Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine and Nigel Bruce in the Alfred Hitchcock movie ‘Suspicion’

Using the pseudonym Francis Iles with the 1932 crime novel Before the Fact, Anthony Berkeley Cox wrote what became the underpinning for the movie Suspicion (1941). The movie offers an interesting mixture of Alfred Hitchcock‘s perspectives of film noir, romance and psychological thriller. It’s our belief that you should watch the movie Suspicion.

(From left, Cary Grant as Johnnie Aysgarth and Joan Fontaine as Lina McLaidlaw Aysgarth in the Alfred Hitchcock movie Suspicion).

Suspicion establishes setting and character when eligible, handsome and financially irresponsible Johnnie Aysgarth meets Lina McLaidlaw on a train traveling in England. Johnnie aims to initiate conversation with a suspicious insult meant as a means of beginning the desire for communication. When Lina later overhears her parents mentioning that they believe Lina will never marry, she lashes out by kissing Johnnie in defiance. Cary Grant portrayed Johnnie Aysgarth. Joan Fontaine, winner of an Academy Award for the performance, portrayed Lina McLaidlaw.

(Cedric Hardwicke as General McLaidlaw in the Alfred Hitchcock movie Suspicion).

The kiss to spite her parents leads to an afternoon date between Lina and Johnnie, which Johnnie cancels before vanishing. Things eventually turn around, with a proposal for marriage that Lina’s wealthy father opposes with decided strength. Cedric Hardwicke and May Whitty portrayed General McLaidlaw and Mrs. Martha McLaidlaw, parents to Lina, respectively.

(From left, Joan Fontaine as Lina McLaidlaw Aysgarth and May Whitty as Mrs. Martha McLaidlaw in the Alfred Hitchcock movie Suspicion).

This escalating romance eventually leads to the couple’s decision to elope, thus making the wealthy couple’s daughter Lina McLaidlaw Aysgarth. The story escalates into an increasingly thrilling set of actions that become decidedly film noir when the state of Johnnie’s finances come to light with the notion for how to pay for a luxurious wedding and living arrangements come into focus. The selling of family heirlooms to cover gambling debts are simply the beginning.

(From left, Cary Grant as Johnnie Aysgarth, Joan Fontaine as Lina McLaidlaw Aysgarth and Nigel Bruce as Gordon Cochrane ‘Beaky’ Thwaite in the Alfred Hitchcock movie Suspicion).

Things get deeper when a financial ambitions, including financial shenanigans that eventually escalate to confirm that a desperate times can call for desperate measures. Lina perceives a confidence play on a land deal between Johnnie and the good-natured Gordon Cochrane ‘Beaky’ Thwaite. Things really get elevate after Beaky travels to Paris, France. Nigel Bruce portrayed ‘Beaky’ Thwaite, and unwittingly points to some fascinating suspense for how the film ultimately resolves itself.

(From left, actor Cary Grant and director Alfred Hitchcock staging a shot for the Alfred Hitchcock movie Suspicion).

The intrigue throughout Suspicion resonates with me, 90-years after the book and 81-years after the movie. What will become of the romantic couple? Are the looks that are legitimate and suspect really what is about to happen? Is there even a chance that the truth isn’t what we suspect? That these are the questions leads to my granting Suspicion as directed by Alfred Hitchcock 4-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Saturday, June 4, 2022

Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart and Frank Morgan in the Ernst Lubitsch movie ‘The Shop Around the Corner’

Offering uplifting fare with a backdrop of Christmas, we turn the clock back more than 80 years to the Ernst Lubitsch romantic comedy The Shop Around the Corner (1940). The film is based on the Hungarian play Parfumerie (1936) by Miklós László, with the screenplay by Samson Raphaelson and Ben Hecht.

(From left, James Stewart as Alfred Kralik and Margaret Sullavan as Klara Novak in the Ernst Lubitsch movie The Shop Around the Corner).

Klara Novak and Alfred Kralik are introduced to us as a new and a tenured employee of a store owned by Hugo Matuschek named Matuschek and Company. Klara and Alfred have clearly different sensibilities for how best to help Hugo choose merchandise and operate his store, which spills over to their relationship over time at the store. Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart and Frank Morgan star as Klara Novak, Alfred Kralik and Hugo Matuschek, respectively.

(Frank Morgan as Hugo Matuschek in the Ernst Lubitsch movie The Shop Around the Corner).

A series of supporting salespeople, delivery staff and others support the operation. The staff includes Pirovitch, a family man portrayed by Felix Bressart, womanizer Ferencz Vadas, as portrayed by Joseph Schildkraut, saleswoman Ilona Novotny as portrayed by Inez Courtney, clerk Flora Kaczek as portrayed by Sara Haden and the precocious yet ambitious delivery boy Pepi Katona, as portrayed by William Tracy.

(From left, Felix Bressart as Pirovitch and William Tracy as Pepi Katona in the Ernst Lubitsch movie The Shop Around the Corner).

The groundwork for the film begins with the established protocols of the store along with a difference of opinion over the selling of cigarette boxes, which is the occasion of Klara Novak and Alfred Kralik unwittingly coming into conflict. That Alfred and Klara secretly are falling for one another as anonymous love interests through the mail leads to a significant segment of the romantic comedy of the film. That the cigarette boxes cause turmoil between Kralik and Hugo Matuschek calls a secure working arrangement for Kralik into doubt.

(From left, Joseph Schildkraut as Ferencz Vadas and James Stewart as Alfred Kralik in the Ernst Lubitsch movie The Shop Around the Corner).

A serious complication within the operation of the store takes the disagreement between Kralik and Matuschek down a path that rearranges the dramatic turns of the movie into a more uplifting turn for Alfred Kralik. Kralik satisfyingly gets to decide the fate of a distasteful member of the staff while also getting to exert additional influence over the fate of the store as well as his budding romance. Pepi Katona earns the right to shine for a moment in the growing optimism of shifting fortune.

(From left, Margaret Sullavan as Klara Novak and James Stewart as Alfred Kralik in the Ernst Lubitsch movie The Shop Around the Corner).

An uplifting romantic comedy set against the backdrop of Christmas simply must come to resolution on the night before Christmas. The store sees a positive under the guidance of Alfred Kralik. Klara Novak and Alfred Kralik take the moment to see through some firmly difficult interpersonal views to speak the truth to one another. Happiness comes through the other side of a story that sees fit to invite doubts and obstacles to keep what feels right from fruition.

(From left, actress Margaret Sullavan, director Ernst Lubitsch and actor James Stewart on the set of the Ernst Lubitsch movie The Shop Around the Corner).

The movie You’ve Got Mail (1998) borrows from The Shop Around the Corner by using the notion of anonymous correspondence between two people leading to their falling in love being an important plot point. The notion worked in 1940 and largely worked in 1998. The highly satisfying story coupled with highly satisfying performances within The Shop Around the Corner as directed by Ernst Lubitsch leads me to grant the movie 4.25-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Saturday, December 11, 2021