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71 out of 85 people found the following review useful:
So what if there's no action?, 6 August 2002
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Author:
Albert Sanchez Moreno from United States
"The Paradine Case" has gotten an undeserved bad reputation as one of
Alfred Hitchcock's least interesting films simply because it does not
use any of the gimmicks and brilliant visual touches Hitchcock is
famous for: a man being chased by a crop duster, inventively shot
murder scenes in locations such as the ones in "Psycho", people
dangling from Mt. Rushmore, unusual settings such as a cramped
lifeboat. As if these touches were all that made Hitchcock great! If
these touches are all we watch Hitchcock for, it's as shallow a reason
for watching films as going to see summer movies merely to see special
effects. A great director like Hitchcock deserves more credit than
that.
"The Paradine Case" is, on the contrary, one of Hitchcock's most
entertaining films, if you are willing to concentrate on dialogue and
characterization rather than flashy visuals. Gregory Peck is the
barrister assigned to defend Mrs. Paradine, a woman on trial for the
cold-blooded murder of her blind husband, and it is immediately obvious
that Peck is so besotted by this beautiful, mysterious woman that he is
in no position to be objective about his client. Peck does quite a good
job, but one can only wonder how Laurence Olivier, who was busy filming
"Hamlet" at the time, and who was Hitchcock's first choice for the
role, might have played it. Hitchcock wanted Greta Garbo for the role
of Mrs. Paradine, but was unable to get her, and settled for Alida
Valli, who is excellent, if not as beautiful and mysterious as Garbo.
Louis Jourdan plays a suspicious-looking witness in the case, but
Hitchcock wanted Robert Newton (famous for playing Long John Silver and
other disreputable characters) for the role, and Newton would have
provided a far more different and repulsive characterization
(apparently Hitchcock's intention).
Charles Laughton unforgettably plays the judge at the trial as a sadist
and a supremely dirty old man, who hates Peck because Ann Todd (as
Peck's wife) refused his advances once, and Ethel Barrymore, brilliant
in her limited screen time, is Laughton's intimidated and submissive
wife.
The majority of the film does take place in the courtroom, but so does
"Witness for the Prosecution", and no one has a bad word to say about
that film. (Would they have done so if Hitchcock had made that one? The
Agatha Christie thriller doesn't contain any flashy visual touches
either.)
Those who love Hitchcock for only his "trademarks" perhaps need to look
a little harder and think a little deeper, and then they will
appreciate this excellent film.
49 out of 55 people found the following review useful:
worth a second look..., 29 May 2003
Author:
a_viewer
Often unjustly dismissed as one of director Alfred Hitchcock's `lesser
works,' THE PARADINE CASE stands up as well as any 1940's courtroom drama
when taken on its own terms. And the central theme: that of a lawyer
passionately (and wrongly) convinced of a beautiful and intelligent
client's
innocence because he wants to trust his emotions and not the evidence,
certainly seems to strike a chord with audiences. It has been used
countless times from the silent era to the present day (e.g., MADAME X,
GUILTY AS SIN, BODY OF EVIDENCE, etc..). Unlike reviewer stills-6, I
found
the central triangle-between lawyer Peck, his wife Ann Todd, and lovely
client Alida Valli (whose motives are always kept nebulous until the end)
believable and surprisingly complex. Each has his/her own agenda; with
Peck
wavering between the lovely, warm Todd and the beautiful, coldly
mysterious
and sensual Valli, who seemingly represents an attitude toward love and
life
he has presumably never known but finds appealing nevertheless. Valli
has
the most difficult role here, having to both woo Peck to her cause while
keeping him emotionally at a distance, but Todd also acquits herself
admirably by bringing depth and sensitivity to what could have been just
a
run-of-the-mill suffering wife role. She refuses to suffer in silence,
and
uses words to argue her cause passionately, saying wryly at the end:
`That's what comes from being married to a lawyer.' Of course, a cynic
could point out that when Todd insists Peck defend and acquit Valli she
is
being unjustly noble-but I think Todd's stoic suffering and her
explanations
to Peck quickly undercut this idea. (And in fact, if Peck did follow up
on
his offer to Todd to quit the case halfway through, this wouldn't be much
of
a movie!)
