The Fatal Witness (1945)

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

How sad is this?

Absolutely the worst movie.

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Plot- A wealthy woman is murdered after she accuses her nephew of stealing a valuable emerald brooch.I'm not sure I saw the same movie as my colleagues. In my little book, only Evelyn Ankers supplies some spark for what is otherwise a listless hour. Despite several plot wrinkles, neither acting, nor mood is able to heighten these. Generally, the movie manages neither suspense nor atmosphere. Instead events unfold in pedestrian fashion, not helped by actor Fraser's utterly wooden police inspector. Then too, the careless script telegraphs sinister Leigh's guilt early on, despite his apparent alibi. Nor does inattention to vital detail help, as in the case of Scoggin's throttling before being thrown into the river. Even I know accidental drowning would never pass medical muster—death keeps water out of the lungs while finger marks would appear on the throat. I hate to be niggling but such inattention to important detail is plain sloppy on the screenwriter's part. Naturally not much is expected from Republic's drama department, especially when the mechanical Selander is directing and the studio's is branching out from its usual matinée oaters. Unfortunately, this flat-liner doesn't supply much encouragement.

The Fatal Witness (1945)A Republic Pictures low budget flick, and it shows, even with the opening music which is a strain. However (and this is always the case with a B-movie that has survived the years and made it to Netflix), there are some interesting aspects here, and like most of them it is blessedly short.One of the nice things here is the standard hook--there's a murder afoot, and we are in on the guessing and analyzing as we go. The acting is decent, the filming straight forward if unexciting. It's a British affair unofficially (officially both the director is American and of course Republic is, too), and like many Brit films, it talks a lot (replacing action with chitcat). But it's not stupid, and you might enjoy poking along with it. It is set in London and Scotland Yard gets to work investigating the death of the old aunt with all her supposed wealth.The leading suspect is the nephew of the deceased, and he is a sparkle in this musty cast--George Leigh, who only did a handful of films and is a bit affected, but he adds life to the whole thing. As does the maid, and the leading lady, Evelyn Ankers, a Chilean born British actress with the standard convincing credentials (but without anything remarkable about her). Ankers is famous for her roles in many horror films, including the original "Wolf Man" a few years before.In all, the plot thickens and there is not only murder but blackmail, and London fog, and a decent policeman who is after the leading lady as much as the criminal. Unfortunately he seems to know things too easily. And there is an efficiency to the events that isn't quite dramatic or convincing enough. It is frankly a B-movie through and through. And it has a crazy twist of an ending, sort of worth it just for the trick of it.

Fatal Witness, The (1945) ** (out of 4) If it's from Republic then you know it's going to be cheap and quick. The film tells the story of a young man (George Leigh) who fights with his wealthy aunt before storming out of the house. The next morning she's found murdered so Inspector Trent (Richard Fraser) is on the case and knows her nephew was behind it but it turns out he was in jail all night. This "B" flick runs just under an hour and you can't help but wish that a better director had been assigned to the film because there are actually some fairly good moments here that are wasted. Director Selander doesn't show any signs here of wanting to make anything than something under budget and the reason I say that is because there's really not a single scene where there's any energy nor does anything appear to have been done with any style. The actually story is a pretty good one and especially for Republic standards. The mystery behind who did the killing is kept a secret for the most part, although we get more and more clues before finally getting the big secret told to us with about twenty-minutes to go. From this point on there are a few neat twists and turns that are actually pretty fun but sadly all of this is wasted because of the pacing and overall lack of atmosphere. The pacing is so poor that this 58-minute movie actually felt twice as long and that's not a good thing when you're watching something like this. There's never any real drama or tension, which is a real shame and especially during the downright crazy ending, which carries over into horror territory. The additional twist at the end was a nice one even if it's nearly impossible to believe. Both Leigh and Fraser turn in fine performances and we even get Evelyn Ankers in an important part. Fans of her Universal films will enjoy seeing her here as she has that same charm she always has. THE FATAL WITNESS is pure "B" madness but it's fairly good but you can't help but think it should have been much better with some stronger direction.

Not much to say about this film. Produced by Republic Studios, directed by the prolific western maker Lesley Selander, short and sharp, this little movie doesn't surprise after all. It takes you awake an hour long. The scheme of the perfect murder, and the perfect alibi too. A rich heir murders his aunt and tries to prevent police force to suspect him. And then a blackmailer is coming. The pain in the ass for the killer. He has to get rid of him...I love this kind of tales, better than the innocent trying to prove his no guiltiness.Only there is no action sequences in this film. Much talk. But it's not boring. As all Republic movies.