The Woman in Question

Made the same year - 1950 - as Rashomon which is acclaimed for retelling the same story several ways, The Woman in Question does the very same, allowing Jean Kent to portray five rather different versions of Astra, the fortune teller. The women in the film are much better drawn than the men, despite both the director and writer being themselves men, and despite the narrative framework of the all-male police team. Some would attribute this to Asquith's gay perspective. The combined portrait of Astra is not very flattering, especially her refusal to visit her dying husband, and in her using Pollard, the pet-shop keeper, to work for her for free, but then refusing his polite advances, she is walking a dangerous line. The underlying sadness of her person comes through, but she is not as sad as Pollard.

The outstanding secondary character is Mrs Finch, the nosey neighbour from next door who never stops talking. Hermione Baddeley, in the part, practically steals the first part of the film to the extent that the rest almost seems like an anticlimax. Her characterization, her way of speech, the hairnet and the pinafore, owe a lot to the English tradition of comical working-class characters that goes back to renaissance theatre, was developed in the Music Hall, and is a precursor of the Monty-Python housewives chatting over the back fence. That is, it is very easy to see her as done by Dan Leno or Al Reid. A change of emphasis and we have a drag routine.

A great cast and performance by some of Britain's best 50s-60s headliners, including Dirk Bogard and Susan Shaw. Hermione Baddely as usual, gave a great convincing performance..

An intriguing suspense murder mystery, with a dialogue that twists and turns, beginning with the discovery of a womans murder.. The narrative is then told to the police inspector individually, through the recollections of those acquainted closest to the victim (which there are many) I really enjoyed this style of whodunit murder mystery, as it gives the storyline so much more depth into each character, and creativity on different levels..

Jean Kents performance was exillerarating, authentic and believable.! I'm an avid fan of British B movies, especially the crime genre but, this is quite in a class of its own.!

I did however guess the killer (it was obvious) but for those never having seen this movie before, I recommend you take time to watch it. It'll keep you guessing until the end :) I have watched 'A Woman In Question' over the years numerous times and I still enjoy watching it whenever shown, immensely..!

They don't make them like they used to...!!!

I personally enjoyed this film. It was something that I had been trying to catch up with on Talking Pictures for months - I kept recording it, without getting around to watching it.

The film had an interesting story telling technique - five witnesses giving different versions of the story, all conflicting with each other. I have wondered who thought of the idea first, the makers of the Japanese film: "Rashomon"; or the makers of this film, seeing that both films were released in the same year.

The film seemed to reflect a lot about what it was like living in Post War Britain: rationing, black market, austerity and people struggling to make a living.

The parts about neighbours just walking in and out each other's houses would seem a bit far-fetched to the younger viewers of today, but although some of my childhood memories of the 1950's are a bit patchy, I do remember life being like that.

However, I don't think a newspaper delivery boy would have been allowed to go through the front door and right up into a woman's bedroom just to deliver a paper.

I thought the way Jean Kent, Susan Shaw and some of the other players were able to take on entirely different personalities as each version of the story unfolded was quite commendable - some smart pieces of acting there.

I was guessing about who the murderer was all the way through the film.

For the first twenty minutes or so, the film feels like a run-of-the-mill investigation film noir, but then it takes a unique spin, providing five different accounts of the events. It is quite interesting to watch from there on in, even though the male characters are rather thin and flat - the investigators in particular. The conclusion is also a bit disappointing and it is all a bit overly melodramatic at times, but the core of the picture - its middle section - is really quite strong, and that is what causes this film to be much better than the average piece of crime investigation film noir out there.

A Woman in Question (recently IMDb lists it as Five Angels on Murder) is a Rashomon like story told in flashback. The story develops after a women is found dead and police detectives question witnesses, each of whom provides a different account of events leading to the murder. Until the very end, the ulterior motives of each of the characters remain unclear.

It is a greatly underrated movie that is not easily accessible. Anthony Asquith handles the material really well and masterfully builds the suspense. In addition, solid performances are provided by the cast.

If you get an opportunity to watch this movie, do not miss it. Hopefully the movie will become more accessible in the years to come.