Witness in the Dark

This is a terrifically tense, consistently engaging 50s thriller about a kind, fiercely independent blind telephone exchange operator that unexpectedly finds herself the sole witness to an especially callous murder committed in her very own building! A taut, energetically performed, excitingly plotted cat-and-mouse' thriller, rigorously told, featuring a truly wonderfully spirited performance by Patricia Dainton as the uncommonly plucky blind heroine, and the estimable character actor Nigel Green is on splendidly sinister form as the spectacularly cruel, gimlet-eyed thief who monstrously means to do away with our uncommonly courageous heroine!

'Witness in The Dark' remains an exciting, rewardingly smart, competently made vintage spine-tingler that demonstratively has much to recommend it to avid murder mystery fans; perhaps, being especially worthy to those cineastes with an active interest in lesser known examples of British made, post-war crime-thrillers. Talented Director Wolf Rilla equips himself rather well here, maximizing the creepy, unsettling potential of screenwriters Leigh Vance / John Lemont's quality text, constructing some teeth-rattlingly tense confrontations, and Rilla elicits some exceptionally fine performances from acting maestros Green, Dainton and Madge Ryan. And I feel it would be somewhat remiss of me if I failed to draw attention to the fact that future 'Man About The House' hunk Richard O'Sullivan delivers a personable performance as the fresh-faced lad Don Theobold.

I enjoyed this little UK thriller, a very short one - 62mn. Not an action packed, shot only indoors, two or three sets, perhaps four.

No many characters, but very effective.

The tale of a blind girl who, by accident, crosses the path of a thief turned killer, who have just murdered the upper flat neighbour - and friend - of the same blind girl.

Of course, there is a police investigation. Cops searching traces of the killer, and asking for help of the blind girl.

i won't say that's a fascinating movie but, unlikely many others of this kind, it's not boring at all. We expect a love affair between the detective in charge of the case and the blind girl; but it seems that we an still wait for it...

I'll put it between Blink and Blind Terror, and perhaps Jennifer Eight. But don't remember if this latest film is about a blind girl...Sorry

Wolf Rilla directed Village of the Damned just after this one. And some years later, he made a remake of Asphalt Jungle: "Cairo".

Enid Lorimer is a sweet little old lady who lives on the topmost floor of the rooming house. Her equally sweet neighbor is Patricia Dainton, a blind PBX operator who thinks she should stop talking about the 2000-pound brooch she has. Too late! The old lady is murdered, and the only witness is Miss Dainton. The papers make a fuss, so the murderer knows who he has to kill.... the woman who has the brooch now.

There are movie that are made cheaply and no one cares. There are movies where there are big, gaping holes in the plot or the lines, or someone who can't act for beans. So when a modest programmer like this comes together under the direction of Wolf Rilla, the result is something that well above average.

Fans of DOCTOR WHO or EMMERDALE will want to see this for an early glimpse of Frazer Hines.

WITNESS IN THE DARK is a brisk and efficiently-staged 'blind person in peril' type thriller boasting a fine leading performance from the rather lovely Patricia Dainton, who was to pack in her career shortly afterwards in favour of a sedate family life. I think cinema suffered from the loss because Dainton enlivened and lifted many a B-movie out of the doldrums by her presence and charisma alone, and WITNESS IN THE DARK is no exception.

Given that this is a cheap British B-movie with a short running time, the story is straightforward. A thief is driven to murder and the only witness to stand against him is a blind woman. I was delighted to find out that Nigel Green plays a crucial role in the film, cast against type and very good and tense with it. Conrad Phillips is the likable detective on the case. The direction is provided by the hardworking Wolf Rilla, a year before he made the classic VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED. Thrills, twists, humour, and cold-blooded murder; it's all here, and I like to think that Hitchcock himself would have been proud of it.

A bleak, atmospherically photographed 'B' thriller with a situation similar to 'Wait Until Dark' that crams a lot into barely an hour and a spooky score by Philip Green that anticipates Michael Small's for 'Klute'.

Patricia Dainton and Conrad Philips are attractive leads as the damsel in distress and the detective who looks after her, while Nigel Green shows the promise he would soon amply fulfil as the ruthless but rather stupid villain.