fouregycats
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.
FilmAlicia
This review includes a plot synopsis that may spoil the film for those who don't want to know anything in advance.Charles Laughton is simply wonderful in Robert Siodmak's morality tale, as a good man who is driven to crime by the wickedness of others. The ruthlessness with which he commits his crimes is only matched by the lengths to which he goes to in order to protect those he loves and to shield the innocent from harm. I just saw "The Suspect" at a Film Noir festival. I loved the film, and found the conclusion heartbreaking and perfect. There is something almost fairy tale-like about the story, and I was reminded, for some reason, of the Alastair Sim version of "A Christmas Carol." Unfortunately, "The Suspect" is not on DVD in the United States, and is hard to find, but I believe it would surely merit repeated viewings if it was.
bkoganbing
I finally got to see The Suspect one of the few Charles Laughton films I had not yet seen. I was totally bowled over by what he did in this film. It's really what film acting is all about, every breath, every nuance, every gesture is carefully delineated and brought to the screen. Laughton had a reputation for driving some of his directors a little nuts with his perfectionism and maybe he did to Robert Siodmark here. I prefer to think the two of them collaborated on a masterpiece.The setting is Edwardian London in 1902. From outward appearances Laughton is a happy man, making a good living with a wife and a grown son. But he is married to one shrew of a woman he's put up with for over 20 years. He's ripe for a midlife crisis and ripe to stray. But a friendship he develops with pretty young Ella Raines recently hired at Laughton's office drives wife Rosalind Ivan up a wall. Later on Ivan dies as a result of a fall down the house stairs. Nobody can prove one way or the other whether it was murder. Scotland Yard's Stanley Ridges is up a wall with it.Laughton and Ivan have a couple of neighbors, married couple Henry Daniell and Molly Lamont. When Ridges confides in Daniell during the course of the investigation, he inadvertently sets the stage for tragedy. Daniell himself says he's a 'total rotter' and proves it the audience's satisfaction. The Suspect is one of many films based on the famous Dr. Crippen murder which was also in the same period. The only fault with the film is that the rest of the cast is fairly one dimensional in their characters next to Charles Laughton. But if you are a Laughton fan, this film is an absolute must.
RanchoTuVu
An excellent domestic drama about a middle-aged man (Charles Laughton) who is trapped in an insufferable marriage. Laughton captures all the mannerisms of the situation, with a happy face for the neighbors masking his true torment. The story gets pushed along when he meets a younger woman (Ella Raines) and starts a relationship, which his devious wife (Rosalind Ivan) finds out about, sending him to the point of panic when she threatens him with social and financial ruin. The next door neighbor (Molly Lamont) is also trapped in an absysmal marriage to an alcoholic and abusive husband (Henry Daniell). One wonders why the writers didn't have Laughton and Lamont as the focus, as she's everything his wife isn't, instead of Raines. It would have saved the movie from becoming another police crime story. In any event, the chemistry seems to work pretty well, with Daniell and Ivan each in their own outstanding way supplying enough venom to propel the movie along, and Laughton excellent as a good man pushed into a corner.
AD
