 "Before the Fact!" | 2010-03-07 |
| - Reviewed By James from Sausalito, CA |
Shy but beautiful Lina falls for Johnny, a guy who gambles, loses often, is a pathological liar and lives off other people's money. After they elope, she begins to fear for her life when she discovers Johnny's dark past and real intentions in this Hitchcock thriller.
Scene: Is going to run away with John to elope; touching scene when she walks in to her parents room -- dad smoking his pipe; mother crocheting -- and though they do not suspect a thing, she is torn with guilt. Joan Fontaine's acting in this scene is quite heart-wrenching!
Some humor: it seems dear Johnny lives off other peoples' money and when asked by his new wife how is he going to pay for this new house, the maid, etc., he says, "Borrow more!" When she says get a job, he does a double-take! Oh brother!
Or when he gets two antique chairs from his new father-in-law, his first thought is to sell them, as he shrugs to the audience.
Suspicion spends a lot of time on the romance and the "look what I got myself into" sort of plot between these newlyweds.
But soon, she begins to suspect a dark side to Johnny, a side that may mean her murder at his hands!
He said he had a job, but his best pal Beaky says that he was at the races! Oh, what happened to the antique chairs? He sold them to pay his gambling and betting debts! Oh boy! "Well, of course it's Johnny!"
She finds her antiques in an antique shop -- soon after, he gets her a mink, jewels and Beekie a cane! He won a bit of money in the races. Lina is shocked! "See, that's Johnny!" Where did he get the money? She forgives him when he buys the chairs back.
The first half of the film runs like a romantic comedy for sure, complete with flutes and silly music in the background.
But the music gets darker as Lina is finding out more and more that her husband lives off other people's wealth and she's not happy about it. She finds that he was at the races again, even though he promised he wouldn't and also that he was caught embezzling from his employer who laid him off six weeks before and never told her. The employer/cousin is played by Leo G. Carroll, who appeared in several Hitchcock films over the years.
Lina has had enough, packs her bags and writes a letter telling him that she is leaving him. Another emotional scene, as she writes these words and realizes what they mean to her as well as to their relationship. Touching stuff. But then she rips up the letter. Johnny then walks into the room and they have a confrontation. However, he reveals that her father has passed away and hands her the telegram.
Now, all through the film there have been the comments here and there "Do you think I'm trying to kill you?" and other such murderous thoughts that she does not "tweak" on until later in the film.
The famous milk scene when an apparently glowing glass of milk is taken up the stairs and presented to his wife. And earlier, Johnny was asking someone about an odorless, tasteless poison.
The end of the film is gripping and suspenseful. The beginning though plays like an average tired romantic film. It's not sure if it wants to be a "chick flick" or a romantic "murder mystery."
I'm happy to report that Hitchcock polished his skills as a director in the 1950s, but Suspicion, though well done, does not yet meet the bar set by later films.
As a final note, I like the 1940s chaste kissing in romantic films better than the "eating face" slobbering of some of today's romantic films and television. There was more an air of mystery and excitement in these films that one is hard-pressed to discover today in most films. Some romantic films do have that charm, such as the recent "The Proposal." But these are rare.
Joan Fontaine won Best Actress for her portrayal of the bookish, conservative Lina.
Other Joan Fontaine Films:
The Bigamist (1953) [Remastered Edition]
Island in the Sun
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 "Cary is really mean to Joan Fontaine - a jerk" | 2009-08-30 |
| - Reviewed By cklassicfilm lover from MA USA |
| I love both of these actors, but this plot wasn't my cup of tea. He takes her precious chairs to sell for gambling money, and has schemes to make a futune quick and easy.He calls her "Monkey face" which is appalling too! I love Joan Fontaine and just felt sad for her in this movie. The ending was unfulfilling too. Plus my copy had stop and starts that interrupted the dvd many times, irritation! |
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 "Another Hitchcock masterpiece!!" | 2009-08-12 |
| - Reviewed By thegirliestgirl from Houston,TX |
Suspicion is one of my favorite movies and I recently read Before the Fact, the Frances Iles novel that it's based on. I was surprised at how closely the movie tracked the book with the most notable exception of the ending, which of course was dictated by the studio. Lina was such a sympathetic character and beautifully portrayed by the lovely and talented Joan Fontaine. She is so aware, of both her faults and Johnnie's, that it's almost painful to watch. At times I wanted to shake her--she is drawn to Johnnie like an addict to their drug and unable to resist his charm. Unlike some others, I think Cary Grant was perfectly cast as the charming, handsome ne'er-do-well. We all know (or should know) that ugliness may reside in some of the most attractive packages and how weak, lonely people are preyed upon (Lonely Hearts Murderers, etc).
For those who haven't read it, I highly recommend reading the book, it's also fantastic. |
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| "Amazing film" | 2009-07-21 |
| - Reviewed By purplehaloz |
Joan Fontaine and Carey Grant play two characters that need each other for different reasons. Grant's character, Johnnie Aysgarth, is looking for financial security through his liason with wealthy women. He plays upon Fontaine's character, Lina's feminine insecurities--she is not beautiful and is growing into spinsterhood--to ring her into his orbit. While secure women would find Johnnie's quirks troublesome--he calls her "monkey face" and brags about his scores of romantic conquests on their first date--she falls for his charms and marries him against the wishes of her upper-class parents who disapprove of Johnnie's horse-betting and other unsettling lifestyle habits.
Suspicion is a strange story about star-crossed lovers that nevertheless seem to suit each other on some level. The ending is ambiguous, and in a sense, more fulfilling because of it.
Suspicion is a wonderful film, one of Hitchcock's most interesting, because the characters so at odds with each other, with one taking advantage of the other, destroying that person's trust, yet seem to keep going in spite of it. One wonders at Lina's refusal to leave Johnnie at every, deceitful turn, yet also begin to see that there might be something besides money that Johnnie is hoping to get out that marriage. Fascinating film! |
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| "Twisted love" | 2009-02-16 |
| - Reviewed By Nallian from KY |
| Suspenseful and fun. Grant and Fontaine are newlyweds in this film but is love or murder on their minds? A Hitchcock class-"macguffin" and all. |
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| "5 for Grant" | 2009-02-09 |
| - Reviewed By An Amazon User |
| If you look past the dated camera work, sets, all that, you have a great movie. 9 out of 10 Grant movies should automatically get 5 stars |
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