. It's a good movie that will please most fans of the kinds of urban crime dramas WB made so well. Go into it with the right frame of mind and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.