El testigo fatal

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.

Evelyn Ankers stars in "Fatal Witness," a 1945 British B mystery. Ankers plays the ward of an wealthy old woman (Barbara Everest), who distrusts her heir and nephew, John Bedford (George Leigh), and thinks that he stole her emerald broach. He denies it. She winds up dead. Bedford comes under immediate suspicion by the detective in charge, William Trent (Richard Fraser). However, Bedford has an ironclad alibi for the night and time his aunt was killed. Trent still thinks that somehow, he was responsible. Blackmail and another murder follow.

This is a Columbo-type film that is entertaining and uses the usual dry ice to indicate the London fog. Evelyn Akers was an attractive horror film actress who appeared in 'The Wolf Man" and several of the Rathbone "Sherlock Holmes" mysteries. She is pretty and serviceable here, as is the rest of the cast. George Leigh is kind of a Zachary Scott type and appropriately oily.

Enjoyable.

Wealthy Barbara Everest is murdered, and Scotland Yard inspector Richard Fraser knows just who did it: Miss Everest's nephew and heir, rotter George Leigh. The problem is that Leigh was in a jail cell for being drunk when the murder took place.

There's a decent cast, including Evelyn Ankers, but there's an amazing amount of talking around an unsolvable problem for the first 50 minutes of this movie, and the solution isn't reall solved; there's no offering of how he did it. Lesley Selander take a break from horse operas to direct this this one, and while competent as always, can't bring out anything of interest because I suspect, nothing is there.

When Lady Ferguson is murdered, her nephew John (George Leigh) is Scotland Yard's prime suspect. In spite of his air-tight alibi. The Yard's Inspector Trent (Richard Fraser) keeps John in the frame due to his bad relationship with his Aunt. John's arrogant attitude doesn't help him much either!

Enter Lady Ferguson's niece Priscilla Ames (Evelyn Ankers), who believes that John is innocent. Ms. Ankers plays Priscilla to be similar to her character in THE WOLFMAN. She's trusting and loyal.

THE FATAL WITNESS is an above average mystery with murder, blackmail, and more murder! Leigh is perfect in his dark role, as is Fraser as the dogged copper on his trail.

The finale is wholly unexpected and adds an air of spookiness to the proceedings...

To be fair to director Lesley Selander, he packs quite a bit into this whodunit. We know that "Lady Elizabeth" (Barbara Everest) has lost her precious emerald brooch, and that she suspects her ne'er-do-well nephew "John" (George Leigh) of pinching it. He denies the accusation when he finds her searching his room with "Priscilla" (Evelyn Ankers) and storms out of the house. Next morning, the old bat is found dead and, naturally, "John" is prime suspect. Thing is though - he has an alibi, and it's the police who are providing it! He spent that very night face down in a cell recovering from too much Scotch. So, who did pinch the jewel and who murdered the old lady? That detection falls to Scotland Yard's finest "Trent" (Richard Fraser) who has to get to the bottom of things. It's not that simple to guess who did what to whom, but boy is there a lot of dialogue as the film progresses, taking us through quite a few unsavoury and devious characters - any one of whom might have done her in. The production is cheap and cheerful and the acting pretty static, but the story moves along well enough for an hour and though it's entirely forgettable, it's still not a bad watch.