Esposas Sob Suspeita

"District Attorney Stowell" (Warren William) is a man who prides himself on the number of cases he has prosecuted that has resulted in the death penalty. But this notoriety comes with a price because, in order to attain these convictions, he has had to spend a great amount of time at the office--which puts a definite strain on his marriage. Needless to say, when he cancels a vacation at the last minute for a very important case, his wife "Lucy Stowell" (Gail Patrick) doesn't take it too well. Knowing this, he tries to make amends but in doing so he begins to suspect that she has found someone else, and this infuriates him beyond anything he has ever experienced. Even more ironic is that the case he is working on parallels his current situation. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was an interesting film which had a decent plot but suffered from a mediocre script and a lack of suspense or passion. That's not to say it was a bad film by any means, but it certainly could have been better and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Average.

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.

Warren William stars in this 1938 drama from Universal about a hard driving law and order District Attorney who gets a chance to reflect on his own attitudes and display the quality of mercy as the Bard put it. It's not an easy thing for him to do by any means.

His chance comes when he prosecutes shy and retiring political science professor Ralph Morgan who in a fit of jealous rage shot his unfaithful wife. William gets a confession out of him and goes full blast to give him the electric chair even with high priced defense attorney Samuel S. Hinds working for Morgan.

What brings him to a reassessment of the case and his attitudes is an Othello like episode in his own life. There's no Iago in the film egging William on, but he develops an almost insane jealousy about his wife Gail Patrick and a young neighbor William Lundigan. And unlike Morgan it's all in his own mind.

Some good attention should be paid for Cecil Cunningham as William's girl Friday assistant in his office who lives up to her character name of 'Sharpy' with some very devastating lines. But stealing the film whenever he's on screen is Ralph Morgan. Such a pitiable creature he is you can't conceive of someone like him going to the chair.

The film takes some interesting attitudes, not popular at this time about the death penalty. Wives Under Suspicion is a fine drama and comes highly recommended.

Pretty interesting programmer which tells its predictable story in under an hour. Good job turned in by all concerned. Warren William is the man-eating prosecutor with great many scalps under his belt and has sent many murderers to the electric chair, until he finds himself in circumstances similar to a case before him. Gail Patrick is his stalwart, neglected wife and Ralph Morgan is a sympathetic suspect.

This was directed by James Whale, made famous as the director of "Frankenstein", and turns in a workman like job here. Milburn Stone is Williams' right hand man and there are several other familiar faces in the cast. It is better than the non-descript title would suggest and is worth your time on a rainy day, which is when I saw it.

6/10 - Website no longer prints my star ratings.

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.