THE SUSPECT (1944)

In 1902 London, Philip (Charles Laughton), worker in a tobacco shop, is stuck in an unhappy marriage to his unstable wife Cora (Rosaline Ivan) who, in a fit of rage, has just torn up pages and pages of their son John's work. John moves out and Philip moves into his room. At work, he strikes up a friendly relationship with an unemployed secretary named Mary (Ella Raines) who is looking for a job. There's no opening at Philip's place, but quite taken with the woman, Philip helps her find another job and begins going out with her (and, we assume, having an affair with her). A parallel plotline develops as Philip becomes aware of the troubled marriage of his neighbor Gilbert (Henry Daniell), an alcoholic who beats his wife. Cora learns of Philip's affair but refuses to give him a divorce, and threatens to have Mary fired from her job. On Christmas day, Philip kills her by throwing her down the stairs and claiming she fell. Inspector Huxley (Stanley Ridges) suspects Philip and indeed lays out an elaborate description of how Philip might have done it, though he can't prove it. Philip marries Mary and seems to be in the clear until Gilbert acts on his suspicions and tries to blackmail Philip. Then things quickly fall to pieces. Charles Laughton is good at playing weak men caught up in bad circumstances. Sometimes he buckles (PAYMENT DEFERRED) and sometimes he finds strength to do the right thing (THIS LAND IS MINE). Here, he manages to do both. He gives in to his violent impulses by killing his wife, but in the end, he redeems himself, to some degree, by acting out of sympathy for an innocent person who is in peril because of him. The scene where the inspector lays out for Philip how he thinks the murder of Cora could have happened is nicely tense, as is a later scene between Philip and Gilbert (no spoiler here). The whole cast is solid and the dark look of the movie adds to the tension. Pictured are Laughton and Dean Harens as his son. [TCM]