''The Paradine Case'' is a 1947 American

film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American '' ...

courtroom drama A legal drama is a genre of film and television that generally focuses on narratives regarding legal practice and the justice system. The American Film Institute (AFI) defines "courtroom drama" as a genre of film in which a system of justice pla ...

film, set in England, directed by

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

and produced by

David O. Selznick David O. Selznick (May 10, 1902June 22, 1965) was an American film producer, screenwriter and film studio executive who produced '' Gone with the Wind'' (1939) and ''Rebecca'' (1940), both of which earned him an Academy Award for Best Picture. ...

. The screenplay was written by Selznick and an uncredited

Ben Hecht Ben Hecht (; February 28, 1894 – April 18, 1964) was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, journalist, and novelist. A successful journalist in his youth, he went on to write 35 books and some of the most enjoyed screenplay ...

, from an adaptation by Alma Reville and

James Bridie James Bridie (3 January 1888 in Glasgow – 29 January 1951 in Edinburgh) was the pseudonym of a Scottish playwright, screenwriter and physician whose real name was Osborne Henry Mavor.Daniel Leary (1982) ''Dictionary of Literary Biography: ...

of the 1933 novel of the same title by Robert Smythe Hichens. The film stars

Gregory Peck Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the 12th-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood ...

Ann Todd Dorothy Ann Todd (24 January 1907 – 6 May 1993) was an English film, television and stage actress who achieved international fame when she starred in 1945's '' The Seventh Veil''. From 1949 to 1957 she was married to David Lean who directed h ...

Alida Valli Alida Maria Laura, '' Freiin'' Altenburger von Marckenstein-Frauenberg (31 May 1921 – 22 April 2006), better known by her stage name Alida Valli (or simply Valli), was an Italian actress who appeared in more than 100 films in a 70-year career, ...

Charles Laughton Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future ...

, Charles Coburn,

Ethel Barrymore Ethel Barrymore (born Ethel Mae Blythe; August 15, 1879 – June 18, 1959) was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors. Barrymore was a stage, screen and radio actress whose career spanned six decades, and was regard ...

, and

Louis Jourdan Louis Jourdan (born Louis Robert Gendre; 19 June 1921 – 14 February 2015) was a French film and television actor. He was known for his suave roles in several Hollywood films, including Alfred Hitchcock's '' The Paradine Case'' (1947), ''Lette ...

. It tells of an English

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and givin ...

who falls in love with a woman who is accused of murder, and how it affects his relationship with his wife.

Plot

In London, Maddalena Anna Paradine (

) is a very beautiful and enigmatic young Italian woman who is accused of poisoning her older, blind husband, a wealthy retired colonel. It is not clear whether she is a grateful and devoted wife who has been falsely charged or a calculating and ruthless

femme fatale A ''femme fatale'' ( or ; ), sometimes called a maneater or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype o ...

. Mrs. Paradine's solicitor, Sir Simon Flaquer ( Charles Coburn), hires Anthony Keane (

), a brilliant and successful barrister, to defend her in court. Although Keane has been happily married for 11 years, he instantly becomes deeply infatuated with this exotic, mysterious, and fascinating client. Keane's kind-hearted wife, Gay (

), sees his obsession, and although he offers to relinquish the case, presses him to continue. She knows that a "guilty" verdict, followed by Mrs. Paradine's hanging, will mean that she will lose her husband emotionally forever. The only way that she can regain her husband's love and devotion is if he is able to obtain a "not guilty" verdict for Mrs. Paradine. Meanwhile, Keane himself starts to focus his legal efforts on Colonel Paradine's mysterious servant, André Latour (

). Consciously or subconsciously, Keane sees Latour as a suitable scapegoat on whom he can pin the crime of murder, but this strategy backfires. After Keane has pressured Latour in court, triggering an angry outburst, word comes that Latour has killed himself. Mrs. Paradine is coldly furious that Keane has destroyed Latour, who was, in fact, her lover. On the witness stand, she tells Keane that she hates him and that he has murdered the only person she loved. She goes so far as to say that she poisoned her husband in order to be with Latour. Keane is overwhelmed, physically, intellectually, and emotionally. Attempting to summarize, he improvises a brief and faltering speech, admitting how poorly he has handled the case, but cannot continue speaking, and has to leave the court. He stays overnight at Sir Simon's office, feeling that his career is in ruins. His wife finds him there; she offers reconciliation, and hope for the future.

