Key Witness

By the late 1950s film noir was dead but the juvenile delinquent thriller, originally inspired by the novels of Hal Ellson from ten years earlier ("Duke," "The Golden Spike," etc), was thriving on the B-movie circuit. But MGM and producer Pandro Berman, perhaps hoping to repeat their 1955 success with "Blackboard Jungle," tried to blow "Key Witness" up into an A-movie, widescreen Cinemascope, "Rebel Without a Cause" alumni (Hopper, Corey Allen), and all. Though the plot relies on sometimes ridiculous turns (in one maddening scene, a deputy runs into a courtroom interrupting testimony) and the characters are mostly cartoons (Muggles certainly lives up to the first syllable in his name), director Phil Karlson's decision to shoot on the streets of Los Angeles keeps everything moderately realistic. The opening scene, set in a hilly slum neighborhood just north of City Hall in the Chinatown area (though it looks like old Bunker Hill and is referred to as "East L.A." in the film), immediately puts the viewer into the middle of the action and the period. If this film had been shot on a soundstage, as "Blackboard Jungle" was, it would have fallen apart within the first ten minutes, but once again L.A. saves the day. If you love the atmosphere of on-location films from this era, you'll enjoy the sensation of sitting through "Key Witness."

Pretty good movie and relative to the times. But It was the song "Ruby Duby Du" that I remember. Its one of those tunes that once it gets into your head you can not stop it. I remember it being played throughout the movie but that was 46 years ago; maybe it was just the play on the radio and of course; bought the 45 as well. It was a hit song at the time. The gang leader's girl was named Ruby. As far as the film, story, itself; I remember the impression that movie gave me was one of helplessness or "how to fight such a terrible gang of young people". After all, its just a dad and his family. This was a movie about young thugs and a family. I could relate to the family but was frightened by the cold heartlessness of the gang. I remember the scene where the gang had entered the family's home and scratched the words "Key Witness" on the roof of their automobile inside the attached garage. That scene, for me, started the scary meanness threaded throughout the rest of the story. And oh yes, "the circle" with the father in the middle and finally one of the gang members went back-to-back with the dad as the movie's second hero. As I recall the daughter kinda liked that boy. Only the "Ruby Duby Du" song helped ease the tenseness for this 11 year old in 1960. I downloaded that song just a couple of years ago. Pretty cool dad...daddy-o.

Al

This movie really had me laughing and rolling in my lounge chair. The corny lines and predicaments the main characters were faced with let you know how advanced the screenplay writer was in the 50's & 60's. The so-called "hip-talk" was so funny that I know the actors probably had to do several takes to keep from laughing at themselves saying the lines. This movie believe it or not touches on the urban social conscience of the world too.

I thought Key Witness was interesting. The characters were of different genders, race, class and creed. It also also gave you an understanding about life in East L.A. during the late 50's & early 60's.

If Key Witness was re-made to reflect the times of today, the following actors should be cast in the character roles: Mr. Morrow - David Hasslehoff or Rob Lowe, Mrs. Morrow - Christina Applegate, Cowboy - Brad Pitt, Apple - David Alan Grier or Micheal Beach(Third Watch), Ruby - Christina Applegate, Carmen Electra, Madonna or Melissa Milano or Melissa Rivers (first acting gig) Muggles - Brad Pitt, Vince Vaughn or Colin Ferrell, Det. Turno - Obba Obatunde, Giancarlo Espisito, Charles S. Dutton, Magician - Vince Vaughn . The plot would be the same only updated to reflect the times. Its a classic for any young filmmaker to use as a guide and training tool. Check it out!

I really enjoyed this film. However, I enjoy all films of this particular genre. Black and whites film from the late 1950's/early 1960's. Plenty of hip looking individuals with snappy lingo. The detectives wear hats and the punks are bad news. It reminds me of "Blackboard Jungle" or some Stanley Kramer film.The story is about doing the right thing, even when the wrong thing is much easier to do. Moreover, you get to see a young Dennis Hopper do his early version of Frank Booth from "Blue Velvet." Good stuff in a retro kind of way.

KEY WITNESS, based on Frank Kane's novel of the same name, is sort of the successor to MGM's 1955 BLACKBOARD JUNGLE, but with more acting flourishes (mostly by the supporting cast) and realistic settings. By 1960, delinquency and gang violence were recognized as an unpleasant reality outside of "old" urban centers such as New York -- but also not always (or often) involving such well-scrubbed suburbanites as those depicted in REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE. Though its script stumbles in some notable places (a few involving basic logic -- except that this was a new world for many of the people who would have been watching in 1960), KEY WITNESS is a good depiction of the law abiding running up against the sociopathic lawless, with horrendous consequences for all concerned. The movie also plays, in somewhat naive fashion, on a racial angle in its plot and characterizations -- this is an odd touch, considering that the entire gang in Kane's book, if memory serves, was African-American. (Additionally, the book is more violent and also a lot more raunchy in terms of the Ruby character, who alludes to the idea of explaining her assault on the witness's wife because of a (rejected) lesbian overture in a courthouse ladies' room). The movie ends a little too squeaky clean and optimistically, not that differently from THE BLACKBOARD JUNGLE, but is more harrowing along the way. Along with releases such as THE SUBTERRANEANS, which was done around the same time, it was all a really interesting venture by MGM into territory far from its roots in high art and Americana, and an admission that the 1940s were long-gone. And anyone who likes the movie should check out the novel.