The Silent Witness is a 1932 American mystery film directed by Marcel Varnel and starring Lionel Atwill, Greta Nissen, and Helen Mack.BFI.org. Accessed April 6, 2023. It was adapted from a play by Jack DeLeon and Jack Celestin.The Silent Witness, afi.com. Accessed April 6, 2023.Goble, p. 954 The film's sets were designed by the art director Duncan Cramer who worked on many Fox Film productions of the era.
Plot An Englishman takes the blame for his son who he believes guilty of murdering his lover. The real truth surrounding the case is only revealed by a silent witness.
Cast Lionel Atwill as Sir Austin Howard Greta Nissen as Nora Selmer Weldon Heyburn as Carl Blake Helen Mack as Sylvia Pierce Bramwell Fletcher as Anthony Howard Mary Forbes as Lady Howard C. Montague Shaw as Inspector Robbins Wyndham Standing as Sir John Lawson, Barrister Alan Mowbray as Arthur Drinton Herbert Mundin as Henry Hammer Billy Bevan as Horace Ward Lumsden Hare as Colonel Grayson
Release International Photographer, which gave the film a good review, posited that Atwill might be a hard sell to movie audiences despite his obvious talent and years of stage experience: "The difficulty of the exhibitor will be to get his patrons to see Atwill. Once he has them started the rest will be easy."Blaisdell, George. "Looking In on Just a Few New Ones." The International Photographer Vol. 3 No. 12 p32. February, 1932. Accessed 7 May 2023.
Critical Response International Photographer described the film as playing more like a stage production than a film but still called it "gripping."Blaisdell, George. "Looking In on Just a Few New Ones." The International Photographer Vol. 3 No. 12 p32. February, 1932. Accessed 7 May 2023.
References
Bibliography Goble, Alan. The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter, 1999. Turim, Maureen. Flashbacks in Film: Memory & History. Routledge, 2013.
External links