Guilty?

A mix of courtroom drama and crime thriller, GUILTY? is an interesting little film that works despite the lack of familiar cast members. It's actually a French film masquerading as a British one; although it's listed as a British co-production and has a handful of British actors in support (most notably Donald Wolfit playing the judge) this is most definitely a French-feeling movie.

The story is about a young woman who stands accused of murder by stabbing at a plush hotel. A group of somewhat shady employees and inhabitants are ranged against her, but she protests her innocence despite having a volatile history with the murder victim. Her new solicitor decides to see if any new evidence can be brought to life so joins forces with a Frenchman to investigate.

What follows is something of a conspiracy of silence broken up by a handful of rather exciting action sequences. The budget is clearly low and yet this looks like a medium to high money production with lots of different locations in both London and France and a good range of cast members. The storyline and its eventual outcome are quite easy to guess and yet the characters keep you involved and the cast members are pretty decent too. Edmond Greville was a French director well known for making BEAT GIRL and THE HANDS OF ORLAC and GUILTY? is certainly a feather in his cap.

A strange french film that I saw dubbed, from an US source. It begins like a court drama, where a young woman is accused of a murder and claims her innocence. A journalist tries to prove her not guiltiness. And the films curiously becomes from time to time an actionner, with some gunfights sequences. Not a bad feature, but that I will forget in a couple of weeks, or maybe days. I don't know any of the actors, male or female. It may be a sleeper at some moments, so stay tuned if you want to follow the story in an accurate way. The director was a man who made films in different countries: UK, USA and France. His best known feature was LES MAINS D'ORLAC.

Although made in the mid fifties, it has the appearance of being made in the mid 30s. And then there's the contrived action sequences, reminiscent of a 1940's Republic Films Superman or Johnny Mack Brown serial for kids. Lotsa laughs. One is led to believe that if the male lead should unexpectedly visit one of those Parisian street toilets, three thugs would be waitlng inside ready to pounce on him. They should have had Graham Moffatt, Charlie Chan or Buster Keaton put in an appearance to round it all out. For anyone thinking of getting into the film business, this film should be an inspiration that anyone can write a script, act or direct. What a load of Tripe,...Glorious Tripe !

The British TV channel Talking Pictures recently screened this film. It wasn't perfect quality, and twice I had stop my recording, reverse and freeze to read a scribbled note.

The plot was divided between a hotel where a murder took place, a courtroom at London's Old Bailey and France (with echoes of the German occupation). It was not at all bad, though a couple of times I did wonder how the French reporter had come up with information to progress the investigation he was making with his friend Nat Rumbold.

As always with court dramas, one might wonder at some of the legal procedures, not least the last-minute intervention. And there were one or two scenes that could have been improved, such as that with the out-of-control car, when interior reaction shots of Nat realising he had a problem could have been effectively added.

But overall the film was good enough to have merited a better-known cast. Donald Wolfit (later to be knighted) as the judge was the biggest - indeed the only big - name, and there was a sprinkling of familiar British character actors.

Everyone acquitted themselves well enough.

It would appear that the film was released in both English and French, and a poster on IDMB gives prominence to the French actors.

Part murder mystery, part thriller, part courtroom drama- this odd little film has a well-intentioned foot in each of these camps without nailing any particular genre. The unimaginative title doesn't help. That said, it's an enjoyable curiosity shown from time to time on TPTV, and John Justin scrubs up very nicely as our clean-cut English hero among a collection of French and Brit character actors; one of our favourite B-film cockneys of the time, Sydney Tafler, plays an Italian-sounding character who's witness statement is critical to the narrative- delivered in a peculiarly unconvincing French accent. As always, interesting to see who else crops up- the great Donald Wolfit as the judge, and Russell Napier (who is nearly always playing a police inspector), playing - er - a police inspector.