Wives Under Suspicion (1938)

You won't be disappointed!

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

The acting in this movie is really good.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

A stylish popular drama with W. William (as an attorney for the state) and Gail Patrick (as his wife), also some customary but unfunny comic relief provided by a black actress. M. Stone has a good supporting role, as a nervous young man, appropriately submissive to his chief, several scenes, from which one senses he was deserving more (though in his scenes with W. William he looks deferent and respectful enough, as required by his role); he's somewhat like a slimmer Wayne, or a much tougher Lemmon.After five yrs, Whale shot again a script, this one; the result is thrilling, but unsubtle dramatically, in that the attorney's shift resembles a sudden conversion (he becomes aware of jealousy and neglect, but this reshapes also his whole professional approach, as his cruelty and malevolence are distinct from his conjugal behavior, although likely kindred, related …). The movie has been carefully made, though it might of seemed somewhat more conventional than the director's other works. Although, given that he remade one of his earlier movies, he might of been fond of the script. Whale has been essentially a genre director, and this movie corresponds to the genre approach, being not a straight drama, but a genre movie, like one made by Sekely, and like countless others …; it follows that his courtroom story is a good show, unsatisfying dramatically: unsubtle, mediocre, but stylish.W. William has a now outdated hawkish handsomeness, appreciated in the older movie-making, reminding of Menjou (only, of course, meaner), but also of Rathbone. In a Universal show, he resembles also one of Hammer's future character actors. His acting being mono-chord, the shift comes across as less believable.Here, he plays a severe, heartless, cruel, sardonic attorney of the state; the idea of the script has been that one of his cases changes so much his thought, as to reshape completely his whole being, and perhaps this shift should of been more gradual, less instant in its effects, though it had been prepared enough by the attorney's exposure to the case. As the malevolent attorney (the Inquisitor, the executioner), he looked his role; and there's also his morbid toy, the abacus, and Whale's savvy directing. The turning, the shift in front of the court was less convincingly played. This shift is less believable, and not very well conveyed by the leading actor himself.I think Whale achieves much given the nature of the script, so that the storyline is polished and neat, the drama is simple but deepened, and MacAllen's case offers a striking reference, so that the style comes across as both popular and thoughtful. Some lines are beautiful, like that about the strange perversity of destructiveness.

I noticed one of the reviewers complained about Warren William's tendency to over-act. Well, as a fan of the actor, I tend to agree--he DID over-act--and I generally liked his bigger than life and devil-may-care persona. That is why I decided to see "Wives Under Suspicion"--I'd watch just about anything starring this now forgotten star. Sadly, however, this was not one of his better films and it isn't surprising--by 1938, William had moved from his very successful career at Warner Brothers to Universal (a must less prestigious studio at that time) and the budgets were clearly smaller and it showed.The film begins with William as a gung-ho District Attorney. He lives to prosecute and convict people--and his marriage and personal life have suffered. All he really cares about is winning--and sending as many people as he can to death row. However, when the case of a man who murdered his wife in a fit of anger (Ralph Morgan) is given to him, eventually the parallels between this case and his own sad life became apparent.I think the biggest problem with this film is that the cast was amazingly limp. Morgan and William were very competent actors, but here they were NOT at their best. In particular, Morgan has a scene where he is supposed to cry but it comes off very poorly--embarrassingly so. In addition, while the story idea is good, the direction and dialog is all either limp or overdone. Director Whale (who made quite a name for himself directing the first two Frankenstein films at Universal) had clearly seen better days and the film failed to impress. It really should have been a lot better given the neat story idea.

Wives Under Suspicion (1938) ** 1/2 (out of 4) A tough as nails D.A. (William Warren) is seeking the death penalty on a man charged with killing his wife after catching her cheating. The D.A. refuses to see any other side of the story under he begins to think his own wife is cheating. This is the first non-horror film from director James Whale that I've seen and while it isn't too bad I'm certainly thankful he stayed in the horror genre. Warren gives a good performance but the story is rather flat and way too overly dramatic to be too interesting. This was a remake of the 1933 film THE KISS BEFORE THE MIRROR, also directed by Whale.

This is a truly original story. Granted, it was done in 1938, but I haven't seen anything quite like it since. That's unusual for Hollywood. Warren Williams is an obsessed District Attorney who is incapable of any human feeling toward the people he prosecutes. And then a case comes along. A refined, educated, teacher kills his wife in a moment of mad jealousy. Warren has no mercy for him. Coaxes him into a confession with the ultimate goal of executing him.The gimmick in this story is that, during the trial, he realizes that he is living a parallel life. He has neglected his own wife and come to believe that she is having an affair. After following her to a friends house, he finds himself with a pistol in his hand - a perfect parallel to the case he is trying. It changes his life.Warren Williams has a tendency to overact, but to hear him bellow in the courtroom, and cackle with glee when he pulls one over on his adversaries, is not to be missed. There is one caution. Is it possible to be too sophisticated? All the other actors are unremarkable, with the exception of Lillian Yarbo who plays the maid. Her lines and expressions are priceless.If, like me, you long for the days when Hollywood took the time to actually write a coherent script. A time when dialogue really meant something. A time when you second guessed the story and paid attention to the actors - instead of the special effects, take time out for this one. If you can find it.