The Suspect (1944)

Charles Laughton stars in this enjoyable film that shows a man having his head turned by a bright young woman who helps motivate him to become more distant from the wife he is stuck in a loveless marriage with. But that is just the first step down a slippery slope, of course.

Based on a novel by James Ronald, this works as well as it does because it features a fantastic, and winning, central performance from Laughton, playing Philip Marshall. He seems to be a decent man, with his marriage to Cora (Rosalind Ivan) being the only part of his life that he cannot view positively, and his life starts to improve when he meets a young woman named Mary (Ella Raines). All seems well, but people start to gossip about the situation. Cora knows things cannot go on as they are, but it seems unlikely that Philip will be able to go back to the life he used to lead. It’s not long until the plot is punctuated by death, blackmail, and the probing questions of one Inspector Huxley (Andrew Ridges).

Adapted into screenplay form by Bertram Millhauser and Arthur T. Horman, two men with a number of gems tucked away in their respective filmographies, The Suspect works as well as it does because of the way it keeps a key moment offscreen. There isn’t really any ambiguity here, but those wanting to root for the main character can convince themselves for the first half of the movie that there’s still a small shadow of doubt over their guilt. Of course, that is all down to the performances as much as it is down to the script, and the cast is pretty perfect throughout.

Laughton is someone I have only seen in one or two main roles so far, but I have liked everything I have seen from him (and it’s still very sad to know that his one credited directorial effort, The Night Of The Hunter, was received so poorly that it put him off from trying more work behind the camera). Every little detail, from his measured and polite way of speaking to his consideration for others, makes Laughton’s character someone that viewers will be rooting for. Raines is also very good, a delightful presence without any plans to manipulate or scheme her way into a better position. Her innocence is another great choice, underlining the sweetness of the relationship that develops between Mary and Philip. Ivan is a bit over the top, but she has fun as the complaining wife, and Ridges is the typical Inspector trying to work hard to find evidence of guilt in someone he already knows is guilty of a crime. There are a few other enjoyable supporting turns, but I will just highlight Henry Daniell, who causes all kinds of problems as the drunken and abusive neighbour living next door to our lead, and often making life miserable for his own wife, played equally well by Molly Lamont.

Director Robert Siodmak is a safe pair of hands for this material, at the very least, and helmed a number of classics (major and minor) during this time. He does well by his cast, does well by the script, and generally doesn’t do anything that interferes with the gentle unfolding of the tale. There are one or two key scenes that could have been made more suspenseful, but I like the choices made. The focus stays on Laughton and his chance at happiness. Even the very last scenes have a bittersweetness, because the darkness has allowed someone to spend time watching a beautiful star twinkle and shine.

8/10

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Noir-vember: The Big Clock (1948)

Based on a novel by Kenneth Fearing, and with a screenplay mainly credited to Jonathan Latimer, The Big Clock is a superb classic noir that also has a lightness of touch to give it a greater sense of fun than most of the other films it could sit alongside.

Ray Milland is George Stroud, the hero of the piece. He works for a crime magazine, and he's long overdue a holiday with his wife, Georgette (Maureen O'Sullivan). Unfortunately, he also works for a very demanding and ungrateful boss (Earl Janoth, played by Charles Laughton). After another very bad day at the office, so to speak, George ends up on a drunken evening out with Pauline York (Rita Johnson). Pauline is an on-off girlfriend of Earl, and she thinks that she and George can team up to effectively spite him. That's not about to happen, however, as Pauline winds up dead, and George is tasked with trying to find the perpetrator for a scoop. He isn't told who the victim is, which leads to him unwittingly getting his team to look for a mystery prime suspect who starts to feel VERY familiar.

Although it has that aforementioned lightness of touch, don't go thinking that The Big Clock doesn't keep winding up the tension as events unfold. It is, to use the overused phrase, a coiled spring throughout most of the middle section. Things look bleak for George, despite the fact that he should be able to have the truth on his side. Director John Farrow makes great use of his cast, using them to lift the material (not that the script is terrible, not at all) with how well they all interact with one another, and he ensures that the plotting stays simple and clear throughout. Things may be a bit contrived in the first half of the movie, but it is so enjoyable that it doesn’t feel problematic.

