The Witness for the Defense is a 1919 American silent drama film directed by George Fitzmaurice and starring Elsie Ferguson, Warner Oland, and Wyndham Standing.

[1][2] The film is based on the 1913 novel The Witness for the Defence by A. E. W. Mason.

Mason's story was performed as a play on Broadway in 1911 and starred Ethel Barrymore.

[2] The film is the earliest of prolific director George Fitzmaurice's to survive and is likewise the only silent film of Elsie Ferguson that remains extant.

A complete print of The Witness for the Defense is held by the Gosfilmofond in Moscow.