Truly Dreadful Film

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

A young blind girl called Jane Pringle (Patricia Dainton) is the police's only witness to the murder of her elderly friend and neignbour, Mrs Temple (Enid Lorimer), who was killed for her emerald broach 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.

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.

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.

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