Notable cast/crew: Gregory Peck as Anthony Keane. This is his second and final Hitchcock film. Ann Todd as Gay Keane. Charles Laughton as Judge Lord Thomas Horfield. This is his second and final Hitchcock film. Charles Coburn as Sir Simon Flaquer. Ethel Barrymore as Lady Sophie Horfield. Louis Jourdan as Andre Latour. Alida Valli as Mrs Paradine. Leo G Carroll as Sir Joseph. This is his fourth of six Hitchcock films.
Running time: 114 minutesDirector: Alfred Hitchcock
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Keane focuses on a servant named Latour to pin the blame for the murder on, but Mrs Paradine is against it. Keane travels to the Paradine estate and encounters Latour who tells him he has misjudged Mrs Paradine, that she is an evil woman.
At trial, Latour says Mrs Paradine lied to her husband in telling him Latour was abandoning his position of valet to Colonel Paradine. He claims she was trying to get rid of him. Keane goes ahead with painting Latour as the potential killer even if it was a case of assisted suicide.
Mrs Paradine is upset that Keane went after Latour. Keane tries to impress upon her that the case boils down as either suicide or one of Latour or Mrs Paradine murdered him. She doesn't care and insists Latour not be made out a murderer. Keane hounds Latour until Latour admits to having had an affair with Mrs Paradine that he was deeply shamed of. The Colonel had found out before his death.
While Mrs Paradine is on the stand, the court learns Latour has killed himself. Mrs Paradine breaks down and admits to having loved Latour, but Latour would not have her because of his feeling of duty to the Colonel. She then confesses to murdering her husband. She spews hatred at Keane for having killed Latour and thus having also killed her.
MacGuffin: None
Hitchcock cameo: Struggling with a cello at Cumberland station
Hitchcock themes: None
Verdict: This is a solid movie, a court room drama, but it moves a little slowly. The ending is a slight surprise, but not a complete one. The current existing print is 114 minutes, but that is a reduction from the original release of 132 minutes. There is some debate as to whether this would have been a superior version, but the only known copy of the long print was lost in a flood in 1980. There have been rumors that the Library of Congress has a single copy of the 132 minute cut, but this has never been confirmed definitively. It would be interesting to see the two in comparison. The original raw cut was over three hours, but David O Selznick cut it down to 132 minutes. He was also responsible for the further shortening. Hitchcock never made a finalized cut of his own, so there's a possibility that he could have made a different movie depending on his own choice for cutting. The continual conflicts with Selznick led to this being the final film Hitchcock made for him under the contract that had brought him over from England.
When Keane goes to the Paradine house in Cumberland, he walks over to Mrs. Paradine's piano. On the piano is a page of music called Appassionata Op. 69 by Francesco Ceruomo. Francesco Ceruomo is an Italianized version of Frank Waxman, who wrote the background music for the film. The music shown on the piano is the actual music that is playing on the soundtrack at that point.
An exact replica of the Old Bailey courtroom was constructed for the court scenes for $400,000. For the courtroom sequence, Hitchcock used a new technique by utilizing four cameras shooting simultaneously, each focused on one of the principal actors in the scene – multiple camera photography had been used in the past, but only to shoot the same subject. This set-up, including elaborately choreographed crane shots, allowed Hitchcock to shoot long 10 minute takes, something he would push to the limit on his next two films, Rope and Under Capricorn. In particular, there is a great shot following Latour in background around the court room while Mrs Paradine remains in the foreground. The use of light and shadow is well balanced throughout the film keeping the answer hidden as Mrs Paradine is shown in light early in the movie while Latour is mostly in shadow.
Out of five bananas, I give it:
When Keane goes to the Paradine house in Cumberland, he walks over to Mrs. Paradine's piano. On the piano is a page of music called Appassionata Op. 69 by Francesco Ceruomo. Francesco Ceruomo is an Italianized version of Frank Waxman, who wrote the background music for the film. The music shown on the piano is the actual music that is playing on the soundtrack at that point.
An exact replica of the Old Bailey courtroom was constructed for the court scenes for $400,000. For the courtroom sequence, Hitchcock used a new technique by utilizing four cameras shooting simultaneously, each focused on one of the principal actors in the scene – multiple camera photography had been used in the past, but only to shoot the same subject. This set-up, including elaborately choreographed crane shots, allowed Hitchcock to shoot long 10 minute takes, something he would push to the limit on his next two films, Rope and Under Capricorn. In particular, there is a great shot following Latour in background around the court room while Mrs Paradine remains in the foreground. The use of light and shadow is well balanced throughout the film keeping the answer hidden as Mrs Paradine is shown in light early in the movie while Latour is mostly in shadow.
Out of five bananas, I give it:
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