The Suspect (1945)

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

If you've never seen a Charles Laughton movie, The Suspect is a great one to start with. If you see him in Witness for the Prosecution or Advise and Consent, you'll get to see some great acting, but he's not particularly lovable. I always think of him as being very lovable, sensitive, and gentle, all of which are personified in his performance in The Suspect.Charles is married to Rosalind Ivan, and they have absolutely no love for each other anymore. She continually browbeats him, and as a result, he's moved into bedroom down the hall and asked for a divorce. Then, when he meets the kind, sweet Ella Raines, he's even more motivated to rid himself of Rosalind. Ella is so different from his wife, and she makes him feel like he's getting a second chance. Their scenes together are so tender, it's easy to see why she falls for him, even though it might seem implausible at first glance.While there are some twists to the story, it isn't the plot itself that keeps the audience riveted, it's tension inside Charles Laughton. He's incredibly calm and gentle, so much so that you trust him implicitly and want to leave him in charge of your small children. But, when certain things in the plot threaten his happiness, he very quietly simmers under the surface. This is one of my favorite of his movies and performances. Give it a watch, and then go rent The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

In 1932, Charles Laughton appeared in a thriller called "Payment Deferred" where he is a suspect in the murder of his wife over his feelings towards a much younger woman. The wife in that film was soft spoken and gentle compared to the shew here, played with hateful bitterness by Rosalind Ivan to the 100th degree of hamminess. Laughton is soft spoken and gentle, but the moment their son leaves the house (to an abundance of cackling happiness by the unforgiving Ivan), Laughton moves into the now empty bedroom, simply responding to his wife's demands to know why that the answer might frighten her. At his office, Laughton shows compassion to a young boy runner who has been pinching coin for sweet treats and a young woman (Ella Raines) who is despondent over her personal situation. But even a milquetoast like Laughton has his breaking point, and if there's ever been a wife who has crossed a line, it's the miserable Ivan. The light in Laughton's eyes comes back as he spends time with Raines, ignoring his unhappy home life. The demise of Ivan is played out subtly (offscreen) yet giving doubt to the audience whether Laughton was responsible or not. The truth is up to Scotland Yard detective Stanley Ridges, as shrewd as Ivan the Terrible was shrewish. Considering that Edward G. Robinson got the Ivan treatment in "Scarlet Street" right afterwards, I'm surprised that the British stage vet didn't pin a clause with her agent for no more harpy wives. The 1902 London atmosphere is beautifully captured, most subtly without the excessive cockney accents and overabundance of eccentrics. As directed by Robert Siodmark, this is a rare period film noir with a touch of Gothic thriller as well. The details into every major character is perfectly laid out, with small little hints even in Ivan who is hypocritically moral in denying her own failures with her marriage to Laughton. Only a few well filmed scenes of fog add onto that cliché. This is one of the superb unsung classics that deserves to be regarded as a near masterpiece.

....so says Cora Marshall (Rosalind Ivan) to her husband Philip (Charles Laughton) as she bewails the bickering state of their marriage. He happens to meet Mary (Ella Raines) and they begin a relationship which Cora finds out about and threatens Philip and Mary. Soon Cora is dead and the tension starts racking up until the last tense scenes. Is Philip a crooked tree or not? It is a good film, not particularly original, but engrossing.Set in Hollywood's London where the fog billows around it looks good and Frank Skinner's musical score swirls around nicely too. Director Robert Siodmak knows how to make this kind of film. ('The Killers' of 1946 is his masterpiece) very well and this is no exception.Laughton is excellent in his role as a kindly man caught up in a bad marriage who meets a younger woman and he holds one's sympathy right to the end. He underplays the role all for the better. Rosalind Ivan as his wife is wonderfully acid and Henry Daniell (Mr Simmons) is good too as a drunk who hits his wife, a rather pathetic but deeply selfish man. Molly Lamont who plays Daniell's wife also shines.Well worth watching.

No plot summary here, just watch this film and if you're a film buff and love the old films, here ya go. You'll become fascinated and addicted to Charles Laughton, who is one of the greatest actors to ever appear in films. He breathes so much life and brings so much nuance into this role that it's supernatural.