Cast

;Cast notes * Hitchcock originally wanted

Greta Garbo Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress. Regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses, she was known for her melancholic, somber persona, her film portrayals of tragic ch ...

to play Mrs. Maddalena Anna Paradine, but she turned down the role after the screen test, which allowed

to step in for her American film debut. ''The Paradine Case'' was also the American film debut of

.TC
Notes
/ref> Both Valli and Jourdan hoped that the film would give them the status in the U.S. that they enjoyed in their home countries (Italy and France, respectively), but that did not happen, though Jourdan later made many U.S. films.

Production

had purchased the rights to Robert Smythe Hichens' novel in 1933, before it was published, when Selznick was still at MGM, with

in mind to star – indeed, Garbo was Hichens' inspiration for the creation of Mrs. Paradine. Garbo did consider doing the film, but ultimately turned it down, as she decided to retire from acting.Osborne, Robert. Comments on

Turner Classic Movies Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of ...

broadcast of ''The Paradine Case'' on June 28, 2007 (Garbo had also turned down '' I Remember Mama'' at about the same time, and is reputed to have said "No murderesses, no mamas".) Howard Estabrook was assigned to write the script at that time, and it was announced that

John Barrymore John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly att ...

Lionel Barrymore Lionel Barrymore (born Lionel Herbert Blythe; April 28, 1878 – November 15, 1954) was an American actor of stage, screen and radio as well as a film director. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''A Free Soul'' (1931 ...

and Diana Wynyard would star in the film. A draft of the script was submitted by MGM to the censors at the Hays Office, who warned that the script would likely be rejected since Mrs. Paradine was guilty of murder, adultery and perjury, and later committed suicide. They also objected to the judge being portrayed as a sadist who enjoyed sending people to their deaths. A new draft of the script was submitted, but not for some years, in 1942, and this script was approved. In 1946, another version was sent in, and this was also approved after the suicide was removed from the story. In 1946, it was announced that

would direct the film, and that

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage ...

would star as the barrister, but Olivier eventually turned the project down, as he was preparing for his production of ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

''. Hitchcock was interested in

Ronald Colman Ronald Charles Colman (9 February 1891 – 19 May 1958) was an English-born actor, starting his career in theatre and silent film in his native country, then immigrating to the United States and having a successful Cinema of the United States, ...

for the part as well as Garbo (who had not yet turned down the project) or

Ingrid Bergman Ingrid Bergman (29 August 191529 August 1982) was a Swedish actress who starred in a variety of European and American films, television movies, and plays.Obituary '' Variety'', 1 September 1982. With a career spanning five decades, she is ofte ...

for Mrs. Paradine. Other actors who were considered for the film include: Maurice Evans,

Joseph Cotten Joseph Cheshire Cotten Jr. (May 15, 1905 – February 6, 1994) was an American film, stage, radio and television actor. Cotten achieved prominence on Broadway, starring in the original stage productions of '' The Philadelphia Story'' and '' Sab ...

, Alan Marshal,

James Mason James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was the top box-office attraction in the UK in 1944 and 1945; his British films inc ...

for Anthony Keane;

Hedy Lamarr Hedy Lamarr (; born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler; November 9, 1914 January 19, 2000) was an Austrian-born American film actress and inventor. A film star during Hollywood's golden age, Lamarr has been described as one of the greatest movie actress ...

for Mrs. Paradine;

Claude Rains William Claude Rains (10 November 188930 May 1967) was a British actor whose career spanned almost seven decades. After his American film debut as Griffin (The Invisible Man), Dr. Jack Griffin in ''The Invisible Man (1933 film), The Invisible Ma ...

for Lord Thomas Horfield; and

Robert Newton Robert Guy Newton (1 June 1905 – 25 March 1956) was an English actor. Along with Errol Flynn, Newton was one of the more popular actors among the male juvenile audience of the 1940s and early 1950s, especially with British boys. Known for hi ...

for Mrs. Paradine's lover. In the end, Hitchcock pushed for Gregory Peck, then at the peak of his box-office appeal, Ann Todd was loaned from the

Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distribut ...

to play his wife, and Selznick settled on Alida Valli, considered one of the more promising actresses in the Italian cinema for Mrs. Paradine. ''The Paradine Case'' was the last film made under Hitchcock's seven-year contract with Selznick, and it has been suggested that Hitchcock was tired of the association by that time. In an interview with

François Truffaut François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. After a career of more th ...

