Wives Under Suspicion

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.

District Attorney Jim Stowell (Warren William) fears that he is neglecting his wife Lucy Stowell (Gail Patrick) in favor of his work. A case comes in. A man murdered his cheating wife. Jim starts to conflate the case with his own life.

This is a remake of The Kiss Before the Mirror (1933) based on a play. I'm not sure why they remade this so soon after the first movie. I haven't seen the other version. This should feel more cinematic or bigger. Something is falling a bit flat. I would like Lucy to play more into his fears. I still like the concept and Warren Williams. I probably need to see the original.

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 from 1938 is a remake of a film called The Kiss Before the Mirror. Directed by James Whale, it's not his best.

This version stars Warren William, Gail Patrick, Ralph Morgan, William Lundigan, and Constance Moore.

William plays a hanging prosecutor, Jim Stowell - he has an abacus with skulls he moves over when he sends someone to the chair. He is not a pleasant guy. His wife Lucy (Patrick) feels alone, as he is dedicated to his work. He does love her and promises her a big vacation.

It doesn't happen because of a big case - a man (Morgan) who found his wife with another man and kills her. He tells the most pathetic story imaginable, and it's recorded. The minute he's taken away, Stowell laughs, dismisses his story as garbage, and plans on getting him the chair.

Lucy is extremely moved by the man's story and feels she doesn't know her husband any longer. Stowell becomes jealous of her platonic friendship with a young man (Lundigan). One night, he sees them talking and rage builds up inside him. He suddenly sees what he has become.

William is a favorite of mine; he always turned in a good performance. Beautiful Gale Patrick is lovely as Lucy - she of course became Gail Patrick Jackson, the producer of the Perry Mason series. Ralph Morgan was a very sympathetic defendant.

The performances helped to hold interest.

While this film doesn't seem to have impressed Michael much, I found it somewhat better than SINNERS IN PARADISE (1938) though, obviously, not quite in the same league as Whale's irreproachable horror output.

The film's plot, though essentially contrived, makes for a very interesting melodrama: actually, this was a remake of the same director's THE KISS BEFORE THE MIRROR (1933) and the only review I could find called it "tame and uninspired" when compared to the "more visually striking" Pre-Code original (that was apparently shot on leftover sets from Whale's own FRANKENSTEIN [1931]!) - all of which makes me want to watch the 1933 film even more...

Despite its 'B' picture status, however, the film is stylishly handled by a master craftsman (right from the opening credit sequence) with special care given to camera-work, lighting and décor - not to mention the recurring use of montages; in fact, the latter sequences - along with the hectic pace and the theme itself - recalled some of the social conscience films being made contemporaneously by Warner Bros.! Warren William and Ralph Morgan give solid performances and their scenes together - particularly the latter's confession and the subsequent trial - are certainly among the film's highlights. Unfortunately, however, as was the case with the blackface scene from Whale's own REMEMBER LAST NIGHT? (1935), the film's stereotyped depiction of William's black maid would, most probably, not go down well with today's audiences!

While I never really understood why certain directors needed to remake their own films, I'm certainly glad it happened in this case - particularly since the original doesn't seem to be readily available (a regrettable situation with regards to most of Whale's non-horror titles!), but also because his second stab at the story has certainly made for a pretty good film in its own right.