Movie Review - Witness to Murder

Witness to Murder (1954)

Starring Barbara Stanwyck, George Sanders, and Gary Merrill

Directed by Roy Rowland

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

When forty-something single woman interior designer Cheryl Draper (Barbara Stanwyck) witnesses the murder of a woman in the apartment complex across from her abode, she immediately calls the police.  Investigator Lawrence Mathews (Gary Merrill) takes the case, but finds that British novelist Albert Richter, the possible killer, has a story that seems to check out.  Cheryl's adamant that she's sure of what she saw and when Richter finds out she's the one who called the police, he refuses to let her ruin his devious plans.

A Rear Window-lite (released two months before that Hitchcock classic), Witness to Murder is actually a decent low budget 1950s B-movie.  It's got a solid story, manages to never get bogged down with unnecessary subplots, and contains some successful performances from the three main actors.  Still, there's nothing overly ambitious on display here.  For the most part, everything's rather rote and by the book.  While the tale contains a rather odd and seemingly out-of-place motive behind Richter's crime (let's just say it seems a few too many years removed from WWII to go the route the screenwriters go), it doesn't necessarily harm the film (and, in fact, actually leads to a genuinely exciting final few minutes)...the corniness just reiterates the film's B-movie status.  But a "B-movie" isn't necessarily a put down (despite the negative connotations it often carries) and it's certainly not meant to be in this film's case.  Don't get me wrong...you're not getting a fantastic flick with Witness to Murder, but you're getting a decent one that is worth a watch if you're in the mood for a black-and-white crime pic.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-