A Masterpiece!

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

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

Wealthy Joan Caulfield (Matilda) has her portrait hanging over the fire-place. She's dead. Ted North (Steven) turns up at her house claiming to be her husband but her uncle Claude Rains (Victor) is suspicious. North looks like a Thunderbirds puppet. Secretary Barbara Woodell (Rosalyn) has been murdered in the house but at the moment everyone thinks it is suicide. Or do they? Things need investigating. And who's that getting on a plane….it looks like Caulfield. The film has a glossy, stylish feel to it and you can probably guess what's going on after a bit of initial trial and error. After about an hour, you are in no doubt as to what is going on and it is from about this point where everything becomes clear. And another couple of bodies show up. However, up to this point, I found it confusing. It's badly cast and badly written although still interesting to watch.Who cast Audrey Totter alongside Constance Bennett and dressed them in a similar fashion? They look the fricking same, you ass-holes! Result – audience confusion from the beginning. Also, it is not until about one hour when we discover what the relationships are between Caulfield, Totter and Rains. I'm still not sure I understand it. Are Totter and Caulfield sisters? Very sloppy story-telling. Again, result – audience confusion from the beginning.There's nothing too original about the story and Thunderbirds puppet man is pretty creepy to look at. Rains is good as always. His short stature seems to be highlighted – again poor casting - and it's also pretty obvious who the baddie is given the atmospheric clues, use of dark and shade, timely appearances, etc. You watch it and that's it, really. It's OK.

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

I have yet to understand the mindset of the major studios putting out clunkers on DVD, yet not paying much attention to the classic movie scene, except for the major hitters. I'm sure it takes more time since many of these need some restoration work and subtitles. However, superb classics such as The Unsuspected (directed by a MAJOR studio director no less)should have some attention paid to them. It's a shame that The Uninvited, the finest ghost story every to appear on film, has yet to be studio released either.I just noticed that Amazon is touting DVD's that are copied from the TV and put onto DVR's for nearly $30.00! I can get them for $10.00 from Brad Lang.All that being said, The Unsuspected is lush viewing and has a great script with a couple of sassy broads (Totter & Bennett)tossing off one-liners like hand grenades. There are a couple of glaring plot holes (hence my rating of 9 instead of 10), but I'll forgive that since the film is so wonderful in every other way.