, Hitchcock said that he and his wife Alma Reville wrote the first draft of the script together, before bringing in Scottish playwright

to do a polishing – but Selznick was dissatisfied with the result, and would view the previous day's rushes, do a rewrite, and send the new scenes to the set to be shot.Steinberg, Jay S
"The Paradine Case" (TCM article)
/ref> According to his biographer Donald Spoto "...Hitchcock's disgust with the content and method that were forced upon him conspired to produce an uneasy atmosphere from which Hitchcock could scarcely wait to extricate himself." Gregory Peck said of the director, "He seemed really bored with the whole thing..." The film was in production from December 19, 1946, to May 7, 1947, with retakes done in November of that year. Although some external shots show the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or '' fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

in Cumbria, the rest of the footage was shot entirely on three sets at Selznick's Culver City, California, lot, a first in Selznick's career as an independent producer. Selznick reportedly spared no expense: the set for the courtroom scenes exactly duplicated a courtroom in London's

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

, photographed, with permission, by unit manager Fred Ahern, and built in 85 days at the cost of $80,000. Unusually, the set had ceilings to allow for low camera angles. For the courtroom sequence, Hitchcock used a new technique by using four cameras shooting simultaneously, each focused on one of the principal actors in the scene – multiple camera photography had been used in the past, but only to shoot the same subject. This set-up, including elaborately choreographed crane shots, allowed Hitchcock to shoot long 10-minute takes, something he would push to the limit on his next two films, ''

Rope A rope is a group of yarns, plies, fibres, or strands that are twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have tensile strength and so can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger than similarl ...

'' (1948) and '' Under Capricorn'' (1949).Erickson, Ha
"The Paradine Case" (Allmovie)
/ref> The completed film cost an estimated $4,258,000 to make, almost as expensive as '' Gone with the Wind''. Selznick maintained close supervision on the production, and interfered with Hitchcock's normally carefully budgeted process by insisting on extensive re-takes. When Hitchcock insisted on receiving his contractual $1000/day fee, Selznick took over post-production, supervising the editing and the scoring of the film.. The producer went through eighteen different title changes for the picture before rechristening it ''The Paradine Case,'' just hours before the premiere. ''The Paradine Case'' had its world premiere in Los Angeles on December 29, 1947, opening simultaneously in two theaters across the street from each other in Westwood, California. It then had its New York City premiere on January 8, 1948. On its initial release, the film was 132 minutes long, due to Selznick's editing of Hitchcock's rough cut, which ran almost three hours. After the film's premieres, Selznick pulled the film from distribution and re-cut it for general release, bringing it down to 114 minutes, which is currently the length of the film on DVD release. In 1980, a flood reportedly destroyed the uncut original version of the film, making a restoration of that version unlikely. ''The Paradine Case'' was not a box office success: worldwide receipts barely covered half of the cost of production. Almost every Hitchcock film has a cameo appearance by Alfred Hitchcock. In this film, he can be seen leaving the

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic counties of England, historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th c ...

train station, carrying a cello, at about 38 minutes into the film. Hitchcock described ''The Paradine Case'' as "...a love story embedded in the emotional quicksand of a murder trial".

Production credits

The production credits on the film were as follows: * Director -

* Producer -

* Writing - David O. Selznick (screenplay), Alma Reville (adaptation) * Cinematography -

Lee Garmes Lee Garmes, A.S.C. (May 27, 1898 – August 31, 1978) was an American cinematographer. During his career, he worked with directors Howard Hawks, Max Ophüls, Josef von Sternberg, Alfred Hitchcock, King Vidor, Nicholas Ray and Henry Hathaway, whom ...

(director of photography) * Music -

Franz Waxman Franz Waxman (né Wachsmann; December 24, 1906February 24, 1967) was a German-born composer and conductor of Jewish descent, known primarily for his work in the film music genre. His film scores include ''Bride of Frankenstein'', ''Rebecca'', ' ...