Indeed, the wordiness of this film seems to be one of its detractors'
biggest complaints. But in this I think Hitchcock has (perhaps
unintentionally) made a sly point: the characters talk circles around
each
other (particularly Peck and the always deliciously malevolent Laughton),
but manage most of the time to completely miss the realities of the
situation. Only the women--the silent Valli, the barely repressed Todd,
and
the caustic Joan Tetzel--recognize the truth. The men, doomed to arguing
and finagling, miss the point-and the truth-completely, in their attempts
to
sacrifice each other to their own individual causes.
Even considered strictly within the Hitchcock pantheon, it's clear THE
PARADINE CASE has many Hitchcockian trademarks: dazzling cameras moves,
wonderful imagery, sweeping romantic themes, blurred triangles of love,
desire and hate between all the principle characters, brutal men, devious
women, an impending sense of doom, and even a character noted for her
`masculine' interest in the legal technicalities of the case. (Clearly,
Hitchcock found these women pursuing `masculine' interests fascinating,
as
they seem to pop up in many of his films (e.g., Patricia Hitchcock in
STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, Barbara Bel Geddes in VERTIGO). But I also find
in
the women here a darker prelude of Hitchcockian things to come. No one
in
THE PARADINE CASE is entirely happy (or even, one might argue, happy at
all), but each sticks firmly to her own emotional path, able to see the
potential tragic outcome but unwilling to waver enough to change it.
(Kim
Novak's character follows a similarly torturous internal journey in
VERTIGO,
as does Tippi Hedren in MARNIE).
So if you have the time to be absorbed by this imperfect but still
compelling drama, take another look at THE PARADINE CASE. You might be
surprised.
34 out of 36 people found the following review useful:
Fine Cast in Slow-Moving But Interesting Drama, 9 July 2001
Author:
Snow Leopard from Ohio
Because this movie has so few of the features normally associated with a
Hitchcock picture, it has a rather poor reputation. But it has a fine cast,
most of whom perform quite well, and if the story is taken on its own merits
it is interesting, although slow-moving and heavily dependent on the
characters' conversations with one another. If it had been made by someone
else, it might seem like more of an accomplishment.
In "The Paradine Case", Mrs. Paradine (Alida Valli) is arrested and tried
for the murder of her husband. She is defended by the great lawyer Anthony
Keane (Gregory Peck), who quickly becomes intoxicated by his client and
loses all objectivity. Even as evidence mounts that she may have done the
crime after all, he risks his marriage and reputation on the slightest of
chances to find new evidence. It moves quite slowly, but is helped by the
presence of many good supporting characters and a fine cast that portrays
them convincingly. Things come together in a lengthy courtroom sequence
that is sometimes uncomfortable to watch, but tense and
realistic.
Many viewers feel let down by the film because it lacks the energy and
excitement found in most of Hitchcock's films, and because the courtroom
setting creates expectations that are not quite filled. Indeed, it does
have its faults, and it's hard to believe that someone of Hitchcock's
creative genius could not have thought of some ways to give more life to the
body of the picture, because there are times when it really crawls along.
But taken on its own merits, it is a pretty good movie, carefully filmed as
always, and one that gives the viewer plenty to think about. There are some
good scenes, with the best one being the subtly crafted opening sequence of
Mrs. Paradine being arrested in her elegant home and taken to
prison.
Many Hitchcock fans will not particularly enjoy this one, although if you
like his more somber masterpieces such as "Vertigo", you might at least want
to give this one a try - not that it is nearly as good as "Vertigo" (how
many films are), but it is somewhat similar in tone. It works much better
as straight drama, rather than as suspense or mystery, and as such it is
worth watching.
28 out of 31 people found the following review useful:
More than a courtroom soap opera--a major Hitchcock work, 17 February 2006
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Author:
Jugu Abraham (jugu_abraham@yahoo.co.uk) from Trivandrum, Kerala, India
I loved the film not because it of its courtroom drama but because of
Hitchcock's ability to deal with the drama outside the courtroom.
First, take in the shots that lead up to Alida Valli's character being
arrested and locked up in the cell. Hitchcock is at his best building
up the positive and elegant side of the character by enhancing the
details--the expensive jewelry, the lady ensuring her hair is in place
before receiving visitors, the humanist care taken to inform the valet
that she would not be having her dinner, etc., etc. The build-up of the
character within a few minutes of reel time for the viewer is
considerably intelligent right up to the loud slamming of the cell door
and the effect it has on the inmate (Hitchcock's own phobia?).
