The Paradine Case (1947)

Mevrouw Maddalena Paradine wordt gearresteerd wegens moord op haar rijke, blinde echtgenoot. Een jonge, ambitieuze advocaat neemt de zaak op zich. Hij raakt al snel zeer gefascineerd door mevrouw Paradine en door persoonlijke nieuwsgierigheid gedreven gaat hij op onderzoek.

Set MovieMeter.nl as default synopis Visit MM

Considering Alfred Hitchcock's lifelong fascination with murder and suspense, it is remarkable that The Paradine Case stands as a rare Hitchcock courtroom drama. A beautiful woman (Maddalena Anna Paradine, played by the enchanting Alida Valli) stands accused of murdering her wealthy, blind husband. She enlists the aid of renowned lawyer Anthony Keane (Gregory Peck). As they prepare her defense, the chemistry between the two begins to heat up. And as his emotions for Mrs. Paradine grow stronger, Keane grows more convinced of her innocence. The case will be a difficult one, however, as the judge (Charles Laughton) ...
Read more

is no friend of Keane's; the queen's prosecutor, played by the excellent Leo G. Carroll, is a serious foe; and only an inspired defense will have any chance of clearing Mrs. Paradine.
Read less..

Set jinni.com as default synopis Visit jinni.com

Based on a novel by Robert Hichens, The Paradine Case concerns Anna Paradine (Alida Valli), on trial for the murder of her wealthy husband. British barrister Anthony Keane (played by the aggressively American Gregory Peck) takes on the case-and in the process, falls in love with Anna, despite being married himself. Despite his client's protests, Keane summons Anna's lover, unkempt stableman Andre Latour (Louis Jourdan), hoping to prove in court that Latour was the killer. Only after a series of stunning upsets does Keane realize that, for the first time in his career, he has allowed his heart to rule his head. In...
Read more

a typically perverse Hitchcockian development, the film's most unpleasant character, an autocratic, vindictive judge played by Charles Laughton, is one of the few who can see through Anna's facade. Hitchcock had wanted Greta Garbo to play Anna Paradine, and indeed a screen test was filmed, but Garbo ultimately declined. At the time of filming, Hitchcock was enamored with uninterrupted, 10-minute takes (later used to the extreme in Rope); thus, the Old Bailey courtroom set where much of the action takes place was designed to accommodate multiple cameras and elaborately conceived crane movements. Such techniques were cumbersome in 1947, and as a result the over-illuminated set ended up costing $70,000, jacking up the film's overall budget to a whopping $3 million (quite a pretty penny in those days). The film was a box-office disappointment, spelling the end of the always-rocky association between Alfred Hitchcock and producer David O. Selznick.
Read less..

Set AllMovie.com as default synopis Visit AM