* Art direction -

Joseph McMillan Johnson Joseph McMillan Johnson (September 15, 1912 – April 17, 1990) was a leading Hollywood art director born in Los Angeles. He was graduated from USC with a degree in architecture before attending Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. He was wo ...

(production design), Thomas N. Morahan (art director), Joseph B. Platt (interiors),

Emile Kuri Emile Kuri (June 11, 1907 – October 10, 2000) was a Mexican-born American set decorator of Lebanese parentage. He won two Academy Awards and was nominated for six more in the category Best Art Direction. He was born in Cuernavaca, Morelo ...

(set decoration) * Costumes - Travis Banton (gowns) * Editor -

Hal C. Kern Hal C. Kern (July 14, 1894 – February 24, 1985) was an American film editor. He won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing for his work on ''Gone with the Wind.'' He was also nominated for ''Rebecca'' and ''Since You Went Away.'' He began his ...

(supervising film editor) * Sound - James G. Stewart (sound director), Richard Van Hessen (recorder) * Assistant director - Lowell J. Farrell * Unit manager - Fred Ahern * Special effects -

Clarence Slifer Clarence Slifer (August 31, 1904 – 1993) was an American special effects artist. He won an Academy Award for Best Special Effects and was nominated for another one in the same category. Selected filmography Slifer won an Academy Award f ...

* Hair styles - Larry Germain

Critical reception

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

, film critic for ''The New York Times'', liked the film, the acting, and Hitchcock's direction, and wrote, "With all the skill in presentation for which both gentlemen are famed, David O. Selznick and Alfred Hitchcock have put upon the screen a slick piece of static entertainment in their garrulous ''The Paradine Case''... Gregory Peck is impressively impassioned as the famous young London barrister who lets his heart, cruelly captured by his client, rule his head. And Ann Todd, the pliant British actress, is attractively anguished as his wife. Alida Valli, an import from Italy, makes the caged Mrs. Paradine a compound of mystery, fascination and voluptuousness with a pair of bedroom eyes, and Louis Jourdan, a new boy from Paris, is electric as the badgered valet." ''Variety'' wrote, "high dramatics...Hitchcock's penchant for suspense and unusual atmosphere development get full play. There is a deliberateness of pace, artful pauses and other carefully calculated melodramatic hinges upon which he swings the story and players. ''Time Out'' says "Bleak in its message (those who love passionately inevitably destroy the object of their desire), the movie only half works. The intricate, triangular plot is finally overburdened by the courtroom setting." Leonard Maltin said "talk, talk, talk in complicated, stagy courtroom drama;" Despite the mixed reviews the movie received, most critics noted the strong performances of Ann Todd and Joan Tetzel.

Awards and honors

was nominated for a 1947 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress as Lady Sophie Horfield.1947 Academy Awards Winners and History
/ref>

Adaptation

Lux Radio Theatre ''Lux Radio Theatre'', sometimes spelled ''Lux Radio Theater'', a classic radio anthology series, was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network (1934–35) (owned by the National Broadcasting Company, later predecessor of American Broadcasting Company ...

'' broadcast a radio adaptation of the film on 9 May 1949, starring

, with

and

reprising their roles.

References

Sources

* ''The Paradine Case'', Hichens Robert, Ernest Benn (1947), ASIN B00178VIDM * ''The Complete Films of Alfred Hitchcock'', Michael S. Lasky and Robert A. Harris, Citadel Press,

External links

* * *
''The Paradine Case''
at Louisjourdan.net (archived)

by Douglas Pye
''The Paradine Case''
on '' Lux Radio Theater'': May 9, 1949 {{DEFAULTSORT:Paradine Case, The 1947 films 1947 drama films American legal drama films American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films American courtroom films Film noir Films based on mystery novels Films based on British novels Films set in country houses Films set in Cumbria Films set in London Films set in 1946 Films shot in Cumbria Selznick International Pictures films Films produced by David O. Selznick Films directed by Alfred Hitchcock Films with screenplays by Ben Hecht Films scored by Franz Waxman Films scored by Paul Dessau 1940s American films