The second sequence that is unforgettable for me is the camera zooming
in on Ann Todd's naked shoulder followed by the lecherous Charles
Laughton caressing Todd's hand hidden away from her husband's vision,
leading up ultimately to Todd's rejection of Laughton's advances. What
is of consequence is not the performance of Todd or Laughton, but
Hitchcock's sequence of visuals deftly edited to enhance the effect.
A third unusual image of the film is the introductory shot of Louis
Jordan. This is the only film in my memory where a character is
introduced without the least shred of light falling upon his/her
face--his legs and hands are quite visible, but not his face.
Finally, the meetings in the jail between Valli and Peck smolders
without a kiss or a physical touch. In my view, the performance of
Valli is outstanding. Her remarkable turns in films by Visconti
("Senso") and Bertolucci ("1900") proved her capability.
The film belongs to Hitchcock, Valli and the camera-work of Lee Garmes
(shots within the courtroom--probably the angles were suggested by the
director). It is an unusual Hitchcock film with an elegant turn by
Alida Valli. It is a film that cries out loud for a reassessment among
Hitch's body of work. It is a major film of the director--though it is
not an obvious one. Hitchcock seems to ask the viewer at the end of the
film a difficult question--who is the true heroine of the film? And he
has a macguffin...
28 out of 31 people found the following review useful:
Hitchcock's Courtroom Fizzle, 17 December 2005
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Author:
theowinthrop from United States
There are some films that are forever lost that one wishes still
existed: the complete GREED and THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS (Welles final
cut)for examples. In the cinema of Alfred Hitchcock, THE PARADINE CASE
as he originally shot would have been of great interest. Whether it
would have been better is another matter. THE PARADINE CASE is
generally conceded as among Hitchcock's lesser films. It's most
interesting parts of the performances of the leads (except for Alida
Valli, who is quite dull), and the famous sequence of the portrait of
Valli whose eyes seem to follow the camera (standing in for Gregory
Peck/Anthony Keane) as it passes from one room to the next.
Hitchcock told Francois Truffaut that he felt the casting was wrong. He
wanted Greta Garbo for Mrs. Paradine (but Selznick had Alida Valli
signed up). He wanted Ronald Colman or Laurence Olivier as Keane (but
Selznick had Gregory Peck signed up). He did not want Louis Jourdan as
LaTour, but wanted Robert Newton. Again Selznick said no. As a result
of our general respect for Hitchcock the suspense film artist we
sympathize with his comments, and dismiss Selznick as a bullying
producer who destroyed a masterpiece. I seriously question this view.
First of all, David Selznick (for most of his career as a producer) was
way ahead of the majority of such Hollywood figures because of his
taste and ability. Anyone who could create GONE WITH THE WIND, David
COPPERFIELD, SINCE YOU WENT AWAY, and other high caliber movies is not
one to dismiss so cavalierly. Most of the films he did with Hitchcock
(whom he brought to Hollywood in 1939) were very good films: REBECCA,
SUSPICION, SHADOW OF A DOUBT, LIFEBOAT, FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT - they
were not crappy. Secondly, he was aware of difficulties in getting
performers: Olivier was working in England in 1948. Colman was working
mostly at MGM, but was a bit too old for the role. And Peck was not an
unknown talent: He had worked with Hitchcock already. As for Garbo, she
had been in retirement for six years, and there was no sign she was
interested in a film come-back.
The Jourdan - Newton problem is another matter. LaTour, in the film, is
Colonel Paradine's loyal batman, now a valet and groom on the estate.
Mrs. Paradine has made a play for his affections, and he has rejected
them out of loyalty to his master. Hitchcock felt that Robert Newton,
with his physical appearance, would have looked more like a man who
worked in the mire of a stable than Louis Jourdan did, although as
Jourdan remained the Colonel's personal servant that seemed a minor
casting point in favor of Newton. Hitchcock also skirted the issue
(soon to be handled in ROPE, STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, and NORTH BY
NORTHWEST) of a homosexual relationship between his characters. LaTour
was supposed to be more openly close to the Colonel in Hitchcock's
opinion. But it was a 1948 film - how close was the relationship
supposed to be? Furthermore, Selznick as producer would be aware of one
defect regarding Newton not found in Hitchcock's account to Truffaut:
Newton's alcoholism. Given the size of Newton's benders he was a poor
risk in most film acting roles (no matter how available he was). Not so
with Louis Jourdan. The film was brought in under 93 days, and that
record would not have been possible if Newton had been in the cast and
kept getting drunk. As for the homosexual relationship, it never is
fleshed at all in the film. But would a 1948 audience have been willing
to accept that? I don't think so.
