"The Witness" centers on young Israel Boone (Darby Hinton), beginning with a midnight mission to initiate a new recruit to his Black Pirates club at the home of the fearsome Zack Pike (John Carradine), who receives a mysterious caller (Harry Basch) looking for stolen gold, only to be shot dead with his own gun by the resourceful Pike. Along with his wife (Virginia Gregg), whom the boys refer to as a witch, Pike decides to bury the corpse and be done with it, but spot three little eyewitnesses fleeing the premises, leaving behind a slingshot. Israel is caught sneaking back in by his mother, but his story about what he saw is rejected as just another tall tale among many, but his insistence is not backed up by his two friends, fearing punishment by their fathers. The Pikes figure all they need to do is take care of Israel and they'll be home free. Legendary scene stealer John Carradine, a veteran of the 1936 "Daniel Boone," plays a role reminiscent of his future appearance on Rod Serling's NIGHT GALLERY ("Big Surprise"), where his young co-star would be Vincent Van Patten. This episode of DANIEL BOONE reunited Carradine with Patricia Blair, his former co-star in 1956's "The Black Sleep" (Ed Ames does not appear in this one).
Review of The Witness
