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.
Credits
The Last Witness Cast
| Name |
Character |
|
Hanns Lothar
He was 31, 37 years old when he died
|
as Rechtsanwalt Dr. Fox |
|
Harald Juhnke
He was 31, 76 years old when he died
|
as Kriminalsekretär Wenzel |
|
Werner Hinz
He was 57, 82 years old when he died
|
as Landgerichtsrat Ricker |
|
Alexa von Porembsky
She was 54, 74 years old when she died
|
as Sekretärin |
|
Adelheid Seeck
She was 48, 60 years old when she died
|
as Gerda Rameil |
|
Albert Bessler
He was 55, 70 years old when he died
|
as Dr. Hollberg |
|
Ellen Schwiers
She was 30, 88 years old when she died
|
as Ingrid Bernhardy |
|
Blandine Ebinger
She was 61, 94 years old when she died
|
as Gymnastiklehrerin |
|
Jürgen Goslar
He was 33, now 97 years old
|
as Dr. Heinz Stephan |
|
Lucie Mannheim
She was 61, 77 years old when she died
|
as Frau Bernhardy |
|
Lore Hartling
She was 28, 62 years old when she died
|
as Assessorin Ebeling |
|
Hans Hessling
He was 57, 91 years old when he died
|
as Vorsitzender des Schwurgerichts |
|
Tilly Lauenstein
She was 45, 86 years old when she died
|
as Aufseherin |
|
Herbert Tiede
He was 45, 72 years old when he died
|
as Dr. Heinz Stephans Anwalt |
|
Siegfried Wischnewski
He was 38, 66 years old when he died
|
as Kriminalinspektor Gerhuf |
|
Otto Graf
He was 64, 80 years old when he died
|
as Anwalt Dr. Beyer |
|
Martin Held
He was 52, 83 years old when he died
|
as Direktor Werner Rameil |
The Last Witness Crew
| Name |
Department |
|
Ekkehard Kyrath as Cinematography. He was 51 (52) years old when He died
|
Crew |
|
Wolfgang Staudte as Director. He was 54 (77) years old when He died
|
Directing |
|
Robert A. Stemmle as Screenplay. He was 57 (70) years old when He died
|
Writing |
|
Werner Eisbrenner as Original Music Composer. He was 52 (72) years old when He died
|
Sound |
