Click on the headline to link to a Wikipedia entry for the 1947 Alfred
Hitchcock film, The Paradine Case.
DVD Review
The Paradine Case, starring Gregory Peck, Anne Todd, Alida Valli, Louis
Jourdan, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Selznick International Pictures, 1947
Okay, okay I ‘ll back off a
little on my remark that on the basis of two recently reviewed Alfred Hitchcock
films, The
Wrong Man and I Confess, apparently the late thriller director had less that total admiration
for the cops, the New York City and Quebec City cops anyway. Yah, the cops, the
London cops, got it right, got it right up to the big step off as they collared
their man, oops woman, wrapped it up tight, and let the long arm of justice take
its course. But see there was dame involved, a femme fatale to boot so you can hardly blame a guy like me (or Hitchcock’s London
cops for that matter under other circumstances) for not seeing what was clear as
day in front of us. But it was a close thing anyway before the end, and some
pretty big time lawyers, oops, barristers got egg on their faces before it was
all over.
I better explain (and explain
fast before some irate cop gives me, poor me, the third degree
for complaining about their police procedures). See this mysterious woman, this
femme fatale there is no other way to call it discreetly, was married to a mucky-mucky
blind (age and infirmity blind) English rich gentleman named Paradine who wound
up very, very dead one night having ingested a poisoned drink. Naturally his
ever-loving wife, Mrs. Paradine (played by Alida Valli), young, fetching,
restless, of indeterminate background, and, oh yah, a femme fatale, if I didn’t
mention that before was the easy choice to step off for the caper. Mrs. Paradine
though was not without financial resources and could and did hire the best up
and coming criminal defense lawyer
around town, oops again, barrister, Tony Keane(played by Gregory Peck), a very, very married barrister by the way. Married
to an upper crust woman (played by Anne Todd) who was perhaps just a bit too
stiff upper lip and earnest when all is said and done.
Naturally when a femme is on the prowl every guy within ten miles is fair game and, of course,
Tony forgets every law 101 thing that got him to where he was including taking a
big fall for Mrs. Paradine once she got her hooks into him. Those hooks included
Tony, against all reason and evidence, trying to set up Colonel Paradine’s valet,
Andre, as the fall guy (played by Louis Jourdan).That proved to be Tony’s undoing
as Mrs. Paradine, turning out to be a good femme, or my idea of a good femme, won’t hear of
letting Andre take the fall, especially after Tony has grilled Andre on the stand
in court and as a result Andre commits suicide. That knowledge unravels Mrs. Paradine
who admits in open court, against all reason since that all male jury was also
swayable, that Andre was her lover and that she, and she alone, murdered her husband
to run off with him.
Build those gallows high, very
high indeed. Naturally the very earnest Mrs. Keane took her Tony back, or wanted to
but you can see, see as clear as day, how even big time lawyers, oops once more,
barristers could have gotten thrown off
course when a femme is in the room. So what do expect of poor amateur like me who was
secretly pulling for her just like I do for every femme, good or bad. But that too was a close thing.
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