Hostile Witness

Director: Ray Milland Ray Milland

Overview

In this psychological drama, the daughter of a British barrister is killed in a hit-and-run accident. Her bereaved father swears his revenge. When the man's neighbor is killed, the barrister finds himself accused of the death. He begins to wonder if he is not going stark raving mad.

Product Details

Release Date:	11/22/2011
UPC:	0883904243502
Original Release:	1968
Source:	Mgm Mod
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Time:	1:35:00
Sales rank:	53,790

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Felix Aylmer	Mr. Justice Osborne
Norman Barrs	Charles Milburn
Ballard Berkeley	Court Clerk
Raymond Huntley	John Naylor
Richard Hurndall	Inspector Elsy
Geoffrey Lumsden	Maj. Hugh Maitland
Percy Marmont	Sir Matthew Gregory
Maggie McGrath	Julia Kelly
Ewan Roberts	Hamish Gillespie
Sylvia Syms	Sheila Larkin
Ray Milland	Simon Crawford, Q.C.

Technical Credits

Jack Roffey

Ray Milland	Director
Gerald Gibbs	Cinematographer
Bernard Gribble	Editor
George Provis	Art Director
Jack Roffey	Screenwriter
David E. Rose	Producer

Editorial Reviews

A really well-done courtroom thriller makes everything look so easy that it takes a film like Hostile Witness to make one appreciate how hard it is to create a satisfying film of this sort. Witness is not a disaster, but it's a fairly unengrossing little exercise that tries the patience of the viewer. One of Witness' flaws is that it's a bit confusing, but that fact alone doesn't have to be a detriment; one need only look at The Big Sleep to see how a totally confusing film can still be an incredible cinematic joyride. The problem with the confusion in Witness is that neither the scenarist nor the director finds a way to keep one's mind off this flaw; there's simply not enough originality here to make one shrug and forget the problems. As a result, the credibility gap that can be common in this type of film becomes very noticeable in Witness and hard to ignore. Perhaps if director Ray Milland had any visual flair or a real feel for creating suspense, Witness would have worked better; but he doesn't and as a result the film too often just lays there. Milland fares slightly better as an actor, but this is not one of his better performances; he strains and pushes entirely too much. Aside from Sylvia Sims, no one else comes across particularly well either.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler