The Fatal Witness (1945)

To be fair to director Lesley Selander, he packs quite a bit into this whodunit. We know that "Lady Elizabeth" (Barbara Everest) has lost her precious emerald brooch, and that she suspects her ne'er-do-well nephew "John" (George Leigh) of pinching it. He denies the accusation when he finds her searching his room with "Priscilla" (Evelyn Ankers) and storms out of the house. Next morning, the old bat is found dead and, naturally, "John" is prime suspect. Thing is though - he has an alibi, and it's the police who are providing it! He spent that very night face down in a cell recovering from too much Scotch. So, who did pinch the jewel and who murdered the old lady? That detection falls to Scotland Yard's finest "Trent" (Richard Fraser) who has to get to the bottom of things. It's not that simple to guess who did what to whom, but boy is there a lot of dialogue as the film progresses, taking us through quite a few unsavoury and devious characters - any one of whom might have done her in. The production is cheap and cheerful and the acting pretty static, but the story moves along well enough for an hour and though it's entirely forgettable, it's still not a bad watch.