Lina McLaidlaw, dowdy and seemingly headed for spinsterhood, although played by the beautiful Joan Fontaine, gets teased and oddly pursued by charming Johnnie Aysgarth. He calls her monkey-face, yet is attracted to her. She feels a reciprocal attraction. Their attraction grows, and they elope one night because Lina knows her father does not approve of Johnnie.
The two go on a European honeymoon with Johnnie pulling out all of the stops and come home to a large household with servants. It is then, after the honeymoon that Lina discovers Johnnie has no money of his own. He simply borrows from all of his friends in a round robin fashion and even has designs on borrowing from her father! Since Lina's small allowance will never pay for all of this she insists that Johnnie go to work. He does so, getting a job from his cousin Captain Melbeck helping him manage his estates. But then things start to happen - Lina finds out that Johnnie has pawned the two chairs her parents gave her as a wedding present, and worst of all she finds out from Captain Melbeck that Johnnie was dismissed six weeks before when he was found to have embezzled two thousand pounds, although he will not prosecute if he returns the money. All of this time he has pretended to go to work every morning.
So she is definitely married to a liar and a thief who is lazy about everything but in covering up his sins to Lina. So Johnnie does not know she knows about the embezzlement and when asked about being fired he says that he and Melbeck just did not get along.
At this point Hitchcock begins toying with the viewers' expectations. We think we are watching the action unfold in the way typical of most Hollywood films, where the viewer follows what the camera captures and assumes that the story is being presented in a strictly objective way. But in Suspicion we are watching the action from Lina's point of view, in other words from a very subjective POV. And we assume that Lina is the more mature, stable character in the film. But we then begin to see just how unstable she is as she interprets every event to be an indication of Johnny's criminal nature as her suspicion grows to paranoia. And let me tell you, Grant's acting is top notch as he is loving and playful one minute, and menacing the next. Just the way he walks up a flight of stairs with a glass of milk is frightening. His demeanor completely cooperates with Lina's imagination.
I'll let you watch and see what is actually going on.
As I was watching this I noticed something else. This film could actually be "The Heiress" (1949) in a parallel universe. If Olivia De Havilland's Catherine HAD married Montgomery Clift's Morris, if Dr. Sloper had lived awhile longer than he had, if he had given his daughter a tiny inheritance instead of a large one as she was expecting, I can see the exact same scenario playing out in a different place and a different time. And oddly both sisters won Best Actress Oscars for their respective portrayals! Also oddly Cary Grant wasn't even nominated when the strength of "Suspicion" rests on him being whatever he needs to be in any given situation on the surface, but with you never really knowing how those wheels are turning in his head until the last.
Highly recommended.
The two go on a European honeymoon with Johnnie pulling out all of the stops and come home to a large household with servants. It is then, after the honeymoon that Lina discovers Johnnie has no money of his own. He simply borrows from all of his friends in a round robin fashion and even has designs on borrowing from her father! Since Lina's small allowance will never pay for all of this she insists that Johnnie go to work. He does so, getting a job from his cousin Captain Melbeck helping him manage his estates. But then things start to happen - Lina finds out that Johnnie has pawned the two chairs her parents gave her as a wedding present, and worst of all she finds out from Captain Melbeck that Johnnie was dismissed six weeks before when he was found to have embezzled two thousand pounds, although he will not prosecute if he returns the money. All of this time he has pretended to go to work every morning.
So she is definitely married to a liar and a thief who is lazy about everything but in covering up his sins to Lina. So Johnnie does not know she knows about the embezzlement and when asked about being fired he says that he and Melbeck just did not get along.
At this point Hitchcock begins toying with the viewers' expectations. We think we are watching the action unfold in the way typical of most Hollywood films, where the viewer follows what the camera captures and assumes that the story is being presented in a strictly objective way. But in Suspicion we are watching the action from Lina's point of view, in other words from a very subjective POV. And we assume that Lina is the more mature, stable character in the film. But we then begin to see just how unstable she is as she interprets every event to be an indication of Johnny's criminal nature as her suspicion grows to paranoia. And let me tell you, Grant's acting is top notch as he is loving and playful one minute, and menacing the next. Just the way he walks up a flight of stairs with a glass of milk is frightening. His demeanor completely cooperates with Lina's imagination.
I'll let you watch and see what is actually going on.
As I was watching this I noticed something else. This film could actually be "The Heiress" (1949) in a parallel universe. If Olivia De Havilland's Catherine HAD married Montgomery Clift's Morris, if Dr. Sloper had lived awhile longer than he had, if he had given his daughter a tiny inheritance instead of a large one as she was expecting, I can see the exact same scenario playing out in a different place and a different time. And oddly both sisters won Best Actress Oscars for their respective portrayals! Also oddly Cary Grant wasn't even nominated when the strength of "Suspicion" rests on him being whatever he needs to be in any given situation on the surface, but with you never really knowing how those wheels are turning in his head until the last.
Highly recommended.