Milland is a dependable lead, good at being the kind of everyman you want in this role. Johnson makes a strong impression with her few main scenes, allowed to have a lot more fun than O’Sullivan, who has to do little more than be the loyal and supportive wife throughout. Laughton is a great antagonist, working through a plan that is formulated by a conniving character also employed by him (played by George Macready), and you also get a performance from Elsa Lanchester that allows her to steal any scene she is in.

Although some may prefer their film noirs to have more darkness and grit, dismissing The Big Clock would be a big mistake. It’a a hugely entertaining thriller that only just misses out on being a minor classic. And I am now even more interested to check out one of the main remakes it had, No Way Out (1987).

8/10

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Noir November: The Night Of The Hunter (1955)

Let me start with a sentence that some may view as slightly contentious. I've never viewed The Night Of The Hunter as a flawless classic. It's a fantastic film, certainly, and an absolutely stunning work of art, but there are just too many minor niggles that stop it from being a perfect movie experience, in my view. The child actors aren't the best, especially in the first half of the movie, there are a number of moments that don't feel right, even within the fairytale construction of the film, and the end coda is a clumsy way of sending viewers away without too many troubles plaguing their thoughts.

Once everyone has stopped scowling at me for that opening paragraph we can move swiftly along. Trust me, the rest of this review is pretty glowing, which is why I wanted to get those negative comments out of the way right at the beginning (like ripping off a band-aid).

A man (Peter Graves) commits a robbery, killing two men in the process, and gets home to his two children (John, played by Billy Chapin, and the younger Pearl, played by Sally Jane Bruce) just before the authorities catch up to him. He doesn't have much time, but he's able to hide the stolen loot and swear the kids to secrecy. While spending time in prison, awaiting his execution, the criminal lets slip one or two words in his sleep that give his cellmate, a "preacher" named Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum), the seed of an idea. When released, Powell heads out to befriend Graves' widow (Shelley Winters), thinking that he can find out where that money was put. If only things were that easy. She really has no idea where the money is, but it's not long until Powell realises that the kids might. And so begins a battle of wills between one mean sonofabitch and two children who want to keep a promise that they made to their father.

The one and only movie directed by Charles Laughton alone (although he directed some scenes in The Man On The Eiffel Tower),The Night Of The Hunter takes a number of separate elements that shouldn't work and brings them together to make something truly beautiful and haunting. More a series of gorgeous tableaux than traditional movie moments, light and shadow are controlled to illustrate this twisted Grimm-like story in a way not unlike shadow puppet theatre, or even deceptively simple illustrations in a book for children (the kind that hide horrible details in the background, available to all who look closely enough). A lot of praise must go to cinematographer Stanley Cortez for the overall look of the thing.

Adapted from the novel by Davis Grubb, the screenplay by James Agee is uneven, yet full of a number of quotable moments. Laughton helped to whip the script into final shape, but this is also a film in which the words are given more import by the actors speaking them, and the context of each line.

So let me get back to those actors. I'm not going to spend too much time discussing the supporting cast, although Lillian Gish, Evelyn Varden, Don Beddoe, James Gleason and the aforementioned Graves all do just fine, and I'm not going to discuss the kids either, who do much better when reacting than they do when trying to simply act. Winters is very good, especially considering that her role is perhaps the most difficult one to get right. She's a caring mother, yet also a woman needing comfort. She begins to be changed by Powell as soon as they start a relationship together, and although that passage of time is slightly rushed it still remains fairly convincing, mainly thanks to the performance from Winters. But the film belongs to Mitchum, clearly revelling in a turn that could easily be argued as the best in his entire career. Whether he's explaining his LOVE/HATE tattoos, charming people with lies and tales of morality, or just threatening small children without a second thought, he's consistently great, and certainly one of the greatest onscreen villains in cinema history.

There are many people who will give this movie the extra point that I have denied it. While I myself hold off from classifying it as an outright flawless classic, it's hard to argue too strenuously against those that do. Whether you like, love, or REALLY love it, this is a film that fully deserves the reputation it has gained over the years.

9/10

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