The Fatal Witness

Young John Bedford fight with his wealthy old aunt Lady Elizabeth Ferguson, who is sure that he stole her emerald brooch; the next morning, Lady Elizabeth is found murdered. Scotland Yard Inspector William 'Bill' Trent is on the case and he thinks her nephew was behind it. But it turns out that John had been in jail all night because of public drunkenness.

So, who did pinch the jewel and who murdered the old lady? The inspector has his eye on John as does a Turnkey - who is asking for money to keep him from talking ...

The Fatal Witness lacks a little suspense and a little punch as well as letting the cat out of the bag regarding John's guilt early, but having said this, it's quite watchable with good performances by Evelyn Ankers and the actor who plays the suspected killer (the nephew of the old lady). There's a nice British atmosphere of London fog and unsavoury characters. The finale features a spooky unexpected twist ...

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.

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.

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...

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.