''The Witness'' (, ) is a French-Italian crime-thriller film written and directed by

Jean-Pierre Mocky Jean-Pierre Mocky (6 July 1929 – 8 August 2019), pseudonym of Jean-Paul Adam Mokiejewski, was a French film director, actor, screenwriter and producer. Early life and education Mocky was born on 6 July 1929 in Nice, France, to Polish immigra ...

and starring

Alberto Sordi Alberto Sordi (15 June 1920 – 24 February 2003) was an Italian actor, comedian, voice dubber, director, singer, composer and screenwriter. Sordi is considered one of the most important actors in the history of Italian cinema and one of the b ...

and

Philippe Noiret Philippe Noiret (; 1 October 1930 – 23 November 2006) was a French film actor. Life and career Noiret was born in Lille, France, the son of Lucy (Heirman) and Pierre Noiret, a clothing company representative. He was an indifferent student a ...

. It is loosely based on the novel ''Shadow of a Doubt'' by Harrison Judd.

Plot

Italian artist Antonio Berti is invited by his French friend Robert Maurisson to restore the paintings in the

Reims Cathedral Notre-Dame de Reims (; ; meaning "Our Lady of Reims"), known in English as Reims Cathedral, is a Catholic cathedral in the French city of the same name, the seat of the Archdiocese of Reims. The cathedral was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and wa ...

. He needs a model and selects Cathy, a teenage girl from the local church choir. Despite her angelic demeanor, the girl makes sexually explicit comments while posing for Antonio. One day, Cathy goes missing, and her dead body is later found in a canal, not far from an empty house owned by Maurisson. Antonio remembers seeing his friend Robert near the house on the night of the crime, but the latter denies it and has an alibi. Instead, the police turn their attention to Berti who is an outsider and can't provide an alibi. Later, Robert privately confesses to Antonio, and suggests they both would escape to a country that doesn't have capital punishment. Cathy's father then mistakenly assassinates Maurisson, who was driving Berti's car. Having lost the only person who could prove his innocence, Antonio is convicted and sentenced to death.

Cast

as Antonio Berti *

as Robert Maurisson * as Inspector Guerin *

Gisèle Préville Gisèle Préville (1918–2006) was a French film actress and beauty contestant. She entered the film industry after being crowned Miss Paris in 1934 and Miss France in 1935. While she mainly featured in French films, she also starred in the Brit ...

as Madame Louise Maurisson *

Paul Crauchet Paul Crauchet (14 July 1920 – 19 December 2012) was a French actor. Biography As a young man interested in aviation and rugby, Paul Crauchet discovered a passion for the theatre at the age of 23. He settled in Paris in 1945, he studied un ...

as Cathy's father * Madeleine Colin as Mrs. Valentine * Dany Bernard as Le chasseur * Sandra Dobrigna as Cathy Massis * Gérard Hoffman as Inspector's assistant *

Dominique Zardi Dominique Zardi (born Emile Jean Cohen-Zardi; 2 March 1930 – 13 December 2009) was a French actor from Paris. He acted in more than 200 feature films, including ''Fantômas'' with Louis De Funès and Jean Marais. He died of cancer at the age ...

as Moignard *

Henri Attal Henri Attal (1936–2003) was a French actor. Selected filmography External links Fragments d'un dictionnaire amoureux 1936 births 2003 deaths Male actors from Paris French male film actors French male television actors {{F ...

as Le garde-chasse * Jean-Claude Remoleux as Le paysan * Consuelo Ferrara as Hélène * Paul Müller as Le beau-frère de Maurisson

Production

Initially, the director Mocky chose

Jean Gabin Jean Gabin Alexis Moncorgé (born Jean-Alexis Moncorgé), known as Jean Gabin (; 17 May 190415 November 1976), was a French actor and singer. Considered a key figure in French cinema, he starred in several classic films, including '' Pépé le ...

for the leading role, that of a piano teacher accused of murdering a young girl. The actor agreed but said he wanted

to be his screen partner. Noiret agreed as well but Gabin died during the pre-production stage. Noiret suggested

, in that case the film could be a co-production with Italy. The profession of the protagonist was changed to be an art restorer, and the production was moved to Rome though several scenes were filmed in and around

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

where the action takes place. Sordi's participation posed another problem—there is no capital punishment in Italy, and screenwriter

Sergio Amidei Sergio Amidei (30 October 1904 – 14 April 1981) was an Italian screenwriter and an important figure in Italy's Italian neorealism, neorealist movement. Amidei was born in Trieste. He worked with famed Italian directors such as Roberto Ross ...

had to find an acceptable ending for the Italian audiences. Thus two endings were created: Sordi's character is guillotined in the French version, and the Italian version only alludes to it, and shows flashbacks with a smiling Sordi having good times in Reims.

References

External links

* 1978 films French crime thriller films Italian crime thriller films 1978 crime thriller films Films directed by Jean-Pierre Mocky 1970s French films 1970s Italian films Films shot in Reims Films scored by Piero Piccioni 1970s French-language films Cinema International Corporation films French-language crime thriller films {{crime-thriller-film-stub