Witness in the Dark (1959) User Reviews

Brisk and engaging low budget thriller

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 5 May 2016]

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.

Neat little thriller

[malcolmgsw · 6/10 · 22 October 2015]

This is a neat little thriller which stars Conrad Phillips who published his biography on the net.It features Patricia Dainton as a blind girl who passes the killer on the stairs but is of course unable to recognise him.Nigel Green is the killer,his identity is not cloaked.Green is very effective in this role.He had a reasonable career but sadly he committed suicide at an early age.The film dwells on the predicament of the blind girl.She is used as bait to trap the killer when he is drawn to visit her in the bogus guise of a newspaper photographer.Films such as this supported the big spectacular from Hollywood,however if truth be told they were often better than the film's they supported.

Superior Thriller

[boblipton · 7/10 · 29 March 2020]

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.

A delightful British thriller

[searchanddestroy-1 · 11 April 2008]

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".

Patricia Dainton Sparkles

[howardmorley · 7/10 · 22 December 2016]

It's not the length of the film but how effective it is to the viewer."Witness in the Dark" is no exception and is a classic Briish cast "B" feature such as one saw in the 1950s along with Pathe News, a Cartoon and of course the big feature film.I am 70 years old and can well remember going to the cinema then to see the aforementioned full programme.Nigel Green who played "The Intruder" in this film, I remember playing a patient recovering from a broken arm in the 1956 film "Reach for the Sky" who accompanied Douglas Bader (Kenneth More) to a cafeteria with another recovering R.A.F. pilot (Jack Watling) in a 20s Bentley.

The subject film is a cracking thriller, well written, well cast and well directed which held my attention.There is a hint at the end that the police inspector may have had amatory intentions on Patricia Dainton's character.We want her to have a happy life after losing her fiancé and her sight in a car accident in France 5 years before.A Good production with minimal cost, I rated it 7/10.

Witness In the Dark

[djfjflsflscv · 6/10 · 3 April 2020]

Most stories relay on relatable, often primal instincts to engage an audience. In thrillers, fear is the one most filmmakers try to evoke, and it can never be more acute than those times in which we are least in control. We feel especially vulnerable when we are incapacitated in some way and the most dramatic method of conveying this is injuring the protagonist. This usually happens towards the end of the third act, during the final confrontation when it seems as though the hero is about to perish. Sometimes, however, the injury is built into the story from the start in order to bring maximum intensity. The most famous example of this is Hitchcock's Rear Window, in which James Stewart's photojournalist breaks his leg and is forced to remain in his Greenwich Village apartment with nothing to do but stare out of the window and suspect people of murdering their wives. In Witness in the Dark, the injury is blindness. This had already been explored in 23 Paces to Baker Street (1956) and would be again in Wait Until Dark with Audrey Hepburn and See No Evil with Mia Farrow.

Jane Pringle (Patricia Dainton) was blinded five years ago in a car accident in France which also killed her fiancé. She now continues to work as a switchboard operator and even teaches a young boy how to read Braille. However, one night, alone in her flat, she hears a disturbance downstairs. She investigates, moving into the hall, and encounters a thief (Nigel Green) on the staircase. Fortunately for the thief, Jane is unable to see him and will not, therefore, be able to identify him later. The thief does not attack her and instead escapes. Inspector Coates (Conrad Phillips) investigates and discovers that the thief had also murdered Mrs Temple, the old lady whose flat had been burgled. Jane, realising that she came so near to the culprit, believes she can help. Things get charged, however, when the thief decides he must return and tie up one or two loose ends...

A brisk, involving thriller, Witness in the Dark succeeds in what all such films must do and makes the audience feel affection for the character in danger. Jane is a pragmatic, brave, independent and compassionate woman who clearly has not let the tragedy in her life define it, and Dainton convincingly portrays someone without sight, sans glasses. Nigel Green, unsurprisingly, makes for a dauntingly sinister villain and, in the final scenes, maintains dignity and tension in what might otherwise have seemed vaguely farcical. Conrad Phillips gives his usual best, here appearing after thirty-nine episodes of ITV's The Adventures of William Tell. I'm always interested - though not morbidly so - in how long such actors ended up living and Phillips only recently left us at the age of 90, after publishing his autobiography Aiming True online.

