The Suspect

Unlike the grim dramas of Fritz Lang Edward G. Robinson played in (Scarlet Street and The Woman In the Window) Charles Laughtons' character of a genteel middle aged and middle class Englishman of the early 20th Century seems to be a figure of strength and solidity. The only thing to ruin this is a classic harridan of a wife at home. A loveless marriage that has produced a son the only point of agreement this couple has agreed to in the two decades + of this anchor on Mr. Marshall's soul. Then comes the heavenly disaster of love in the form of newly unemployed Ella Raines. No Joan Bennett sexpot/wench as in Woman In the Window,but a Good and proper English girl down on her luck who meets the kindly Mr. Marshall who at first is only doing the Good Deed that has earned him the respect of his neighborhood. But when you have the Nag from Hell(played to the nines by an icy shrewish Rosiland Ivans) and Henry Daniells as your pseudo-Gentleman stumblebum in the area Deep Trouble for the Good Man awaits. Add in Stanley Ridges performance as a Scotland Yard Inspector who Sherlock Holmes would respect as an equal,and you have a very distinct and classy journey down the Boulevard of Bad Choices for Good Reasons. Daniell's realization (too late)that Mr. Marshall has steel in his backbone is Movie Cool.

"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. ###

I'm converted to the YouTube cause. If it wasn't for YouTube I may never had seen this jewel, with a performance by the extraordinary Charles Laughton that is nothing short of magnificent. The tenderness of the man! Director Robert Siodmak creates a perfect noir without low blows or gimmicks. Ella Raines is lovely as the object of his affection and Rosalind Ivan is priceless as the awful wife. The last shot is pure Laughton and his personal struggle for integrity. Loved it.

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!

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.