The Accused (1949)

A beautiful psychology professor tries to hide a self-defense killing.

Director:

William Dieterle

Writers:

Ketti Frings (screenplay), June Truesdell (novel),

Stars:

Loretta Young, Robert Cummings, Wendell Corey

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Loretta Young	...	Dr. Wilma Tuttle
Robert Cummings	...	Warren Ford
Wendell Corey	...	Lt. Ted Dorgan
Sam Jaffe	...	Dr. Romley
Douglas Dick	...	Bill Perry
Suzanne Dalbert	...	Susan Duval
Sara Allgood	...	Mrs. Conner
Mickey Knox	...	Jack Hunter
George Spaulding	...	Dean Rhodes
Francis Pierlot	...	Dr. Vinson
Ann Doran	...	Miss Rice, Nurse
Carole Mathews	...	Waitress
Billy Mauch	...	Harry Brice (as Bill Mauch)

Storyline

Wilma Tuttle, psychology professor, lets aggressively brash student Bill Perry drive her home. Big mistake. After an attempted rape, Perry is dead; panicked, Wilma hides her traces and flees. As time passes, she watches the investigations of Homicide Lt. Dorgan with painfully concealed apprehension. Complicating matters: her budding romance with Warren Ford, Perry's guardian. How long can she stand the strain?

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Plot Keywords:

psychology | psychology professor | attempted rape | college professor | guardian | 

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Taglines:

Everything points to THE ACCUSED As the Melodramatic Masterpiece of the Year!

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Genres:

Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 January 1949 (USA)

Also Known As:

Strange Deception

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

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Quotes

[Wilma is dressed for a date.]
Warren Ford: It's remarkable! Your brains don't show a bit.

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Connections

Referenced in Choose Me (1984)

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Soundtracks

"Latin Rhythm"
(uncredited)
Music by Victor Young

User Reviews

A Loretta Showcase

A college professor (Young) commits murder while defending against an over-amorous student.

That nourish opening scene of a dark figure struggling along a deserted nighttime highway is iconic, especially when followed in flashback by deserted city streets and a lonely all-night bus. But once the flashbacks end, the movie settles into a fairly routine game of cat- and-mouse with strong psychological overtones. I'm also tempted to say the movie becomes a vehicle for Young, who gets to transform from dowdy career woman to fashionable beauty. However, the male roles (Cummings & Corey) are too large and well acted to allow that. Nonetheless, the film remains a Young showcase where the diva even gets to do the little fashion pirouette that distinguished her TV series.

Note a convention of the time: namely, that a woman can't have a career and be beautiful at the same time. Thus, Wilma (catch the plain-Jane name) as a professor is both grim and repressed. It's only after she essentially drops the career role that her appearance flowers. Young handles the demanding transition pretty well, without going over the top. Nonetheless, the number of close-ups leaves no doubt who the star is. My money, however, is on the rather exotic Wendell Corey (Det. Grogan). He's such an icy presence, it's hard to keep your eyes off him. Too bad that alcohol got the best of this unusual actor.

All in all, the pace may drag at times, but the movie still features enough points of interest to keep the momentum going.