The Last Witness

The Last Witness

1960 · 102 min · ★ 6.4 · Crime, Drama

Director Wolfgang Staudte who left East Germany in 1953 to make movies in West Germany, takes a few swipes at the West German judicial system in this fairly effective courtroom drama about the murder of a four-month-old baby. Police almost immediately arrest the mother Ingrid who is the mistress of the father, a rich business VIP married to another woman. His position and wealth keep him insulated from suspicion. A hot-shot lawyer has to overcome the unaccountably biased perceptions of the police, the judge, the prosecutor and almost everyone else in the judicial system. The defence lawyer, driven to an extreme, knows he has to find the real killer or his client will be convicted.

Directed by Wolfgang Staudte · Written by Thomas Keck

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Cast

Martin Held Direktor Werner Rameil
Hanns Lothar Rechtsanwalt Dr. Fox
Ellen Schwiers Ingrid Bernhardy
Jürgen Goslar Dr. Heinz Stephan
Adelheid Seeck Gerda Rameil
Werner Hinz Landgerichtsrat Ricker
Lore Hartling Assessorin Ebeling
Siegfried Wischnewski Kriminalinspektor Gerhuf
Harald Juhnke Kriminalsekretär Wenzel
Otto Graf Anwalt Dr. Beyer
Albert Bessler Dr. Hollberg
Lucie Mannheim Frau Bernhardy

Make it a double feature

3h 14m together

The Last Witness

Destination Death

Both from Wolfgang Staudte.

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