During the last year or so, I have been picking up more Hitchcock movies to add to my DVD collection.  Several of the movies I've gotten have been ones that I haven't seen before.  I just watched The Paradine Case, one of the movies I haven't seen before.

The young, beautiful Maddalena Paradine is arrested after her older, blind husband is poisoned.  Sir Simon Flaquer, her barrister helps her through the beginning of the process and suggest that Anthony Keane actually defend her during the trial.  Anthony is a very successful barrister who tends to win his cases.  He seems taken with Maddalena when he first meets her and as he spends more time working on the case, his feelings grow.  His wife Gay realizes that her husband had feelings for his client.  She insists that he stay on the case, feeling that if there is a guilty verdict, she will lose him.  Anthony tries to develop a defense while Maddalena isn't that cooperative.

The Paradine Case is the last movie that Hitchcock made under his contract with David O. Selznick.  The two men clashed on previous movies, mostly over Selznick's need to oversee everything.  For this movie, Selznick even wrote the screenplay when he wasn't satisfied with the adaptation done.  From what I have read about the filming, Selznick would write new pages for the script every day.  Maybe the tensions between Selznick and Hitchcock is part of why this movie isn't as interesting as it could have been.  Selznick also took over the editing of the movie, cutting a lot from the almost three hour long version Hitchcock turned in.  I'm thinking Selznick's editing is another reason the movie isn't that interesting.  The movie is based on the book by Robert Smythe Hichens.  I don't know for sure what all was changed from the book, but I have read about a few things that the censors of the time wouldn't let in the movie.

When The Paradine Case begins, Maddalena's husband is already dead.  There aren't any flashbacks, so he is never seen.  I'm not completely sure, but I think at least a little bit of time passed after his death before she was arrested.  At that point, very little is known about the death.  After Anthony takes the case and starts working on a defense, more things slowly come out.  Most of the movie is focused on Anthony working on the case.  The pace is slower overall and not that much happens.  I haven't had problems with a slower pace in other Hitchcock movies, but it just doesn't build to anything.  This is one of the duller Hitchcock movies that I've seen.  

I don't feel like there is much mystery to The Paradine Case.  The plot has potential and seems interesting, though with the way the material is handled, it isn't as interesting as I had hoped.  Anthony does work to figure out what happened and he uncovers a few things.  There is no suspense to what is going on.  There are a few sequences that I think were supposed to be suspenseful but just seen pointless.  The climax of the movie is intended to be shocking and surprising but it isn't.  Maybe the revelation was more shocking when the movie was made in 1947.  I think the movie could have had more mystery and been more suspenseful if the material was handled better.  Several scenes are set in the court room during the trail.  That is a bit different since I'm not sure to the way trials are handled in England.  I have no idea how accurate the trial is.  The trial does have an interesting shot.  During the filming of the court scenes, Hitchcock used four cameras focused on different characters and then the footage from the different cameras was edited together.

Anthony and Gay have a good marriage and seem happy together.  The first time they are shown together, they are a bit playful with each other and affectionate.  All that starts to change after Anthony takes the case.    He is infatuated with Maddalena and it isn't long before he is vocally standing up for her.  The dynamic between him and Gay becomes very different, with Gay becoming more suspicious.  She decides that the only way to keep her husband is for Maddalena to be found not guilty, so she talks Anthony out of leaving the case.  Anthony and Maddalena aren't shown together much and it seems like his feelings develop very fast.  Maybe some of what Selznick cut would have better shown the development of Anthony's feelings for Maddalena.  With what is actually shown, it just seems like he is dazzled by her looks.

Maddalena is very important to what is going on, but almost everything about her remains a mystery throughout the movie.  She is secretive and doesn't want to tell Anthony anything he asks.  She isn't that cooperative with building her defense.  Italian actress Alida Valli does well with the part.  Andre Latour worked for Maddalena's husband before his death.  He keeps contradicting himself with what he does and says.  Louis Jordan is fine in the part.

Anthony is a happily married, successful barrister who usually wins his cases.  He agrees to defend Maddalena and is soon obsessed with the case and his client despite her indifference to him.  Gregory Peck is fine in the part.  Gay is Anthony's wife.  She is just shown to first be incredibly supportive of her husband and then more suspicious as she begins to believe he has fallen for Maddalena.  Gay seems like a nice enough character, though she just isn't developed enough to know for sure.  Ann Todd does well with what she has to work with.    

Sir Simon Flaquer is Maddalena's barrister, though he doesn't defend her in the murder trial.  He suggests his friend Anthony for that.  Simon is mostly shown talking to his daughter Judy about the case.  Judy also happens to be Gay's friend. Judy is very observant and figures out what is going on with Anthony.  Charles Coburn and Joan Tetzel are fine in the parts.  

Lord Thomas Horfield is the judge assigned to the case.  He is at least an acquaintance of Anthony and Simon since they all have dinner together.  Lord Horfield doesn't do a lot.  Charles Laughton is fine in the part.  His wife does even less and there doesn't seem much point for her to be in the movie.  Sophie turns up in a few short scenes and she does act like she is missing a few marbles the short time she is on camera.  I was a bit surprised to learn that Ethyl Barrymore was nominated for an Oscar for the performance since she really didn't do much.  From some things I've read, it sounds like her part was bigger before Selznick did his editing.

Main Cast
    
Ethyl Barrymore - Lady Sophie Horfield
Charles Coburn - Sir Simon Flaquer
Louis Jordan - Andre Latour
Charles Laughton - Lord Thomas Horfield
Gregory Peck - Anthony Keane
Joan Tetzel - Judy Flaquer
Ann Todd - Gay Keane
Alida Valli - Maddalena Paradine

Alfred Hitchcock - Director

DVD Information

My copy of The Paradine Case is part of the Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection, a DVD set that has eight of Hitchcock's earlier movies.  The movie is also available by itself.  I think there has been at least one other DVD release of the movie, though I don't know for sure.  The picture quality is very good overall, though the quality isn't as good in a few scenes.  The extras include a commentary with film historians, an isolated music and effects track, a 1949 radio play, an audio interview of Hitchcock by Peter Bogdanovich, a restoration comparison, the original theatrical trailer, and a still gallery.  There isn't anything on the making of the movie like there has been with some of the other Hitchcock movies I have on DVD.

The Paradine Case had potential to be a really interesting movie, but it ultimately ends up being rather dull and not surprising at all.  I've heard Rebecca described as the most Un-Hitchcock Hitchcock movie, but I think that description better fits this movie.  Fans of Hitchcock might find a few things to like about the movie, but they won't miss much if they don't watch it.

Hitchcock Movie Reviews
The Birds ~ Dial M for Murder ~ Family Plot ~ Lifeboat ~ The Lodger ~ The Man Who Knew Too Much ~ North by Northwest ~ Notorious ~ Psycho ~ Rear Window ~ Rebecca ~ Rope ~ Sabotage ~ Strangers on a Train ~ Suspicion ~ To Catch a Thief ~ Vertigo ~

Recommended: No

Viewing Format: DVD