The Unsuspected (1947)

Why this picture is so unknown by us,maybe the good premisse falling dowm after a few little mistakes in the plot,some obscure happenings can explain it and some twists and many unbelievable facts make a damage without recovered on sight,the whole picture is supported by the fine casting strong direction and a fear atmosphere about to come,Claude Rains's character is certainly madness and without purpose at all,pure insanity instead master of mystery as he wants to imply yourself to the audience,sometimes quite absurd plot,sometimes don't!! Still .....for a movie by Michael Curtiz was to expect more!!Resume:First watch: 2018 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 8

For his final film on his Warner Brothers contract Claude Rains got a starring role instead of being in support of one or two of Warner's name contract leads. Rains plays Victor Grandison the host of a radio mystery show where he narrates crime stories. He's a most popular host with good Hooper ratings I'm sure. Hooper by the way was the equivalent of the Nielsen ratings for television.Rains lives well courtesy of his niece Joan Caulfield who has some large inherited wealth. There's another niece Audrey Totter who lives with them and her husband Hurd Hatfield, but not happily. One of Rains's aides at the radio station is murdered. Then Caulfield is reported missing at sea. Before she's found Ted North arrives at the estate claiming to be her husband, but she can't remember getting married.A couple of more deaths occur and always Rains is The Unsuspected one. What he is is a master manipulator of people and events. The key to it all is North who is definitely not what he seems. Also Constance Bennett is around who works at the radio station. I liked her, but she's got a most ill defined role. And we never do learn why the first aide is killed.Nevertheless Claude Rains is really giving a performance that they ought to show in acting classes. So many emotions, so subtly conveyed. For Claude Rains fans everywhere.

The Unsuspected is directed by Michael Curtiz and adapted to screenplay by Bess Meredyth and Ranald MacDougall from the novel written by Charlotte Armstrong. It stars Joan Caulfield, Claude Rains, Audrey Totter, Constance Bennett, Hurd Hatfield and Ted North. Music is by Franz Waxman and cinematography by Elwood Bredell. A girl has been murdered but the police think it's suicide. A woman presumed killed at sea returns to the family home and finds she has a husband she can't remember. Her uncle hosts a radio murder mystery show where the stories seem spine chillingly real. And of course there's finances to be lost or gained. Just what is going on at the Grandison Mansion? If you don't get a hold of yourself your mind will crack! Not as obscure as it once was, The Unsuspected has emerged as a film noir favourite in spite of its self-conscious style over substance being. With similarities to Otto Preminger's Laura, amongst others, and weakness of plot machinations, you sense that the great Michael Curtiz realised he had to up the ante in the art of expressionistic chiaroscuro to off-set the short fall elsewhere in the production. But boy does he! Aided by Bredell (Phantom Lady/The Killers), Curtiz (Casablanca/Mildred Pierce) produces a masterclass in imaginative direction. Lighting and shadows are used to full effect in portraying the psychological discord that beats constantly in the lavish mansion where majority of the tale is set, a place where paranoia, confusion and claustrophobia finds a home. Silhouettes of crimes committed strike atmospheric chords, as do the uses of bar shadows. As the script merrily trundles out sexually suggestive and witty barbs, the array of characters portrayed with relish by a Curtiz inspired cast, the director also inserts some stunning scenes. A neon sign deftly shot, billowing curtains suggesting turmoil, a bubbling glass of tainted champagne a foreboding presence, and many off-kilter reflections used throughout to represent duplicity or a fractured mind. Visually this is noir nirvana for sure. If only the screenplay was as intricate as it thinks it is, where quite often the story gets saddled with giant implausibilities. As the bodies pile up the motives and means start to come off as daft, which is a shame as the radio inspired backdrop is interesting for the time. There's also a couple of well constructed action scenes, though the editing for the cars is suspect, while Hatfield raises a laugh (intentional?) when in one scene he reminds us he was Dorian Gray two years earlier. A must see on a visual basis for the film noir enthusiast, but the core basic melodramatics of the tale may have you hankering for Laura after all. 7.5/10

Deftly directed by Michael Curtiz and starring a slew of first-rate entertainers such as Claude Rains, Audrey Totter, Constance Bennet, Hurd Hatfield, Joan Caulfield, and the always overlooked Fred Clark, The Unsuspected seems to be in the shadow of other film noir films of the decade(at least by many of the review accounts on here)most notably Laura with Clifton Webb and Gene Tierney. Well, I love Laura and think it is a first-rate film - it is a different kind of film as well. The Unsuspected is generated by different goals and objectives by the lead "killer" if you will. Curtiz is always impressive creating suspense and keeps the pacing of the film very tight and tense. The actors do excellent jobs playing a variety of character types with Claude Rains stealing his scenes as only he can with that deceptively mellifluous voice. Fred Clark plays a detective that somewhat acts as the film's conscience in a way. Clark gives a very subtle yet strong performance. I have always felt he had been overlooked as an actor, because he was so good with comedic roles. At any rate, The Unsuspected is a great mystery thriller with a series of murders, attempted murders, a drugging, a fake identity, and a radio broadcast all figuring into the resolution prominently.