BEFORE: The next logical film would be "The Postman Always Rings Twice", since that was also written by James M. Cain, but I don't have a copy of that one. So, I'm surrendering to a somewhat more random process of selecting the next film - murder is still involved, but I'm not sweating the details. And I still get lucky - Edward G. Robinson from "Double Indemnity" also appeared in the 1942 film "Tales of Manhattan" with Charles Laughton (last seen in "Mutiny on the Bounty").
THE PLOT: Agatha Christie tale of a man on trial for murder: a trial featuring surprise after surprise.
AFTER: It's not your typical Agatha Christie story, we're all more used to her detective stories featuring Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot - but what is a trial but a detective story played out in a courtroom? Actually, this film shares quite a bit of plot with "Double Indemnity", which had a woman killing her older husband after taking out an insurance policy on him - here a man is accused of killing his older girlfriend after being named beneficiary in her will. We'll just replace "claims adjuster" with "judge" and set the thing in the British court system. Which is great, if you're into the powdered wig thing.
This film was like the original "Law & Order", although once again I'm struck by the appalling lack of criminology on display in the late 1950's. This was well before DNA was used in court cases, so it's a wonder anything got sufficiently proven. Great, you found blood type "O" at the scene - which places this guy at the scene, or any of 2 million other people in the U.K. who have that same blood type. Nice work. It's also a wonder that anyone commits a crime these days after watching "CSI", which leads you to believe that with half a fingerprint they can identify your second cousin and the street you lived on as a child.
Anyway, without the benefit of DNA or any hard evidence, lawyers (barristers) had to be a lot more crafty and ask all sorts of those twisty questions, hoping to cause the defendant to have a hysterical breakdown and shout "It was me, OK! I did it, now stop asking me all these tricky questions!".
I could have done without the World War II flashback, which added nothing to the story that we didn't already know. And the lawyer's heart condition seemed quite a bit over the top. And then there were about 18 reversals near the end, so that's maybe a few too many. Finally we get to the truth (or, do we?) and everyone's true nature is revealed - too bad it's off the record. Now everybody who worked on the case can go on a cruise! (or, can they?) Do you really want to see Charles Laughton in Bermuda shorts?
Also starring Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Elsa Lanchester,
RATING: 4 out of 10 love letters
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