The Suspect (1945)

An unhappy husband has an affair with a young woman, but what will he do when his wife finds out? Simple tale of greed and murder that fails to plumb the depths. At first I thought there was a clever misdirection on who would turn out to be the villain, but no - this just coasts along in an understated way, with little intrigue or complexity. There is one suspenseful scene involving a cat, but that's about it.Other reviewers praise the restraint of the director in the murder scenes, and I'm fine with that, but what seemed to leave room for ambiguity turned out to be nothing more than self-censorship. In fact the second scene was a little confusing, leaving unintended doubt as to whether the victim was dead.Laughton gives a good performance, but even he couldn't provide a flash of insight into this character. As for the other actors, there really wasn't much for anyone to work with. It's a shortish run time and quite underwhelming. Only thing to praise is the sets.Overall: Sober and forgettable melodrama.

Leave it to Charles Laughton to garner more sympathy than his victims while wishing the police would not do their job in The Suspect, a turn of the twentieth century cat and mouse that has you in the killer's corner. Successful, respected merchant Philip is married to Cora, a contemptuous harridan to both father and son. When the son moves to Canada Philip meets a younger woman but honors his vows until the hateful Cora stretches him to the limit and he offs her free of blame by all except Scotland Yard's detective Huxley who doggedly pursues. When an unctuous wife beating neighbor blackmails him he strikes again.The Suspect is an outstanding low key thriller that has you siding with the "villain" given his situation and the venal opponents he faces. Even the investigator has an unctuous intrusive way that offends especially when dealing with the total gentleman and well respected man Philip is. Laughton gives a beautifully measured and restrained performance that evokes great sympathy for a murderer; much of it with silent expressions and glances as well as stretch the part from pathetic to cocksure, tender to hateful. It is one of Laughton's finest and most underrated performances. As the dissipated neighbor poor man's George Sander's, Henry Daniell gives one of his finer efforts especially in the scene where he is spouting cynicism into the next world.For his part, director Robert Siodmak rightfully deserves comparison to Lang and Hitchcock as he delivers half a dozen intense moments with his impeccable display of film language displaying nothing of a grisly nature but only inferring. He also works in some timely comic relief to lift matters and give Philip and us some breathing room as we hope he makes it to the steamship bound for Canada on time.

He is married and stuck for life with a monster when he meets the ideal candidate for a life's companion. It's a thriller of great suspense, and your sympathies are with Laughton all the way as he is pestered by a nosy inspector and the worst possible immediate neighbour, who manhandles his wife and blackmails him. The conclusion is devastating and leaves you with a permanent impression of the deepest sadness and pity. At the same time, it leaves you mercifully hanging in the air.Objections could be made to some turns of the tale. The inspector is a bit too sharp for credibility, and Laughton is a bit too fast in his sudden decisions, but that's the flaw of Mr. Marshall's character. Nevertheless, the actors are all perfect, especially the women, and it is beautifully filmed. A perfect film to get upset by for the shortcomings of human nature.

No plot summary here, just watch this film and if you're a film buff and love the old films, here ya go. You'll become fascinated and addicted to Charles Laughton, who is one of the greatest actors to ever appear in films. He breathes so much life and brings so much nuance into this role that it's supernatural.