THE WITNESS (1960-1961) – This David Susskind production offered a nice change of pace in a crime drama. It wasn’t a standard police story nor was it a courtroom drama. Instead, it featured a revolving committee of real-life lawyers cross-examining actors (Telly Savalas most frequently) who portrayed real-life criminals, their victims and their accomplices.
The Witness filled a one-hour time slot with commercials. The committee of lawyers represented “the conscience of the community” and verdicts were dispensed with because the figures being grilled had already been sentenced or killed in real life.
Some critics disliked the sometimes-disorganized air of the proceedings, since the lawyers were given enough latitude to ad-lib. The program’s Robert Altmanesque overlapping dialogue was ahead of its time for staid early 60s critics, too.
William Griffis and Verne Collett were the only characters in every episode. They played the Court Clerk and Court Stenographer, respectively. Paul Tremaine was the announcer.
THE EPISODES:
ARNOLD ROTHSTEIN – Telly Savalas portrayed the notorious gangster who – among other criminal deeds – fixed the 1919 World Series.
Rothstein was even mentioned in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby and was the inspiration for writer Damon Runyon’s fictional crime boss the Brain. Continue reading
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