There is also some amiable comedy involving Jane's neighbours Mr and Mrs Finch, in which the former is hoping to retain the stolen pocket watch he has recently bought down the pub and not relinquish it to the investigating officer. Elsewhere, eagle-eyed viewers will spot Man About the House and Robin's Nest star Richard O'Sullivan, only fifteen as the young blind boy Jane coaches, while there's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it role from future Doctor Who and Emmerdale Farm star Frazier Hines as a newspaper boy.

An exciting, rewardingly smart, competently made vintage spine-tingler!

[Weirdling_Wolf · 7/10 · 23 May 2022]

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.

Witness in the Dark review

[JoeytheBrit · 7/10 · 11 May 2020]

Modest but well-written British B-movie which sees wholesome blind girl Patricia Dainton menaced by Nigel Green after inheriting the valuable brooch he murdered her elderly neighbour for. Dainton's outraged monologue about the fake concern of her neighbours for a woman they ignored when she was alive is particularly good.

The Brooch Provides the Twist in the Tale!!

[kidboots · 8/10 · 11 January 2017]

Patricia Dainton, a very dependable B actress, gives a tremendous performance as a young independent blind woman who finds herself caught up in this very thought provoking Wolf Rilla directed programmer. She plays Jane Pringle, a switchboard operator who also coaches a young lad in Braille after work and it is this small scene that shows the film tries hard to give some dimension to a story that has been told often before. She is stoical about her blindness but Dan played by a young Richard O'Sullivan) is angry - he dreamed of joining the Airforce but now finds it difficult to go on. Her calm matter of factness and caring brings him around to a better frame of mind.

As well as all this, she also keeps old Mrs. Temple company but doesn't approve of her conversations with landlady Mrs. Finch, a compulsive gossip who has already broadcast down at the local pub that Mrs. Temple, for all her meagre living, is sitting on a treasure trove of riches. When the elderly lady is murdered, Jane comes face to face with the killer (a very imposing Nigel Green) and she also meets Inspector Coates (Conrad Phillips, a B stalwart who found fame as TV's "William Tell"), who recognises in her intelligence and sense. The twist in the tale is the brooch - the killer doesn't find it at first but when it is willed to Jane and the landlady again stupidly tells whoever will listen about Jane's good fortune, the stage is set up for a thrilling cat and mouse finale!!

Even though the film (at 62 minutes) was a second feature, in 1961 it was aired on American TV as part of the Kraft Mystery Theatre and won an Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Television episode.

Highly Recommended.

Better than most.

[johnshephard-83682 · 6/10 · 25 December 2019]

Workmanlike, largely plausible, low-budget thriller about a blind woman who encounters a murderer (Nigel Green) as he flees the scene of the crime. It has a better script than many of the genre, avoiding the irrational or perfunctory dialogue that is so often a trademark. Patricia Dainton gives a convincing performance as the 'witness', with decent support from Conrad Phillips as the increasingly sympathetic cop. The show is almost stolen by Madge Ryan, as the chatterbox, busybody neighbour whose careless pub talk gives the killer his motive, and Stuart Saunders as her long-suffering layabout husband. After a seemingly hopeless search for a man that no one can identify, a vital (and credible) clue is provided by a mis-placed candlestick. Based on a play by John Parish, its theatrical origins show, but is none the worse for that - it's just a shame about the final obligatory punch-up. Well worth a hour of your time.

The Switchboard Operator

[richardchatten · 8/10 · 18 April 2020]

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.

Blind, deaf, or mute, never be too trusting.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 29 July 2023]

Intense thriller that won't tax the viewer with unnecessary details, it's tight, compact, badda bing, bada boom, bada over, all in an hour. The poor victim is one of the sweetest little old ladies to get knocked off, Enid Lorimer, as cute as can be, reminding me of Katie Johnson from "The Lady Killers", but unfortunately not as smart or secretly sly. She reveals far too much about her prize possession, a large broach, to a complete stranger (Nigel Green), and soon, she's strangled to death.

