The Paradine Case (1947)

This minor 1948 film by Alfred Hitchcock beats a familiar Hitchcockian drum: an attorney (Gregory Peck), in love with the client (Alida Valli) he is defending on a murder charge, implicates himself in her guilt by trying to put the blame on another man. The no-one-is-innocent theme may be consistent with Hitchcock's best films and worldview, but this is one of the movies that got away from his crucial passion for the plastic side of creative directing. Stuck in a courtroom for much of the story, the film is fit to burst with possibility but is pinned down like a freshly caught butterfly in someone's airless collection. --Tom Keogh Amazon.com

Alida Valli & Gregory Peck, beauty, brilliant talent in a perfect showcase.

Alida Valli made very few American films, and it is a loss to our history. This star known best for her work in "Miracle of the Bells" (the story of a brilliant actress who plays Joan of Arc, and then dies with that being her only film), is not just a striking beauty. Unlike many of the glamourous, beautiful stars of the 40s, she shares with us a complex and intelligent internal life. We know that we will only know 10% of what is going on in her head, but we see the wheels turning through her eyes. It is this quality which makes this film come alive, and it is a perfect vehicle for her.
Gregory Peck (although slightly miscast - not old enough yet to be a middle aged lawyer in mid-life crisis) with his open accessibility to the audience, and his emotional availability is the perfect foil for Valli. This is perhaps one of his most complex roles, and possibly his sexiest.
I disagree with the amazon editorial review that this film is bound by it's setting. Hitchcock enjoied the challenge of making films in small, confined sets. The direction here makes the most of Valli's talents, and there are many incredible shots. The entrance of young Louis Jordan into the courtroom behind Valli is an incredible, captivating 300 degree follow shot. This shot physicallizes the chemistry between them without them ever looking at each other. It is worth mentioning here that this film also introduced Louis Jordan. In a rare performance using an American accent, he is raw and brooding and beautiful. He does not have the mannerisms that lessened his later performances, he was not yet a star.
It is interesting that in this film, Hitchcock has his usual blonde beauty (Ann Todd) protrayed as conventional and staid. We understand why Gregory Peck would both love her and be bored by her once he meets Valli. He heightens this by contrasting their acting styles as well. Todd's acting style, especially her diction, is old school, while Valli is something new entirely. As a Hitchcock fan, I feel this is one of his best films, ranking with VERTIGO, NOTORIOUS, SUSPICION and I CONFESS as one of my favorites. (It is worth mentioning for the Hitchcock fan, that this film uses many of the same music cues that were used in NOTORIOUS.)
I hope the DVD companies will produce a good version of this with commentary. Meanwhile, this VHS - the restored version - is crystal clear, and velvety. January 20, 2006

Overdue Recognition

Alfred Hitchcock's THE PARADINE CASE is an interesting film from this director. On the surface it appears to be about a courtroom murder case where the accused Misses Paradine (Alida Valli) is defended by barrister (Gregory Peck) who becomes infatuated by here statuesque beauty and in doing so undermines his marriage to Ann Todd. Valli is accused of murdering her husband who we never see in person but only in a portrait. We never actually see the murder on screen. We must rely on the testimony of the witnesses to come to some conclusion about Mister Paradine's demise. Louis Jourdan is the late Mister Paradine's manservant. His relationship to both Mister and Misses Paradine leaves many questions for the viewer. Jourdan who delivers one of his best performances expertly plays this pivotal character. The film is really about relationships ending and evolving and to a degree about relationships that are imagined. Relationships end or are put on hold. Relationships reveal sharp realities for the central characters and they must come to terms with their own conduct. Other relationships such as Charels Laughton and his wife Ethel Barrymore have remained static and listless. They each fulfill what is left of a relationship that should never have been. The submissive Barrymore dutifully endures the bullying nature of Laughton, the presiding judge. Being a David O. Selznick's picture the production is lavish yet somehow it is overshadowed by the bleak nature of the screenplay. The production values are almost a counterpoint to the story and to actress Valli's rather sullen performance, which remains a bit of an enigma. Gregory Peck's performance is very good. Because of his basic good nature the viewer feels for his flawed character and his realization of this that will no doubt come by the end of the film. Louis Jourdan flat out gives a memorable and impressive performance showing off his mastery of histrionics. This film deserves long overdue attention.
October 21, 2005

