The Paradine Case (1947)

Director:

Alfred Hitchcock

Writers:

Robert Hichens (novel)
Alma Reville (adaptation)

Release Date:

26 August 1949 (Sweden)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller

Plot:

The beautiful Mrs. Paradine is accused of poisoning her older, blind husband. She hires married Anthony...

Plot Keywords:

Marriage | Barrister | Widow | Accused Of Murder | Solicitor

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar.

Cast

Gregory Peck	...	Anthony Keane, Counsel for the Defence
Ann Todd	...	Gay Keane
Charles Laughton	...	Judge Lord Thomas Horfield
Charles Coburn	...	Sir Simon Flaquer
Ethel Barrymore	...	Lady Sophie Horfield
Louis Jourdan	...	Andre Latour, Paradine's Valet
Alida Valli	...	Mrs. Maddalena Anna Paradine (as Valli)
Leo G. Carroll	...	Sir Joseph, Counsel for the Prosecution
Joan Tetzel	...	Judy Flaquer
Isobel Elsom	...	Innkeeper

Also Known As:

Alfred Hitchcock's The Paradine Case (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

125 min | 119 min (re-release) | 132 min (original release) | 94 min (edited television version) | 115 min (re-release)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

UK:U | Australia:PG | Finland:S | Germany:16 | USA:Approved (PCA #12320) | Sweden:15 | Argentina:13 | Spain:13

Company:

Vanguard Films

Trivia:

The music in "The Paradine Case" was written by Franz Waxman.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Keane goes to the Paradine house in Cumberland, he walks over to Mrs. Paradine's piano. On the piano we see close-up of a page of music called Appassionata Op. 69 by Francesco Ceruomo. But in the next scene, when we see Keane passing by the piano, none of the three pages on it have any title at the top, only music, showing they are subsequent pages of that piece, and not the first one, as shown in the close-up.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Lakin: Dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes, mum.
Mrs. Maddalena Anna Paradine: Thank you, Lakin.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "American Masters: Hitchcock, Selznick and the End of Hollywood" (1998)

The Selznick/Hitchcock Touch

I wish some other star rather than Gregory Peck had played the lead role. Someone like a Ronald Coleman (whom Hitchcock wanted) or Laurence Olivier (whom Selznick wanted). I personally would have loved Robert Donat, but any of the above would have served better. I like Peck normally, but in this film, he's too young and never convincingly English, despite his accent. Even without the accent, he doesn't suggest someone who is passionately and irrationally swept away, as the role calls for.

That said, I still love the film. Some Hitchcock films I love more--as I guess we all do--but I prefer this one over others. View THE PARADINE CASE and then compare it with the master's three movies that followed, those he directed without Selznick (ROPE, UNDER CAPRICORN, STAGE FRIGHT), and you'll see the touch that pervades those he made with Selznick. All the Selznick/Hitchcock flicks are wonderful; they are the director's most glamorous and romantic movies.