WITNESS TO MURDER (1954)

Cheryl Draper (Barbara Stanwyck), artist and designer for a high end home furnishing chain, sees a murder being committed in the building across from hers. She reports it to the police, and Det. Larry Matthews (Gary Merrill) questions the occupant, Albert Richter (George Sanders, Champion of the Cultured Cads), who denies it and accuses Cheryl of being crazy. Matthews falls in with that, trying to get her to agree that she had "a bad dream." She persists, and Richter proceeds to get her committed to a psychiatric ward, then tries to kill her. Thanks to many gaping holes in the plot, Det. Matthews starts to believe her and rescues her in the nick of time.

This movie is a tour de force of all the sexist cliches that were typical of that era. But, Stanwyck's Cheryl does her best to realistically, and without heroics, fight them. Stanwyck, as usual, is a marvel. She was 46 when she made the movie, and does an excellent transition from femme fatale (as in "Double Indemnity") to career woman. She made 85 movies in 38 years before turning to TV. "Witness to Murder" isn't a great film noir, but Stanwyck makes it worth watching.