The Verdict

Without the box office clout of Warner Brothers leading players, Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet made two crackerjack films for their studio, Three Strangers and The Verdict. One only wishes they had done more together.

Greenstreet and Lorre are neighbors in Victorian London and Greenstreet is a Scotland Yard inspector. Another neighbor Morton Lowry has provided invaluable information in the murder of his aunt, a case Greenstreet was assigned to. But after the execution of the suspect which is what began the film, new evidence comes to light proving that an innocent man had been hung.

Greenstreet's rival on the job, George Coulouris practically dances a jig with this news. He's been doing a lot of back channel maneuvering to get Greenstreet canned and himself to take his place. He's truly one hateful dude.

But later on Lowry is found dead in the proverbial locked room and Coulouris is the one now with a baffling case. Greenstreet and his artist friend Peter Lorre who like a bit of a nip now and then are around to offer help which Coulouris would rather die than accept.

How was the murder committee? The only thing I will say on the subject is that when one is good, one can make people believe they see more than they really do.

Lorre and Greenstreet play beautifully off each other and add the presence of Coulouris, you've got the makes of a great film that needs no star power. Such other colorful character players like Paul Cavanaugh, Joan Lorring, Arthur Shields, Rosalind Ivan are also in the cast.

When the solution is given at the end, you'll think it so confounded simple you'll kick yourself you didn't think of it.

Greenstreet and Lorre are not to be missed in any event.

Sydney Greenstreet (Grodman) is relieved of his position at the police force after an innocent man is hanged under his watch. Devious George Coulouris, who has contributed to Greenstreet's downfall by not helping in the investigation, replaces him. When Morton Lowry (Kendall) is found murdered, Greenstreet can sit back and watch Coulouris make a hash of the investigation, a role that he relishes.

The cast are all good with Greenstreet and funny, morbid artist Peter Lorre (Victor) leading the way. The story is set in Victorian times in England and has plenty of foggy atmosphere. It's a murder mystery type of film that keeps you guessing as to who the murderer could be. You're bound to change your mind a few times but will you get it right? The film moves along at a good pace and is an enjoyable experience as you watch it thanks to the cast. Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet deliver their lines perfectly and they can be very funny as well as very misleading. They have great chemistry together as always.

This is one of the finest detective mysteries ever filmed. It is astonishing that the young director Don Siegel showed so much talent so early. Once again we have that wonderful pair, Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre making a masterpiece together. Greenstreet is spellbinding in every scene. Lorre creates a well-rounded three-dimensional character from a two-dimensional part, and makes him eccentric and intriguing. The story is set in 1890 in London, and is based on a novel entitled 'The Big Bow Mystery' by best-selling author Israel Zangwill, which was in turn apparently based on a real case. The plot of the film is one of the most complex and intellectually challenging ever made. It 'out-Sherlocks Sherlock'. The essence of the dilemma is how can a man have his throat cut in a room in which the door and windows are locked and bolted from the inside, and there is no other way in or out. The film is helped a lot by a brilliant performance by Rosalind Ivan as a hysterical landlady who may or may not have murdered her lodger (but how??). The atmosphere is powerful, the filming expressionistic, the style impeccable, and the result magnificent. Greenstreet and Lorre are at the top of their form. This is a film no lover of the genre should miss.

I don't know what to say about the other reviews here(better to say nothing as their insights offer that suitable response). This is a great film with a great pairing of that wonderful coupling of gargantuan Sydney Greenstreet and devilish, diminuative Peter Lorre. Grenstreet never was better as a Scotland Yard superintendant who mistakenly sends an innocent man to his death. He is forced out of his job by another aspiring detective played with relish by George Coulouris. Greenstreet remarks, "He underestimated the size of my britches." And so he did! Greenstreet was that special kind of actor that draws you to his every word, action, and deed. His refinement of speech and larger-than-life presence greatly enhance the film. Lorre is Lorre, a funny character actor getting a break from villains for a chance. Lorre and Greenstreet aid each other very nicely and their scenes together are perhaps the most fun ones in the film. Behind all the actions of the two men is a fine Victorian mystery that has a good, hard-to-figure out ending. Director Don Siegel shows his deftness in capturing a dark Victorian setting. His scene exhuming a casket is particularly well-done. A fine film and an unfortunately all to rare chance to see Lorre and Greenstreet together.

When historians talk about the great screen pairings, one hears Tracy and Hepburn and Bogart and Bacall tossed around, as well as other male-female combinations. One of the truly great screen pairings of all time was Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre - the former a large, sinister-looking man, and the latter a small, sinister-looking man with a quirky voice. They made nine films together, and when I see their names in a cast list, I know not to miss the movie.

"The Verdict," made in 1946, is a heavily atmospheric mystery set around 1890, when Supt. George Edward Grodman (Greenstreet) inadvertently sends an innocent man to the gallows for a woman's death and loses his job. The man claimed he had an alibi, but the person wasn't found until after the hanging. After many years in service, Grodman leaves with a blemish on his reputation. Replacing him is his ambitious nemesis, Supt. John R. Buckley (George Coulouris). Grodman begins to write the stories of his various cases, in the hopes that it can serve as a primer for police investigations.

When Arthur Kendall is murdered across the street from him, Grodman is pulled into the investigation, since Kendall's landlady (Rosalind Ivan) summoned him to help her get into the room. Kendall's aunt was the murder victim in the case where the innocent man was hanged. Before Kendall was killed, he visited Grodman, along with Grodman's friend Peter Emmric (Lorre) who lives in the same house as Kendall, and a politician, Clive Russell (Paul Cavanagh), who hates Kendall. Russell and Kendall come to blows outside of Grodman's house. Grodman now finds himself in a position of helping the man who replaced him.

This is an very clever mystery, brought up a few levels by the acting of Greenstreet and Lorre. Paul Cavanagh and George Coulouris turn in good performances in smaller roles, and Joan Lorring is fine as a dance hall girl who was involved with Kendall. Though not a great beauty, she has a great figure and conveys a low class background.

Highly recommended. With the Victorian times, the heavy fog, and the presence of Cavanagh and Coulouris, the film reminds one of the Sherlock Holmes movies.