The quality of The Suspect is entirely dependent on the performance of Charles Laughton. Thankfully, he is a legendary talent and can perfectly execute this character. He makes Philip a man who seems somewhat timid, but exceedingly kind. Yet at the same time there is an edge to the character that makes it believable he might be capable of a heinous crime. If there was one thing I wish came into play more in the film, it would be that they sustain the question of whether or not Philip was guilty for a longer period of time. I know Laughton could have done this tightrope walk of a performance which would leave the audience questioning whether they should trust him, and that kind of murder mystery is more interesting to me.
The Suspect doesn't contain a ton of surprises, and that means the plot is a bit predictable. I felt like I had seen this kind of movie before, however this was a stellar example of the story. Alongside the brilliant Charles Laughton was a superb performance from Stanley Ridges as the detective investigating a death. In fact, any mystery or surprise that came into the movie was brought in by him. There was actually one scene towards the end where the movie caught me off guard, and left me guessing for a moment, and I think Ridges' performance was what sold it for me. While there is a chance that you've seen a movie with some similarities to The Suspect, I still would recommend people check it out. Even if it is familiar, it does the tropes with great style and class. Also, it has slipped into the public domain, so you can watch it free on Youtube.
The Suspect doesn't contain a ton of surprises, and that means the plot is a bit predictable. I felt like I had seen this kind of movie before, however this was a stellar example of the story. Alongside the brilliant Charles Laughton was a superb performance from Stanley Ridges as the detective investigating a death. In fact, any mystery or surprise that came into the movie was brought in by him. There was actually one scene towards the end where the movie caught me off guard, and left me guessing for a moment, and I think Ridges' performance was what sold it for me. While there is a chance that you've seen a movie with some similarities to The Suspect, I still would recommend people check it out. Even if it is familiar, it does the tropes with great style and class. Also, it has slipped into the public domain, so you can watch it free on Youtube.