Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writer:

Douglas Morrow (story)

Release Date:

5 September 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Film-Noir | Drama

Tagline:

Put them all together they spell M-U-R-D-E-R !

Plot:

Writer sets himself up to take murder rap to show the errors of circumstantial evidence. With a friend...

Plot Keywords:

Trial | Falsely Convicted | Beautiful Woman | Twist In The End

US TV Schedule:

Sun. July 12

9:00 AM

TCM

Cast

Dana Andrews	...	Tom Garrett
Joan Fontaine	...	Susan Spencer
Sidney Blackmer	...	Austin Spencer
Arthur Franz	...	Bob Hale
Philip Bourneuf	...	Roy Thompson
Ed Binns	...	Lt. Kennedy
Shepperd Strudwick	...	Jonathan Wilson
Robin Raymond	...	Terry Larue
Barbara Nichols	...	Dolly Moore
William F. Leicester	...	Charlie Miller (as William Leicester)
Dan Seymour	...	Greco
Rusty Lane	...	Judge
Joyce Taylor	...	Joan Williams
Carleton Young	...	Allan Kirk
Trudy Wroe	...	Hatcheck girl

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.00 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #18013) | UK:PG (re-rating) (1990) | West Germany:12 (f) | UK:A (original rating) (1956) | Finland:K-16

Company:

Bert E. Friedlob Productions

Trivia:

The last film that 'Fritz Lang' made in the USA before returning to Germany.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ritual (2001/I)

Soundtrack:

Beyond A Reasonable Doubt

why BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT is Lang's best US film

Sometimes, in the world of 1940s-1950s film noir, we are given a film so transparently impossible and contrived that we can see ourselves giving up on watching it half way through. But is extremely rare that we are faced with a film where the very response the viewer is having holds the key to the success, rather than the failure, of the film.

Such is the case with BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT, which has - to its credit - been completely misunderstood by many. When we reach the film's conclusion, we realize that even the title of the film itself is a joke, perhaps the ultimate prank on the viewer. Yet to offer analysis of the film would be to destroy its main and most sinister motive; you can't "explain away" the glaring plot holes and contrivances without revealing the twist the film takes in its climax, and to do would rob the viewer of a genuine experience. So... I won't.

Suffice it to say, BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT is far more than it seems and is nothing without the sum of its parts, in total. Lang tackles the story of a person who creates a fictitious role for himself in order to, essentially, pull a fast one on the legal profession for personal gain (or, as it appears on the surface, someone else's). In the world of film noir, of course, we know that such a character won't get away with it, but when Lang depicts the tragedy the viewer knows will come, he majestically turns the entire premise on its head. As a result, it's a cold slap in the face - a devastating critique of the complicity of the audience in following along, hungrily, with such contrivances in cinema.

Every part of the film fits perfectly by not fitting at all. Even the visual style of the film is a cold, rarely pleasing one, almost daring you to suspend your disbelief just a little bit longer without even granting the pleasure of emotionally charged close-ups at key moments. The editing is brutal and jarring, cutting away practically mid-sentence and moving to a similar conversation elsewhere.

As a swan song to his Hollywood career, BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT does to the audience what Billy Wilder does to the industry in SUNSET BLVD. - biting the hand that feeds. The result is a total masterpiece.