The supporting players, particularly Ann Todd, Charles Laughton as the
sadistic Mr. Justice Lord Hawfield, and Ethel Barrymore as Lady
Hawfield, gave good accounts of themselves in the film, especially
Laughton as the Judge who takes out his frustrations with Mrs. Keane
(ANN TODD) to wreck her husband's case. His best scene, where he
compares a walnut to a human brain sums up the character's beastliness.
I think that what Hitchcock fans fail to notice here is that it is
Hitch's only real courtroom film. While his characters face hearings
and sentencing in court (like in the start of NOTORIOUS), they rarely
are shown being tried. I CONFESS is an exception - and the bulk of the
film is not a trial. Here the bulk of the film is the trial of the
anti-heroine Mrs. Paradine. It is not typical Hitchcock, and fails to
fascinate the audience. The highpoint is the verbal clashes between
Laughton and Peck (sometimes assisted by Leo G. Carroll as the
prosecutor), Jourdan's collapse in the witness box when Keane attacks
him for secretly betraying his master with the defendant, and Valli's
final condemnation of Keane in court. But the circumstances and the
dialog do not fascinate the viewers. Compare the way the trial in THE
PARADINE CASE compares with those in Billy Wilder's WITNESS FOR THE
PROSECUTION, and in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. Laughton's Sir Wilfred
Robarts enlivens the film, and his tactics in attacking Torin
Thatcher's case for the prosecution of Tyrone Power are solid and
interesting in the former. Gregory Peck's Atticus Finch, in defending
Brock Peters on a rape charge in a segregated, bigoted South, are
cutting and sensible. The key is the script - both of those films have
better scripts, based on better writings (Agatha Christie and Harper
Lee) than the Robert Hitchens novel.
One can bemoan the loss of the three hour version or the 119 minute
version that we lack now, but if it was anything as dull as the slow
moving courtroom sequences of the currently extant film, I doubt that
any improvement would have appeared.
26 out of 34 people found the following review useful:
A technically sound, but ultimately unsatisfying courtroommelodrama, 30 September 1999
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Author:
Ken McAlinden from Livonia, Michigan
This is a disappointing effort from the team of Hitchcock and Selznick.
Probably its greatest shortcoming was its inability to ingeniously
circumvent the Production Code (as accomplished in "Notorious") to present
its adult themes. As a result, even though it is obvious that the case
itself is not the subject of the film so much as a backdrop for an awkward
arrangement of love triangles and its effect on one "involved" attorney,
the
courtroom scenes are the most compellingly watchable of the film. In
contrast, the final scene of the film does not carry the weight that it
should and feels like a cheat rather than the resolution it pretends to
be.
Some fault may be given to the just-OK performances from usually
dependable
actors such as Peck and Ann Todd. The stand-out performances here are
from
supporting characters such as Charles Coburn, Louis Jordan, Joan Tetzel,
Charles Laughton and Ethel Barrymore, but they are either given very
little
to do or, in Barrymore's case, feel like they were interesting characters
in
sub-plots that were incompletely edited out of the film (usually a sign of
a
poor adaptation).
In the final analysis, this is a film that will probably only appeal to
devotees of Hitchcock and/or Laughton.
34 out of 50 people found the following review useful:
Lives up to its reputation, 29 May 2003
Author:
Robert J. Maxwell (rmax304823@yahoo.com) from Deming, New Mexico, USA
Why does this movie seem so dull? The acting isn't bad once you get
past Gregory Peck's British accent. None of the performances are
outstanding, they're just not bad. The roles restrict the performers'
range. I think Alida Valli smiles once. Louis Jourdan seems to have
only one expression, a bitter, barely controlled anger. If he tried to
smile he might crack. The actor given the best lines is Charles
Laughton, who hams it up and brings a bit of life to the screen.
"Remarkable how the convolutions of a walnut resemble those of the
human brain." And that flabby, sweaty palm as he takes the hand of
Peck's wife, squeezes it lasciviously, and places it on his thigh.
Well, I can think of three reasons why it's dull.