There's a snag, though, a blind neighbor who ends up with the broach, played by the beautiful Patricia Dainton, and that makes her a potential victim for the determined Green. She also has to deal with the press, nosy neighbors, and the detective (Conrad Phillips) who will turn out to be her only protection, especially when Green shows up and pretends to be a down on his luck, desperate press photographer, wanting to get a snapshot of Dainton and the broach which he intends to snag. Predictable but never dragging, this is one of the better compact British crime thrillers that dominated the late 50's and early to mid 60's. It's also one of many thrillers which uses a disability to put the heroine at greater risk.

The suspense and tension never reaches fever pitch, but...

[jamesraeburn2003 · 19 June 2018]

A young blind girl called Jane Pringle (Patricia Dainton) is the police's only witness to the murder of her elderly friend and neighbour, Mrs Temple (Enid Lorimer), who was killed for her emerald brooch worth £2000. But, when he ransacked the house, the killer (Nigel Green) was unsuccessful in finding the hiding place where she kept it. Later Jane's nosy neighbour, Mrs Finch (Madge Ryan), lets it slip in the local pub that Mrs Temple had left her the broach - yes, you've guessed it! - the killer overheard placing Jane's life in grave peril since he is determined to get it...

Viewers will undoubtedly make some comparisons with the classic Audrey Hepburn thriller Wait Until Dark, but this low budget British 'B' does not succeed in being as terrifying and suspenseful as that film. Nigel Green, although a fine actor whom I admired greatly when he played Nayland Smith in The Face Of Fu Manchu, to my mind seems uncomfortably cast as the murderer and cannot quite convey the sense of evil, menace and mystery about his role to be convincing. Patricia Dainton, however, steals the film with her strong performance as the blind woman who battles with her blindness with great courage in order to help Inspector Coates (Conrad Philips) bring her friend's murderer to justice. The chemistry between her and the latter is a highlight in the picture because, to begin with, he is not quite sure how to deal with her and makes her angry when she feels he is pitying her and viewing her as a nuisance. Later, however, he comes to admire her "guts" and how she comes to terms with having been right in front of a murderer on a dark staircase and feeling guilty about not being able to see him due to her blindness. At the climax, the inspector presents her with a security chain for her front door as a gift, and as the end credits role, she bins it - not out of ingratitude, but because she has overcome her fears. Madge Ryan also deserves a mention for her performance as the interfering and nosy neighbour, Mrs Finch, who inadvertently brought about the tragic events through her gossiping in the pub about the valuable broach.

Overall, while the film never succeeds in racking up the suspense and tension to very high levels, it is made worthwhile by some good characterisation and Patricia Dainton's strong performance and director Wolf Rilla manages one or two mildly spooky moments too.

This film is regularly shown on Talking Pictures TV and has been available on DVD paired with Terence Fisher's excellent support feature The Flaw.

Delightful low-key thriller with a sparkling lead performance

[MissSimonetta · 8/10 · 3 January 2022]

TV movies tend to be associated with uninspired filler. WITNESS IN THE DARK avoids such a fate through its brisk story and strong lead performer.

The plot is a cozy, familiar sort of thriller: a thief breaks into an old woman's apartment with the intention of stealing an expensive brooch. He murders the old woman, but never finds the brooch. While making his escape, he happens to brush past the old woman's blind neighbor, the sole witness to his crime. At first, it seems the criminal will get away with the murder, but the witness is able to help the police by recalling particular details a sighted person might not notice-- and then she inherits the brooch from her neighbor. All of this inspires the thief to return to the apartment building to finish what he started.

From that description, you might expect a WAIT UNTIL DARK style cat and mouse game to ensue, but WITNESS never reaches that boiling point of suspense. Most of the movie involves the heroine's traumatized reaction to her neighbor's death as well as her collaboration with a detective in sniffing out the killer. It's pretty sedate for the most part, more about mystery-solving than thrills, but the last ten minutes did keep me on the edge of my seat once the killer returns for his prize.

The movie has a great many merits, but the finest of them all comes from its heroine. Patricia Dainton is exceptional in the lead part. She carries herself with charisma and dignity, never allowing the audience to feel sorry for her even once she's thrown into mortal danger. More than the story or atmosphere, Dainton is the prime reason to experience WITNESS IN THE DARK.