The Suspect

Charles Laughton's son moves out of the house, and Laughton moves out of the room he has shared with his wife, Rosalind Ivan. She's a shrill shrew, and he's glad to have a couple of doors separating them, except when she has at him in the halls and downstairs. He begins an innocent relationship with Ella Raines, but calls it off when his wife refuses to give him a divorce. That, however, is not enough for Miss Ivan. She has found out about Miss Raines, and she is going to make a public spectacle. So Laughton kills her.

Matter improve immensely, and soon he has married Miss Raines.... and a good thing too, because Police Inspector Stanley Ridges concludes that Laughton is a murderer. The only problem -- from Ridges' perspective -- is he has no proof.

Robert Siodmak's turn-of-the-century thriller has the advantage of several fine actors: not only Laughton, of course, but the under-rated Ella Raines, with Rosalind Ivan as a nasty piece of work. Nastiest of all is that expert in cold-featured evil, Henry Daniell. He's a decayed aristocrat who beats his wife, doesn't work, sneers at everyone and blackmails Laughton. No wonder meek and kindly Mr. Laughton is driven to murder!

"The Suspect" is a taut suspenser, grandly acted by Charles Laughton and fine cast, and beautifully produced. But who can see it? Unfortunately, for some strange reason, the film was never brought out on video format. This comment is written to hopefully create some interest in helping to rectify this void. With all the less capable films on video, this is one omission which needs to be seriously addressed. ###

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.

Philip Marshall (Charles Laughton) is trapped in a loveless marriage and his wife Cora (Rosalind Ivan) refuses to grant him a divorce. He meets Mary (Ella Raines) and they embark on a romance of friendship before he puts an end to it because of his married status. Meanwhile, Cora has discovered the secret and jumps to a wrong conclusion vowing to humiliate both him and Mary in both their workplaces and their social sets. Cora has an accident and dies. Phillip and Mary are now free to live together but Inspector Huxley (Stanley Ridges) suspects murder.

This is an atmospheric thriller where the viewer is in complete sympathy with the suspect. The cast are all very good with the exception of John Marshall (Dean Harens) and his annoying girlfriend. Why has he got an American accent when he is supposed to be English? Anyway, the rest of the cast give their characters real depth so that we dislike those that we are meant to - Rosalind Ivan as Laughton's wife and neighbour Gilbert (Henry Daniell) - and like the main characters of Laughton and Raines.....and you always think "Oh no" whenever Inspector Huxley appears on the scene.......if only he wasn't so inquisitive and determined.........It's a good film and Laughton is both funny and charming - the scenes between him and his wife are very entertaining.

This is one of my favourite Charles Laughton movies. Playing a mild mannered man, very much loved by his peers for his gentleness and kindness to all around him. The only problem is his home life. The mother of his only son is a sour, vicious, complaining woman who doesn't want anybody to be happy including herself. She drives her son away from the family home and finds out that her husband (even though he's not sharing the marital bed) is having romantic liaisons with a young woman who recently enquired about employment as a "typist" wasn't much heard of in 1902, the year in which this is set. I totally understand why he has to do what he has to do and not the deed itself. You'll see for yourself the dilemma he has to face and may understand why I feel what he has done isn't really that bad.