Donna da uccidere

Enjoyed this thriller though maybe for the wrong reasons. The plot was engaging enough but seemed to evolve slowly into a 'Carry on' type hospital farce with characters running hither and thither intertwined with a moustachioed and inept villain (all that was missing was a black cloak) along with a romantic and tasty night nurse. Very entertaining though and I found that the unintentional humour just added to the enjoyment.

Some of the patients seemed a bit too perky to be laid up in an emergency ward but their acting was good even if it was more suited to a comedy. Lots of improbable scenes but still worth a watch!

I'll admit to relishing British films from the 1950's but not always for the right reasons. Many of the so-called comedies of the period raise barely a chuckle from me these days even though I enjoy them for nostalgic reasons but Eyewitness makes me laugh out load throughout most of the film. It's all so improbable ; Donald Sinden ineptly playing against type , Muriel Pavlov receiving star billing when she is un-conscious for most of the film , Michael Craig and David Knight slotted in for their good looks alone , an over-lit and un-curtained hospital ward to encourage peeping Toms that nurses an acute patient next to a child and a dotty old lady (deliciously played by Ada Reeve). I could go on and on e.g. The charge nurse taking a sleeping pill out of her pocket and forcing it down the old girl's throat ; an action that would result in instant dismissal today and an anaesthetist who fails to check the credentials of the sinister intruder. If it all sounds funnier than "Carry On Nurse" it really is.

Donald Sinden usually made sympathetic heroes and amiable gentlemen, but here he is a professional on the other side. With a blacksmith for an aid he breaks into a safe at a cinema, but unfortunately the robbery is jeopardised by an eyewitness and a manager arriving before the job is finished, so he has to be terminated. The rest is the tragedy of the two criminals, one ruthless and the other helpless. They go to the hospital where Muriel Pavlov as the eyewitness is taken in with a concussion after having been knocked down by a bus, running away from the murderer. It's in the hospital all the action takes place, in a wonderful polyphonic hide-and-seek merry-go-round, where Grannie as one of the patients actually is the lead, constantly observing the murderer and never being taken seriously. This is indeed gem of hospital thrillers, and all the characters, odd and serious, add to the splendid show of artfulness in invention - only you as an audience understand and see everything that happens, while all the actors can't understand a thing - until after the film is finished, and you as an audience will have to guess the rest.

Only those of a certain age appreciate good character acting and dry wit, apparently, because that is what we have in this underrated classic British thriller. While there are a few chance coincidences, the film manages to keep the viewer guessing at the next turn while supplying a very amusing counterpoint of character acting, notably Ada Reeves playing the elderly patient Mrs. Hudson who sees "whole tribes of men skulking about outside the French doors" and is never believed.

I also credit the way the elderly woman patient's dialogue is staged to _Eye Witness's_ director Muriel Box, who the next year (1957) directed _The Truth about Women_, starring Lawrence Harvey and Julie Harris. The viewer may be baffled by some of the comings and goings inside and outside this general hospital (modern in design for its day) but there is nothing amateur about the staged activity. On the contrary, the skillful use of minor characters and near-misses of criminal and pursuers helps to build the tensions, rather than diminishing them.

At its outset, this film shows the realities of life in 1950s England where television ownership was a heady business that was not to be entered into lightly. The whole issue of buying on credit is what sets the initial plot and the first disturbance (the eye-witnessing of a crime)in motion. I recommend this film highly. It is one of those good finds for a Sunday afternoon's viewing.

Fans of those black-and-white British crime dramas of the 50s and 60s will appreciate Eyewitness, and its a cut above most in that genre. Suspense is maintained well in a hospital setting, with generally capable performances all round. For 1956, this film doesn't shy away from showing violence, and has a good, sinister atmosphere.