Fantastic!

disgusting, overrated, pointless

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Although this classic is not easy to find, it's well worth the time taken to track it down. It's a nicely made suspense thriller from Universal, produced during the war years, and it contains some very strong and mesmerizing performances. As the story goes, Charles Laughton plays a henpecked husband who meets the lovely and much younger Ella Raines. He is quickly charmed by her and will do anything to ensure that he is able to spend the rest of his life with her. So in a moment of utter desperation to escape his life of misery, so that he can be with Miss Raines, Laughton's character contrives to murder his wife and make it look like an accident. It may seem routine as these plots go, but the Hitchcockian story has flair and style thanks to Laughton's outstanding work.

When I give a movie a 10 rating, it's because the film is so good I would watch it again and The Suspect is one of those films that never lets me down. This is a very well turned out period melodrama, and the strength is in the performances. There are not many stories where you feel sympathy for the murderer, as you do for Charles Laughton's portrayal of the humble, henpecked husband. Laughton's performance is fascinating to watch, pure genius. Rosalind Ivans is perfect as his forever spiteful nagging wife. Ella Raines is delightfully lovely as the decent girl Laughton falls in love with. Henry Daniels is perfectly cast as the blackmailing neighbour, who ultimately seals Laughton's fate. The ending of this story is both very compelling and touching for the moral character Laughton plays. I will not give a synopsis for this top notch, underrated suspenseful film, as I encourage the reader to watch for themselves and be thoroughly entertained.

I finally got to see The Suspect one of the few Charles Laughton films I had not yet seen. I was totally bowled over by what he did in this film. It's really what film acting is all about, every breath, every nuance, every gesture is carefully delineated and brought to the screen. Laughton had a reputation for driving some of his directors a little nuts with his perfectionism and maybe he did to Robert Siodmark here. I prefer to think the two of them collaborated on a masterpiece.The setting is Edwardian London in 1902. From outward appearances Laughton is a happy man, making a good living with a wife and a grown son. But he is married to one shrew of a woman he's put up with for over 20 years. He's ripe for a midlife crisis and ripe to stray. But a friendship he develops with pretty young Ella Raines recently hired at Laughton's office drives wife Rosalind Ivan up a wall. Later on Ivan dies as a result of a fall down the house stairs. Nobody can prove one way or the other whether it was murder. Scotland Yard's Stanley Ridges is up a wall with it.Laughton and Ivan have a couple of neighbors, married couple Henry Daniell and Molly Lamont. When Ridges confides in Daniell during the course of the investigation, he inadvertently sets the stage for tragedy. Daniell himself says he's a 'total rotter' and proves it the audience's satisfaction. The Suspect is one of many films based on the famous Dr. Crippen murder which was also in the same period. The only fault with the film is that the rest of the cast is fairly one dimensional in their characters next to Charles Laughton. But if you are a Laughton fan, this film is an absolute must.

I love a good suspenseful movie--particularly one where you find yourself rooting for the murderer! Charles Laughton plays a humble little man with a shrew for a wife. She is just plain mean and rotten and really needs to be killed! Any way, Laughton meets a nice young lady but does not cheat on his wife--they are just platonic friends at this point. You seem to understand that Laughton WANTS to make take this relationship to a deeper level, but his sense of decency prevents him from cheating on his wife--even if she is meaner than Godzilla. The shrew finds out about this friendship and delights in announcing she will use ALL her energy to destroy this decent woman. At this moment, Laughton has finally been pushed too far and he kills her (hooray).The police do not suspect foul play and Laughton seems to have gotten away with it--and the viewer will find themselves pulling for him! However, the evil neighbor stumbles upon the truth and blackmails Laughton. So, you grow to REALLY hate this neighbor and when Laughton subsequently poisons him, once again you are cheering for him to get away with murder! I won't give away the very end of the picture, but I like that Laughton's inherent decency comes through. Two murders and BOTH seem very justified---now that's a creative twist!