The Witness for the Defense
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
George Fitzmaurice
Elsie Ferguson
Vernon Steel
Warner Oland
Wyndham Standing
George Fitzgerald
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Stella Derrick and Dick Hazelwood love each other, but both of their families want them to make better financial matches. Stella leaves England for India to care for her invalid father, who coerces her into marrying wealthy Captain Ballantyne so that he will have money in his declining years. Stella soon learns that Ballantyne is a brutal drunkard suffering from delirium tremens. Henry Thresk, a visiting big game hunter, witnesses Ballantyne's brutality, and tries to get Stella to leave with him, but she refuses. The Ballantynes leaves on a safari, where in a drunken fit Ballantyne kills Stella's pet bird. Her threat of revenge is overheard by a servant, and after Ballantyne is found dead, Stella is arrested and tried. Although Thresk's unexpected testimony about native threats to Ballantyne result in Stella's acquittal, she refuses Thresk's demand for "payment," and returns to England. She marries Dick, now in Parliament, after confessing that she killed Ballantyne in self-defense.
Director
George Fitzmaurice
Cast
Elsie Ferguson
Vernon Steel
Warner Oland
Wyndham Standing
George Fitzgerald
J. H. Gilmore
Amelia Summerville
Cora Williams
Blanche Standing
Leslie King
Captain Charles Charles
Mrs. Bryant
E. Girardot
Henry Warwick
Crew
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Ethel Barrymore played the leading role in the New York stage production of the play. According to modern sources, William Cameron Menzies was the art director.
