Besides his indifference to sponsors, I guess Alfred Hitchcock wasn't very fond of fast-talking sleazy lawyers either. Case in point: "Your Witness" from 1959. Brian Keith plays a despicable rotten human being (who just happens to be a lawyer) who is cheating on his poor put-upon wife (Leora Dana) and rubbing her nose in the affair. He's also used her family's money and position to better himself while having the time of his life chewing up witnesses and spitting them out during a hit-and-run court case. When Ms. Dana comes to him with divorce papers, he merely shoos her out of the room. He has no intention of leaving his meal ticket and he's convinced that she's too mousy to take any drastic action. That's where he's wrong. Since this is "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," drastic action is always just around the corner. After grilling a witness (William Hansen) and tearing his testimony to shreds (the guy's eyesight is in question, among other things), Keith stands to win another case for one of his wealthy clients. He doesn't get to celebrate in the winner's circle, however. Ms. Dana decides that since divorce is out of the question with this cad, maybe "till death do us part" is the answer.
"Your Witness" is standard Hitchcock and directed by one of his more prolific collaborators, Norman Lloyd. Brian Keith does a fine job playing a lawyer with no scruples or personal ethics. Maybe that was the point of the exercise in the first place. Leora Dana, not a bad looking woman at all, plays the wife with just the right sense of hurt and indignation. She's able to put a real big hurt on her philandering husband with her own very creative driving skills. When it comes to hit-and-run accidents, he should have known that turn-around is fair play.
"Your Witness" is standard Hitchcock and directed by one of his more prolific collaborators, Norman Lloyd. Brian Keith does a fine job playing a lawyer with no scruples or personal ethics. Maybe that was the point of the exercise in the first place. Leora Dana, not a bad looking woman at all, plays the wife with just the right sense of hurt and indignation. She's able to put a real big hurt on her philandering husband with her own very creative driving skills. When it comes to hit-and-run accidents, he should have known that turn-around is fair play.