josef05 In the fifties, the dubbing of foreign movies, who treated the subject Nazis or ex-Nazis, were often different from the original. And because nearly all foreign movies and TV-shows had been dubbed in German, nobody realized the difference. Today, of course, you can find all the information on the web. In the German dubbed version the name of the murderer is Gabor Rethy. In the German version, also the scenes are cut out, where Richter is referred as an old Nazi, there is also a different version of the book cover. Besides that, this movie is a very fine example of a film noir, with great actors as Barbara Stanwyck, George Sanders and Gary Merrill.

seymourblack-1 "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.

vincentlynch-moonoi 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.

Michael O'Keefe Roy Rowland directs this black & white mind-bending drama. Suspense grows as an interior decorator Cheryl Draper(Barbara Stanwyck)witnesses a murder in an apartment across the street. She is certain of what she saw; but then is there the chance she was dreaming? The killer in question is an author Albert Richter(George Sanders), who happens to have a dark past. The police seem determined to cease Cheryl's accusations that have no positive proof. A sympathetic detective Lawrence Mathews(Gary Merrill) tries to believe she saw what she saw; and tries to halt her playing detective on her own. Cheryl gets the impression she is Richter's next target. This mid 50's noir gets more suspenseful as it reaches a dramatic finale. Other players: Jesse White, Harry Shannon and Claire Carleton. With small uncredited roles: Claude Akins and Burt Mustin. Stanwyck, Sanders and Merrill work flawlessly.