I watched both of these movies recently. The main actress in both films is Barbara Stanwick and in both films, she is in her mid to high forties. Also, both are in black and white.
I think this is a better movie. It held my interest all the way through. Probably the main reason though is George Sanders. He is simply great in playing the type of role he played here - that of a slimy creep.
I saw Crime Of Passion a couple years back, and just caught Witness To Murder last night. I was intrigued by your comment because my reaction was just the opposite: while I found Witness rather routine, Crime impressed me primarily for the work of Raymond Burr.
Both films are derivative. Witness borrows from Sorry, Wrong Number and Rear Window (with a touch of Gaslight thrown in), and Crime draws most heavily, in my view, from All About Eve (with its focus on a woman who'll employ all sorts of trickery and skullduggery in service to ambition).
It's one of those strange quirks of film casting that Burr, embodying a character I found similar to Eve's Addison DeWitt, and Sanders, doing the duty Burr did in Rear Window, have rather exchanged places in these two films.
They both illustrate that a well-drawn villain can be a film's strongest asset.
Poe! You are...avenged!
@doghouse-6.
Thanks for your lucid comment. Since I initially made my comment, I've become more familiar with Raymond Burr, especially the movie "Pitfall." Burr is great as a creepy heavy.
But, I thought Sanders, as a Nazi, was great in Witness. Much better than his other Nazi portrayals, imo.