User Reviews

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.

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.

"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.

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.

The premise for "Witness to Murder" is very good but the film suffers from one serious problem--the writing. In the movie, the police almost immediately assume that a person who reported a murder is either wrong or crazy. Maybe I am a bit naive, but I really don't believe that the police would be so fast to do this and would take a reported murder A LOT more seriously. However, in the world of this film, they very quickly assume this is the case...too quickly to be realistic. Later, other such stupid assumptions sink the film.

"Witness to Murder" begins, not surprisingly, with Barbara Stanwyck looking out her apartment window and seeing a woman being killed in an apartment across from hers. She does what any person would do--contacts the police. And, almost immediately they assume she is wrong! Later in the film one of the cops (Gary Merrill) starts to wonder and actually begins to do his job! But, the smooth killer contacts the idiot police Captain and convinces him that he's being harassed by Stanwyck--and they lock her in the loony bin! I was frustrated by the film--it just assumed something that the film simply didn't establish. Had they had Stanwyck ACT crazy or the police investigated thoroughly THEN they assumed she was wrong it COULD have worked well.

Fortunately, the film did get better...for a while. Once Stanwyck was released from the hospital, Sanders actually torments her--telling her that he DID kill the lady but that now no one would believe her! This was great--and I really wanted to see more of this. But, it then gets stupid again when Sanders is in her apartment late in the film and a neighbors SEE this and hears Stanwyck cry for help, they immediately assume she's crazy--even though they have no idea about the investigation and police opinions about Stanwyck's sanity. If a neighbor cried out for help, I sure as heck would have done SOMETHING!!! The bottom line is that the acting is fine--the writing was not. However, it's is a VERY frustrating movie. It could have been good and had a good cast...but ultimately was crap due to wretched writing...just wretched.

"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.

I prefer the more mature Barbara Stanwyck...like the one you see in this film. And, there's a fairly strong "second tier" supporting cast, including Gary Merrill, an underrated actor. And the great George Sanders.

Stanwyck's character witnesses a murder through her bedroom window -- a la "Rear Window", reports it to the police, but there is no evidence to back up her story. The murderer -- George Sanders. One of the police officers that investigated the murder report is Gary Merrill, who then begins dating Stanwyck. What's scary is how easily Stanwyck was placed in the mental ward when she appears to be trying to frame Sanders, who is an ex-Nazi.

I'm not particularly a fan of crime dramas, but this one is well done (despite some goofs, as outlined on this site). UNTIL the climax of the film. Then, while running away from Sanders. who is going to murder her, by making it look as if she committed suicide by jumping out of her bedroom window, Stanwyck decides to flee him by climbing up the stairs inside a sky scraper that is under construction. Really? You'd try to escape a murderer by running into a dead end??? And then, were that not enough, Stanwyck falls off the top of the skyscraper...onto a temporary wooden ledge, which then begins to splinter...and she is rescued by Gary Merrill who grabs her from above, just in the nick of time. Were it not for the ending of the film, I would give it a "7", but this is so dumb an ending that I'm dropping it to a "5". Oh, and while this is a minor matter, keep an eye on the back of Gary Merrill's neck (just behind and below the year) and see how from scene to scene he is rather shaggy (a real wolf man) or clean shaven. Yawn.

George Sanders had the type of sophistication and class that made everyone take him seriously, especially when he was playing a villain. This movie showcases this really well, since he plays a bad guy so convincingly that he gets almost everyone around him to believe he's totally innocent. Witness to Murder begins, fittingly enough, with a woman named Cheryl (Barbara Stanwyck) witnessing a girl in another apartment building being choked to death by a man named Albert Richter. She reports the incident to the police and detectives search Richter's place, but are unable to find a body. Richter almost has his cover blown when he notices some curtains on his window that were torn during the killing, but rips them again to alleviate the suspicion of the cops. Convinced that Richter is just an ordinary guy, Lieutenant Larry Matthews (Gary Merrill) tries to get Cheryl to admit that she was wrong and only saw Albert murder that girl in a nightmare she had. Later, Cheryl manages to find earrings that presumably belonged to the murder victim, and tries to tell Larry about what she found. When she arrives, she finds out Albert has anticipated her move perfectly, and accuses Cheryl of breaking into his apartment to find those earrings. Larry almost ends up arresting Cheryl, but Albert himself saves her, saying someone so pretty doesn't belong in jail. During a subsequent meeting with Larry, Cheryl discovers that Albert is an ex Nazi who is responsible for writing a book on National Socialist racial beliefs. Soon, the corpse of the woman Richter killed is found in a park, and he takes a bold step in order to get Cheryl out of his way for good. He manages to get ahold of her typewriter and write two notes saying how Cheryl will punish Albert for what he's done if the police won't. Cheryl is questioned by Larry's boss with Albert next to her, and even though she swears she never sent or wrote those letters, her signature is on them both. Cheryl is now hysterical and thinks everyone is out to get her since Albert's attempt at framing her was a success. She's given to an asylum and gives conflicting reports on what Albert did. She can't seem to give a straight answer about him being a killer or not. After being let go, Cheryl returns home only to find Albert is there. He freely tells her that he was the one who killed that girl because he didn't want to financially support her. Albert says he feels no remorse in telling Cheryl he's a murderer because it's not like the cops will believe her anyway; she's a lunatic. After Cheryl tries to tell Larry, Albert now has no choice but to kill Cheryl to shut her up permanently, so he fakes a suicide note from her in which she says she jumped to her death from a window. He tries to push her out of one, but she escapes and runs to a unfinished skyscraper. She is followed by Albert, who actually manages to make her fall off, but she lands on a scaffold and is saved. Shortly after, Larry and some cops show up and, after a fight, make Albert fall to his death. Cheryl is now safe and the police are looking pretty foolish for not believing her. I thought this movie was quite good. It did kind of annoy me with the sheer amount times Cheryl talks in circles, like how at first she thinks Richter is a murderer and then considers that maybe Larry is right and she dreamt it up. It doesn't take up that much of the film though. I really liked Sanders' character, because he's a malevolent monster who killed another person, but still manages to come up with intelligent ways to counter Cheryl's accusation against him, such as using her own typewriter to write out letters in which she says he has to be stopped. He does it so convincingly that the cops take his side, much to Cheryl's frustration. I felt like George Sanders is the main reason to go see this movie because he puts on the best performance, and I stand by this statement.

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.

***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!