(1) It's overwritten. The script needed somebody like Daryl F. Zanuck
to hack out some of the underbrush. Peck is questioning Valli in court.
It goes something like this: Peck: "What did you say to Latour." Valli:
"I told him to leave the room." Peck: "But why did you tell him to
leave?" Valli: "Because I no longer wanted him present." Peck: "And why
did you no longer want him present?" Valli: "His presence was
disturbing." And so on. How did the jury stay awake? Some of the scenes
are pointless. Not the sort of interesting meanders you might find in
other Hitchcock movies. Just pointless. Peck visits a country house to
talk to Latour, who promises to show him the garden and then beats it
pronto. An hour or two later Latour shows up banging on the window of
Peck's room at the inn, having changed his mind for no apparent reason.
The five-minute conversation that follows could have been condensed
into half that time and benefited from some supplementary bits of
business. Instead the two adversaries sit there like mahogany idols
hiding information from one another. That's a poor script for you.
(2) Hitchcock's imagination seems to have been asleep during the
shooting. Perhaps the director himself was asleep. (It happened from
time to time.) It isn't necessary for every Hitchcock film to have a
bravura shot in it. The camera needn't always swing down from an upper
story and wind up with a closeup of the key in someone's hand. But
there is, maybe, one shot in this flick that bespeaks Hitchcock. When
Andre Latour is first called into the courtroom as a witness, Hitchcock
keeps the camera focused on Valli's face in the defendant's chair and
circles it slowly around her so that we see Jourdan walking slowly into
the room past her, behind her, and can almost feel her incandescent
desire to turn around and look directly at him.
(3) Hitchcock had a great sense of humor and it's entirely absent from
this movie. It must in fact rank among the least humorous films he's
ever made. And it's surprising, because he was usually able to insert
some piece of business into even his most serious works. (Not including
"Vertigo.") Often the humor centers around meals. A dowager stubs out a
cigarette in a jar of cold cream, or the yolk of a fried egg. A police
inspector is forced to eat fancy dishes that a Kurdish camel driver
would turn up his nose at. Or the humor lies in montage, as in "The Man
Who Knew Too Much," when Jimmy Stewart escapes from a clumsy set-to
with the staff at a taxidermist's and the scene ends with a shot of a
stuffed lion's head gaping at the slammed door. SOMEthing, anyway, to
lighten things up. But not here.
Put it all together and you have a pretty dull movie, one of the
several serial flops that Hitchcock ground out in the post-war period.
It isn't exactly painful to sit through. It's just that it's not very
enjoyable.
34 out of 52 people found the following review useful:
Pleasurable environment, fine actors - flat story, 5 December 2001
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Author:
trpdean from New York, New York
A master chef, lavish preparation, fine ingredients in the choice of actors,
great sets, costumes - but no imagination in the story. It's still enjoyable
because upper middle class London in the 1950s, the relationships among the
people, their entertainments, the beauty of the homes, the clothes, the
accents, is a pretty enjoyable place to be for this movie's duration.
However, the story - an uneasy mix of an uninvolving outdated sappy soap
opera story of the torn man and his nobly suffering wife, with a murder
trial that has drama but no surprises at all - is pretty bad.
We're in the world of The Reluctant Debutante, Witness for the Prosecution,
Dial M for Murder, Midnight Lace - upper middle class 1950s London (it's the
sort of movie where, as they change from black tie and gown, they might say:
"Did you enjoy the Philharmonic tonight, darling?" "Well, the oboes were a
trifle off". "Don't forget we have Lord and Lady X coming for dinner
tomorrow". He pulls a face; she smiles, embraces him and praises him.). You
both love this atmosphere - it doesn't seem stifling at all - yet understand
how the "Angry Young Men" and then the Beatles could have wanted to blow it
up.
A major criticism: this movie has the kind of mindset that launched
feminism. Women exist either to ensnare men to their doom with their beauty
or to nobly suffer, praise and forgive their heroic, if
unfaithful-in-the-heart, men. Time and again, we hear of the "unfeminine"
curiosity of one woman (whose interest is entirely prurient), and we see the
absolute SHOCK on Peck's face when his client says that an adulterous affair
in her past was at her initiation.
A minor criticism: there is no explanation why an American (Peck) is a
barrister. Rex Harrison would have been a better choice.
