Witness to Murder

1954
A
1h 23m

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

3.6K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer2:07

Film Noir Crime Drama Thriller

A woman's sanity comes into question, after she claims to have witnessed a murder from her apartment window.A woman's sanity comes into question, after she claims to have witnessed a murder from her apartment window.A woman's sanity comes into question, after she claims to have witnessed a murder from her apartment window.

Director
- Roy Rowland
Writers
- Chester Erskine
- Nunnally Johnson
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

3.6K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

4,465

18,643

Director
- Roy Rowland
Writers
- Chester Erskine
- Nunnally Johnson
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

The Old Lady
(as Adeline de Walt Reynolds)

Claude Akins

Police Officer
(uncredited)

Russell Custer

Police Officer
(uncredited)

Sam Edwards

Tommy
(uncredited)

Jean Fenwick

Nurse
(uncredited)

Fred Graham

Plainclothes Man
(uncredited)

Gertrude Graner

Policewoman
(uncredited)

Director
- Roy Rowland
Writers
- Chester Erskine
- Nunnally Johnson
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Storyline

Edit

Did you know

Edit

Trivia
In an unusual connection for the time (or possibly a product placement), the W&J Sloan Company in Beverly Hills - where Cheryl worked - was a real furniture and interior decorating firm founded in New York City in 1843. It went bankrupt in 1985. According to the end credits, the company supplied set decorations and furnishings for the film.

Goofs
The story is taking place in Los Angeles, but the map on the wall in Larry's office is that of San Francisco.

Quotes
The Old Lady - Mental Patient: Show Mr. Peabody into the library please.

Connections
Featured in Frances Farmer Presents: Witness to Murder (1959)

Soundtracks
Nowhere Blues
Music by Herschel Burke Gilbert
Lyrics by Sylvia Fine

User reviews75

Featured review

In this effective, pre-feminist potboiler, the Barbara Stanwyck character is considered an unreliable witness because she's a middle-aged, single, career woman.

In addition to its solid performances, tight storytelling and John Alton's superior cinematography, what makes "Witness to Murder" particularly powerful today is the movie's pre-feminist view of its leading character's dilemma. "But I saw the murder, I SAW the murder," the Stanwyck character insists. Yet no one believes her because 1) she's a woman; 2) she's unmarried; 3) she's menopausal. Nobody even blinks an eye when she's dumped in a mental hospital, which gets viewers really riled because they share her point of view. The audience sees the murder along with Stanwyck and can feel her humiliation, anger and frustration. That's why the movie works.