The Unsuspected (1947)

The secretary of an affably suave radio mystery host mysteriously commits suicide after his wealthy young niece disappears.

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Charlotte Armstrong (novel), Bess Meredyth (adaptation)

Stars:

Claude Rains, Joan Caulfield, Audrey Totter

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Joan Caulfield	...	Matilda Frazier
Claude Rains	...	Victor Grandison
Audrey Totter	...	Althea Keane
Constance Bennett	...	Jane Moynihan
Hurd Hatfield	...	Oliver Keane
Ted North	...	Steven Francis Howard (as Michael North)
Fred Clark	...	Richard Donovan
Harry Lewis	...	Max
Jack Lambert	...	Mr. Press
Ray Walker	...	Donovan's Assistant
Nana Bryant	...	Mrs. White
Walter Baldwin	...	Judge Maynard - Justice of the Peace
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Charles Horvath	...	Cab Driver (unconfirmed)

Storyline

A girl has been murdered. A woman cannot remember a man who claims to be her husband. Her uncle hosts a radio murder mystery show called "The Unsuspected". Who killed the girl? Why? And who is this mystery husband?

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Plot Keywords:

framed for murder | dead body in a trunk | radio | secretary | presumed dead | 

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Taglines:

YOU CAN'T FORSEE IT! YOU CAN'T FORGET IT!

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Genres:

Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 October 1947 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sem Sombra de Suspeita

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Michael Curtiz Productions, Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Composer Max Steiner recycles one of his themes from The Maltese Falcon (1941) in the soundtrack.

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Goofs

Character arrives at party and door is opened by manservant door closes and window reflection shows cameraman and likely Director Michael Curtiz.

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Quotes

Victor Grandison: [to an arguing Althea and Oliver] I think you better excuse me. I detest scenes not of my own making. You know, the more I see of marriage, the more thankful I am to be the last of a long line of bachelors.

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Crazy Credits

Opening title and credits are typed in a bound manuscript, and we see someone's gloved hands flipping the pages.

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Connections

References The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)

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Soundtracks

Let the Rest of the World Go By
(uncredited)
Music by Ernest Ball
Played when Steven and Matilda are in the cocktail lounge

User Reviews

Stylish, but Weakly Structured

This is certainly one of the most lushly photographed of all noirs. Hardly a set-up goes by without an eye-catching furbelow of one kind or another, thanks to cameraman Woody Bredell and Art Director Anton Grot. That's one main reason to catch up with this otherwise turgid 1947 release. Then too, except for the unfortunate Ted North, it's a stellar cast from the sleekly malevolent Rains to the coldly conniving Totter to the wittily sophisticated Bennett. However, I suspect that's one reason this richly endowed exercise failed to achieve classic status— just too many stars with too many lines that multiply subplots in a rather poorly thought-out storyline. There's simply not enough coherence and focus to generate the desired suspense of, say, a Rebecca (1940) or a Suspicion (1941), both of which the screenplay resembles. This results in a movie of bits and pieces, and a good chance to catch up with post-war high fashion. And catch that salvage yard from hell that turns up at the end, along with the behind-the-scenes glimpse of radio drama or what was then aptly called "the theater of the mind". Anyway, no movie with the commanding Claude Rains can afford to be passed up, here at his cultured and calculating best.