Review of The Paradine Case (1947) by Devon B — 23 Mar 2011

You'd think a film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Gregory Peck would be a home run, but somehow this film about a rich widow on trial for the murder of her husband just falls flat. Peck plays her lawyer and it's his job (according to the script) to somehow helplessly fall in love with her, but the whole thing isn't quite convincing.

The script is probably most to blame, the "racy" subject matter probably wasn't even racy when the film was made, let alone now. The lawyer's wife seems more interesting than the dull and vaguely foreign woman on trial.

Who knows, maybe that's the whole point: that Peck's character is just bored with his life and is jumping at the first bit of intrigue to come his way. It's really a strain to find anything remarkable about this film.