UNDERATED HITCHCOCK CLASSIC

THE PARADINE CASE is an opulent production concerning the elegantly statuesque and enigmatic Mrs. Paradine placed on trial for the murder of her husband. Mrs. Paradine is played with subtle radiance by Alida Valli who embodies the alluring vision of pulchritude that barrister Gregory Peck has created and fallen under the spell of. Gregory Peck's obsessive character is a forerunner to James Stewart's role in Hitchcock's VERTIGO. Obsessive behavior can be destructive as is seen in the relationship that Peck has with his loyal wife portrayed by Ann Todd. However, the greatest role and performance in this film is in the form of Louis Jourdan. Jourdan is an unwavering curiosity in his quixotic role as Mr. Paradine's manservant. His relationship with Mrs. Paradine and her late husband remains a conundrum. Jourdan's performance as a man of steadfast loyalty to both duty and passion is one of brilliance. If there is one Alfred Hitchcock film that is truly misunderstood and underrated it is THE PARADINE CASE. December 16, 2004

Out of Sorts

Alfred Hitchcock's THE PARADINE CASE is an interesting film from this director. It is more important for its shortcomings and specifically why it truly doesn't seem to work as a successful piece of filmmaking. I have actually viewed this film several times and when compared to Hitchcock's impressive output of films during the decade of the 1950s it may be labeled as being "out of sorts." I think much of this may be attributed to producer David O. Selznick's screenplay and overbearing intrusiveness into Alfred Hitchock's direction. It does entertain but it seems to lack the familiar markings of an Alfred Hitchock film.
December 2, 2004

Valli Victorious

Alida Valli didn't make very many pictures in the USA, but the ones she did are without exception worth seeing.

In Italy, of course, she is as important to the indigenous cinema as Sophia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida put together. But here is the USA, she starred in a mere handful of pictures, and we remember her mainly via her connection to David Selznick, for whom she made THE THIRD MAN and THE PARADINE CASE. THE MIRACLE OF THE BELLS and WALK SOFTLY, STRANGER are also worth seeing. In THE PARADINE CASE, she is on trial for murdering her husband in a stuffy British courtroom, to which her sultry and exotic beauty is continually being counterpointed. She is a bird in a gilded cage all right, literally and figuratively. Gregory Peck falls hard for her, and it's watching how low he goes that makes this film one of Hitchcock's best. He even quarrels with his wife, the cold, perfect Ann Todd, and makes it plain to her and to everyone in their bourgeois social circle that he has fallen in love with his client, thus breaking all the rules in one fell swoop.

He begins to suspect that Valli has been framed, and he begins to suspect Louis Jourdan, Paradine's handsome manservant, of an illicit interest in his master's wife. The scenes between Peck and Jourdan are fiery and full of passion. Each of them is fighting for his life and honor. There is as well an erotic charge between the two of them. In a sense Peck is representing the colonialist who seeks authenticity by embroiling himself in the lives and bodies of a darker and more obviously sexed people, whether they be Italian or French. He gets slapped down for his efforts.

Even if you've seen THE PARADINE CASE fifty times, there's always something fresh to watch, whether it's Charles Coburn acting especially kinky, or Ann Todd from THE SEVENTH VEIL acting masochistic one more time. But most of all the movie is trying to make us see Valli as a new Garbo, who had retired from the screen and whom Selznick believed we would swallow Valli as a successor to. In my opinion, she's greater than Garbo by a country mile. August 23, 2004

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