Shifting from shock to relief to paranoia to tragedy, Pietro Germi’s Il testimone (US: The Testimony) might be categorized more precisely as an “after noir” in that the plot centers not on the crime, but on the psychological aftereffects. On Death Row for a murder he didn’t commit, and mere days away from his execution, Pietro Scotti (Roldano Lupi) is suddenly exonerated when the key witness from his trial, Giuseppe Marchi (Ernesto Almirante), changes his testimony. Suddenly a free man, Pietro falls head over heels for the first beautiful woman he meets, Linda (Marina Berti), and they agree to marry and live happily ever after. That is, until a chance reunion with Marchi sparks a new chapter of psychological torment that promises to forestall Pietro’s redemption. For his directorial debut, and perhaps taking a cue from French poetic realism, Germi finds moments of lustrous beauty in Pietro’s filthy apartment building and Italy’s crumbling postwar economy, the romance occasionally tipping over into unrestrained melodrama (“Hit me if you like, but don’t tell me to leave”). In this spirit, the most magnificent scene comes early in the film when Pietro stands across from his Death Row neighbor Andrea (Dino Maronetto), warm light on each of their faces as they imagine the path of the sun over their heads, their bond torn asunder when Andrea is taken by guards to be killed, Pietro calling after him like his whole world is about to die.