"Der letzte Zeuge" is a German theatrical release from 1960, so this one is over 60 years old now. The literal translation would be "The Last Witness" and this is also the international title for this film. Given its age, nobody should be surprise that it is a black-and-white movie. Color was a rarity at that point in Germany, especially when it came to serious films. The end of World War II was just 15 years away, so this tells you how ols it really is. And the Berlin Wall was build one year later. It's of course a West German movie. The director was Wolfgang Staudte and he was one of Germany's most impactful filmmakers from that era, even if not too many remember the name nowadays in contrast to those Germany filmmaker who had big successes in the 1970s for example. This may also have to do to some extent with Herzog, Wenders and Schlöndorff still being alive and Fassbinder is the only one from the bunch who is not. But we are drifting too far away now. Back to this one here: It was on national television today, but this does not happen too often anymore and also online it is not particularly easy to find this movie I think. But it deserves to be seen by more than the 175 who rated it here on imdb. There are three writers credited here and the most known from the trio is Robert A. Stemmle for sure. You will find titles you have at least heard the name before if you are not completely new to German cinema. This applies to some extent also to the cast. The most known name as of today is probably Harald Juhnke, who was of course still pretty young when this was made and he only plays a supporting character. But there are people in here who are considered among the defining actors in terms of German cinema when it comes to their generation. One example would be Martin Held here and this is not the only occasion he worked with Staudte. One of the trademark movies for both was "Rosen für den Staatsanwalt" from only a year earlier.
This film here had also decent success in terms of awards. It was in contention in Cannes, nothing to be taken for granted for a German movie still relatively briefly after World War II. It did not get selected to represent West Germany at the Oscars, but it scored two wins and another two nominations at the German Film Awards back then. All four of those were for the acting and I agree with that. The film may not have been great story-wise, but the performances were always high standard pretty much. The wins are in the supporting categories. Hanns Lothar plays a good guy lawyer here whose resilience helps in uncovering the truth. I agree that he played his part well. There is still some tragedy to him. His life was cut way too short and same applies to the lives of his two children. One of those would be Susanne Lothar, an actress that is also still pretty known here in Germany. She was born pretty much when this film was made. The supporting actress win went to Blandine Ebinger and for her the opposite is true. She led such a long life. Unfortunately, I cannot agree with her win here. Seems more like a career trophy. She only had two scenes and the one when she is asked about the belt early on was pretty weak and also not well-acted from her at all in my opinion, but also poorly written. The second scene is about the belt again, when Lothar's character uncovers that she could very well be wrong and does not not in a derogatory way, but basically wins her over. The entire belt story did very little for me I must admit. I don't even think that Ebinger gives the best supporting performance in here, a really unjustified win. Adelheid Seeck for example who was also nominated did better with her material. The fourt nomination and the only one in the lead categories is Ellen Schwiers. She did fine overall I'd say and the nomination is okay. Overall, it's really an ensemble performance here.
In terms of the plot, it was really nothing special. The ending was even so abrupt after under 100 minutes that I was not sure anymore I could give this a positive recommendation. The father is the actual killer and he is arrested on the spot. The way they sold us this idea as the ultimate truth now is something I am pretty criticial about. I think that, even if the man says he also loved the child's mother, this film could have needed more and better shades in terms of good and evil for sure. The way the mother was depicted as innocent against all odds from the start was a bit cringeworthy and also how the likable lawyer (Lothar, who does not enter the picture before the 30-minute mark) is on her side was not helping either, especially his initial struggles and worries if he should accept the case. How he and his helper (she would have deserved Ebinger's nomination maybe) uncover piece by piece that their client is innocent was too much here and there as well. The idea with the hotel and the list and how names are treated there in terms of when they want to be woken up by the staff was not bad by any means, but I kept wondering really if these deep investigations there felt realistic. I agree though that it should have been something the police should have done. The idea of the child's father being abroad during the proceedings I liked though. Stay as far away from the action as possible I guess. He is also the title character as we find out then basically. He is not just the last witness, but also the culprit apparently.
I also struggled a bit with this being called a courtroom drama because the vast majority of this film is not set in a courtroom. Towards the end, it becomes more of course and the quantity increases, but even there we have scenes in-between where the action moves out of the courtroom again. Of course, the ending with the arrest then right at the courtroom could make pople think it clarifies as such, but I am struggling a bit with that. You could also use many other factors and inclusions then to call this film a xyz drama I suppose. But it's not too important anyway, no need to categorize everything. Overall, I'd say it was the acting that made this worth watching, but I alsok think in terms of depth and suspense the film has not aged that well and there are large segments where the movie did very little for me. As I said earlier, it was a close call here between calling this an okay movie and calling it a forgettable movie. I think it is both to some extent in the end, but I will be generous here and still give out a positive recommendation. If you like old (German) films with crime plots and especially focus on all that happens after the crime, then this is a good watch. The poster I am also struggling a bit with honestly. It feels melodramatic and the extensive use of color there is also a bist misleading. One of the film's best scenes early on was maybe the call from the mother, maybe also Schwiers' best moment and knowing now who she called, there is a special take to it if you watch the film again. Also how they depicted the tragedy there through a toy was kinda interesting. One thing/person I have not mentioned yet was the doctor, the other man the mother had a romantic relationship with. His inclusion and also the actor and performance I liked. It added a new component to the movie and was a bit of a pity the character became basically irrelevant the longer the film went. That's all. I say go watch this one. Just don't expect too much though.
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