Breakinger A Brilliant Conflict

TrueHello Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

ChampDavSlim The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

jimddddd By the late 1950s film noir was dead but the juvenile delinquent thriller, originally inspired by the novels of Hal Ellson from ten years earlier ("Duke," "The Golden Spike," etc), was thriving on the B-movie circuit. But MGM and producer Pandro Berman, perhaps hoping to repeat their 1955 success with "Blackboard Jungle," tried to blow "Key Witness" up into an A-movie, widescreen Cinemascope, "Rebel Without a Cause" alumni (Hopper, Corey Allen), and all. Though the plot relies on sometimes ridiculous turns (in one maddening scene, a deputy runs into a courtroom interrupting testimony) and the characters are mostly cartoons (Muggles certainly lives up to the first syllable in his name), director Phil Karlson's decision to shoot on the streets of Los Angeles keeps everything moderately realistic. The opening scene, set in a hilly slum neighborhood just north of City Hall in the Chinatown area (though it looks like old Bunker Hill and is referred to as "East L.A." in the film), immediately puts the viewer into the middle of the action and the period. If this film had been shot on a soundstage, as "Blackboard Jungle" was, it would have fallen apart within the first ten minutes, but once again L.A. saves the day. If you love the atmosphere of on-location films from this era, you'll enjoy the sensation of sitting through "Key Witness."

moviewatchinguy The bizarre 'hepcat' language from the punks, their oh-so-clever 'street' names, the just-plain-corny phrases from the adults('Torno do me a favor. Stay as sweet as you are'), the ridiculous plot, the awful acting - these all add up to one laughably awful film. Like any bad accident, you just can't turn away.Joby Baker gives the only decent and believable performance. The others characters' roles were so cluttered with clichés and overdone acting that Joby's work seemed Oscar-worthy by comparison.Jeffery Hunter was much better in a later role, on Star Trek - strapped into a box with just one blinking yes/no light and no dialog.It amazes me that Dennis Hopper has continued to get work in spite of performances like this.

eman_groove This movie really had me laughing and rolling in my lounge chair. The corny lines and predicaments the main characters were faced with let you know how advanced the screenplay writer was in the 50's & 60's. The so-called "hip-talk" was so funny that I know the actors probably had to do several takes to keep from laughing at themselves saying the lines. This movie believe it or not touches on the urban social conscience of the world too.I thought Key Witness was interesting. The characters were of different genders, race, class and creed. It also also gave you an understanding about life in East L.A. during the late 50's & early 60's. If Key Witness was re-made to reflect the times of today, the following actors should be cast in the character roles: Mr. Morrow - David Hasslehoff or Rob Lowe, Mrs. Morrow - Christina Applegate, Cowboy - Brad Pitt, Apple - David Alan Grier or Micheal Beach(Third Watch), Ruby - Christina Applegate, Carmen Electra, Madonna or Melissa Milano or Melissa Rivers (first acting gig) Muggles - Brad Pitt, Vince Vaughn or Colin Ferrell, Det. Turno - Obba Obatunde, Giancarlo Espisito, Charles S. Dutton, Magician - Vince Vaughn . The plot would be the same only updated to reflect the times. Its a classic for any young filmmaker to use as a guide and training tool. Check it out!

jayson-4 It's quite possible that not a single motive or action in this entire film resembles anything human. Look at what you can learn from it: You receive a phone call in a supermarket that threatens your family? Don't hesitate to let your wife go off by herself to get "one last thing." One of your kids is shot in the schoolyard by a coke-crazed gang member? By all means let your other kid finish out the school day. And above all, try to involve yourself in one of the most ineptly choreographed climactic fight sequences in the history of cinema. There are literally hundreds of stroke-inducing moments in this truly moronic, dime store Cinemascope mess. "Key Witness" seems to have sprung from some kind of weirdly fastidious "social consciousness" of its period, as if it were the philosophical love child of Ronald-Reagan liberals. But whatever its context, the film now appears to have been constructed by Martians with powerful telescopes.