Another minor criticism: the dialogue is so repetitive. E.g., how often is
Peck told he's tired? Sometimes four times in a single
Another minor criticism: the music is too heavy, the story just isn't enough
to really grab us - so the music must tell us what we are supposed to
feel.
Yet the movie is still enjoyable - the characters of Gregory Peck, Charles
Laughton, Charles Coburn and Louis Jourdan are well-drawn and enjoyably
relate to each other. Laughton is particularly good - loathsome yet
real-seeming. Alida Valli IS beautiful and exotic. Ethel Barrymore has
obviously had FAR far better roles - Ann Todd is actually quite a good
actress in other things, but has absolutely nothing to work with here, so
the viewer will find her tiresome (not the movie's intention).
If Hitchcock and these stars were not involved in this movie, no one would
ever watch it, and it would probably still sit gathering dust somewhere,
unreleased for home viewing.
So, see it - it IS enjoyable to see these stars in this atmosphere, but
expect some irritation and don't expect to remember it in a
year.
19 out of 23 people found the following review useful:
The Selznick/Hitchcock Touch, 10 August 2000
Author:
(patrick.hunter@csun.edu) from Northridge, Ca
I wish some other star rather than Gregory Peck had played the lead
role. Someone like a Ronald Coleman (whom Hitchcock wanted) or Laurence
Olivier (whom Selznick wanted). I personally would have loved Robert
Donat, but any of the above would have served better. I like Peck
normally, but in this film, he's too young and never convincingly
English, despite his accent. Even without the accent, he doesn't
suggest someone who is passionately and irrationally swept away, as the
role calls for.
That said, I still love the film. Some Hitchcock films I love more--as
I guess we all do--but I prefer this one over others. View THE PARADINE
CASE and then compare it with the master's three movies that followed,
those he directed without Selznick (ROPE, UNDER CAPRICORN, STAGE
FRIGHT), and you'll see the touch that pervades those he made with
Selznick. All the Selznick/Hitchcock flicks are wonderful; they are the
director's most glamorous and romantic movies.
18 out of 25 people found the following review useful:
Crushing Out In Old Bailey, 4 November 2006
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Author:
bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York
This was Gregory Peck's second and last film with Alfred Hitchcock. He
plays an English barrister who starts crushing out on his beautiful
client who in this case is Alida Valli. Kind of hard to understand
because at home he's got a porcelain goddess in the person of Ann Todd
who definitely rates as one of Hitchcock's cool blonds. I guess Valli
had a touch of the exotic for him as she did for Joseph Cotten in The
Third Man.
For an English based film most of the cast is American. The English in
this film are Charles Laughton, Ann Todd, Leo G. Carroll, and Joan
Tetzel. Had Hitchcock had his way he would have gotten Sir Laurence
Olivier over here to play Peck's part. Peck does his best, but I think
Olivier would have been really something in the part. His performance
as George Hurstwood in Carrie which is a similar role proves that.
Peck is suggested as counsel by Charles Coburn, solicitor for Alida
Valli. She's been arrested for allegedly poisoning her rich and blind
husband who was a war hero. The only other one around when the crime
occurred was valet Louis Jourdan.
The thing I've always found curious about The Paradine Case is that
while Peck's courtroom skills are brilliant as he tries alternative
theories of the crime, he still allows himself to be ruled by the
client because of his male member. A lawyer not so emotionally involved
would have just sat Valli down and told her the legal facts of life.
Valli refuses to let that happen.
Among the supporting cast look for a deliciously malevolent performance
as Judge Horfield by Charles Laughton. Both at home where during a
dinner party he makes a clumsy attempt to seduce Ann Todd and later on
in court where during the trial he slams Peck at every opportunity.
Laughton is a picture of corpulent corruption.
In the films of Alfred Hitchcock, the most expensive part of the film
is the set of Old Bailey courtroom which is completely rebuilt to
scale. The set is quite impressive. Although Hitchcock had experimented
with a one set film with Rope and later on Dial M for Murder was done
almost entirely in a small apartment, the set really is most like the
set in Rear Window. Nearly the entire cast is present in Old Bailey,
each in his assigned location like the people in the courtyard
apartments in Rear Window. Visually I find it quite impressive.
Although Peck is not well cast, he's a good enough player to overcome
the obstacles. The Paradine Case did not do as much for him as his
earlier film for Hitchcock, Spellbound. Still it hurt no one's careers
by association with it.
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