El veredicto

Fans of SYDNEY GREENSTREET and PETER LORRE should get extra pleasure out of watching these two emote in THE VERDICT, a gaslight era who-dun-it about the perfect locked door crime with a few deft touches that place it above the average mystery thriller.

Greenstreet is impressive as the Scotland Yard detective who loses his job when an innocent man is wrongly hanged. He gets his revenge in an unusual way. Morton Lowry is excellent as the victim and others in the cast all give quality performances--Paul Cavanagh, Peter Lorre, Rosalind Ivan and especially George Coulouris as the man Sydney describes as not big enough to "fill his britches". Only weak casting is Joan Lorring in the role of a lowly music hall singer--her cabaret routine is not the least bit convincing although it doesn't matter much because the film belongs to Greenstreet and Lorre.

As an overly imaginative landlady, Rosalind Ivan is a scream (literally!) Will keep you hooked until the finish.

This is one of the finest detective mysteries ever filmed. It is astonishing that the young director Don Siegel showed so much talent so early. Once again we have that wonderful pair, Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre making a masterpiece together. Greenstreet is spellbinding in every scene. Lorre creates a well-rounded three-dimensional character from a two-dimensional part, and makes him eccentric and intriguing. The story is set in 1890 in London, and is based on a novel entitled 'The Big Bow Mystery' by best-selling author Israel Zangwill, which was in turn apparently based on a real case. The plot of the film is one of the most complex and intellectually challenging ever made. It 'out-Sherlocks Sherlock'. The essence of the dilemma is how can a man have his throat cut in a room in which the door and windows are locked and bolted from the inside, and there is no other way in or out. The film is helped a lot by a brilliant performance by Rosalind Ivan as a hysterical landlady who may or may not have murdered her lodger (but how??). The atmosphere is powerful, the filming expressionistic, the style impeccable, and the result magnificent. Greenstreet and Lorre are at the top of their form. This is a film no lover of the genre should miss.

I don't know what to say about the other reviews here(better to say nothing as their insights offer that suitable response). This is a great film with a great pairing of that wonderful coupling of gargantuan Sydney Greenstreet and devilish, diminuative Peter Lorre. Grenstreet never was better as a Scotland Yard superintendant who mistakenly sends an innocent man to his death. He is forced out of his job by another aspiring detective played with relish by George Coulouris. Greenstreet remarks, "He underestimated the size of my britches." And so he did! Greenstreet was that special kind of actor that draws you to his every word, action, and deed. His refinement of speech and larger-than-life presence greatly enhance the film. Lorre is Lorre, a funny character actor getting a break from villains for a chance. Lorre and Greenstreet aid each other very nicely and their scenes together are perhaps the most fun ones in the film. Behind all the actions of the two men is a fine Victorian mystery that has a good, hard-to-figure out ending. Director Don Siegel shows his deftness in capturing a dark Victorian setting. His scene exhuming a casket is particularly well-done. A fine film and an unfortunately all to rare chance to see Lorre and Greenstreet together.

Have always liked film noir, and there are many classics that are too numerous to list. Consider Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre to be fine actors and always loved seeing them together, at their best they were dynamite. Don Siegel did some great films, with 'Dirty Harry' for example being iconic and 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' (deservedly a landmark in its genre) and 'The Shootist' also among his best.

Thought 'The Verdict' to be a very good film. Much better than credit for, although well liked by a lot here also did read reviews from others that ranged from mixed to unimpressed. And it deserves to be much better known. Both Greenstreet and Lorre have done better, individually and together, and 'The Verdict' is not one of Siegel's best. They all come off well though, and do find the film to be much better than modestly suspenseful as has been described/indicated in reviews read.

It did slow down somewhat in pace at times in the middle. Joan Lorring to me felt bland in her role.

While the reveal and murderer identity was a genuine shock and had me floored, the staging of the ending itself is a touch melodramatic.

Both Greenstreet and Lorre excel though, in the last of their teamings, with roles well suited to them and play to their strengths. Greenstreet's is bigger and he shows no signs of fatigue or disinterest, while Lorre has the more colourful role and he is very entertaining to watch. Their chemistry is as riveting as one expects, bringing the right amount of tension and entertainment value. George Coulouris makes a big impression here as well.

Siegel, in his first feature film, does a more than credible job and while he did better films and his directing style became more refined this is hardly the work of an amateur. 'The Verdict' looks great, with moody photography and a handsomely rendered and vividly atmospheric Victorian setting. The music, while not mind-blowing, fits very well rather than being discordant with the atmosphere.

'The Verdict' further benefits from a tightly structured and intelligent script, that treats its viewers with respect, and to me the story did have suspense and thrills (not quite nail-biting but more than modest), going at a mostly crisp pace while meandering a little in the middle. Didn't find it predictable or implausible.

On the whole, very well done film. 7/10

It is sad that Sydney Greenstreet's career in film was relatively brief - albeit marked by memorable performances in some truly great movies. He may well have had a successful life on the stage in the bulk of his acting life but his roles in film, in a brief eight year period, are all that is preserved from a long and distinguished career. We can only guess at the performances of a young and perhaps thinner Sydney Greenstreet. Despite all this he made his debut in The Maltese Falcon and then a few films later co-starred in Casablanca, more than making up for the delay in the transition to the big screen. The Verdict sees Greenstreet at his finest as the wizened superintendent whose career has been forever marred by an error of judgment that costs a man his life. This is a perfect whodunit/noir/murder mystery that is still gripping and tight despite the slightly melodramatic ending where revenge is possibly carried a little too close to the wire. Lorre is his usual sinister self, fascinated at the thought of exhuming a dead body and Colouris appropriate as the inept detective. Highly recommended.