Forgotten movie cars: The Peugeot 403 from "Witness in the city"
No, it doesn't have to be a worn-out, silver-grey convertible if a Peugeot 403 is to achieve film fame. Because in the French crime drama from 1959 (original title "Un témoin dans la ville"), the Ponton-Peugeot – albeit as a limousine – can probably be seen for longer than in all the episodes of this US detective series put together. Specifically: as a black limousine with a red roof.
When a colleague is murdered, the Parisian taxi drivers join forces to corner and catch the perpetrator. The sheer volume of the hackney cab fleet is very useful here, as is the permanent radio connection between the "radio-taxis", which enables them to finally catch the fugitive murderer under the command of the all-seeing control center.
In addition to a decidedly dark lead role, even for Lino Ventura, and the 1950s Paris at night, it is also the music by Barney Wilen that makes "Witness in the city" absolutely worth seeing (and hearing). The saxophonist had already worked with Miles Davis on "Elevator to the Gallows" two years earlier. Oh yes: and of course the omnipresence of the Peugeot 403.
