Femmes délaissées

I tuned in to catch that great patrician actor from the early 30's, Warren William. A commanding presence in every respect, too bad he's become so obscure. I expect his early death, 1948, has something to do with it. Then too, his best films-- Employees Entrance (1933), Skyscaper Souls (1932), Three On A Match (1932) -- were all pre-Code and as a result never turned up on censored TV for decades. Now, thanks to cable, they're run on outlets like TCM. So be sure to catch them if you haven't already.

Anyway, this programmer from Universal has a good premise, the humanizing of an egotistical DA (William), who counts his capital-case wins on an abacus that uses miniature skulls as a counter. Worse, he's sorely neglecting his patient wife (Jackson) who's slowly running out of patience, but he's too self-absorbed to care. But then the McAllen case comes across his desk and the ironies with his own life begin to intrude. Will his self-enclosed bubble now be enough.

Overall, the results are rather tepid despite the promising elements. Ten years later and the film would likely have gotten a noir treatment. Here, mood is largely missing, while suspense is slow to build, but does have one good unpredictable showdown scene that had me guessing wrong. Truth be told, I'm afraid many lesser performers could have handled the DA role, it not being one of William's showcases. In short, the DA is one of the typically conventional roles he was reduced to during the Code era. Also, the ethnic humor from the Butterfly McQueen-type maid reminds us that it's only a movie, after all.

Overall, there are gripping moments; however, the 70-minutes fails to come together in strong fashion despite the many promising elements. Too bad.

(In passing-- old time TV fans may recognize Milburn Stone as Doc from the classic western series Gunsmoke, along with Gail Patrick (Jackson) who successfully produced the prodigiously demanding Perry Mason series with Raymond Burr.)

"District Attorney Stowell" (Warren William) is a man who prides himself on the number of cases he has prosecuted that has resulted in the death penalty. But this notoriety comes with a price because, in order to attain these convictions, he has had to spend a great amount of time at the office--which puts a definite strain on his marriage. Needless to say, when he cancels a vacation at the last minute for a very important case, his wife "Lucy Stowell" (Gail Patrick) doesn't take it too well. Knowing this, he tries to make amends but in doing so he begins to suspect that she has found someone else, and this infuriates him beyond anything he has ever experienced. Even more ironic is that the case he is working on parallels his current situation. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was an interesting film which had a decent plot but suffered from a mediocre script and a lack of suspense or passion. That's not to say it was a bad film by any means, but it certainly could have been better and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Average.

This is a truly original story. Granted, it was done in 1938, but I haven't seen anything quite like it since. That's unusual for Hollywood.

Warren Williams is an obsessed District Attorney who is incapable of any human feeling toward the people he prosecutes. And then a case comes along. A refined, educated, teacher kills his wife in a moment of mad jealousy. Warren has no mercy for him. Coaxes him into a confession with the ultimate goal of executing him.

The gimmick in this story is that, during the trial, he realizes that he is living a parallel life. He has neglected his own wife and come to believe that she is having an affair. After following her to a friends house, he finds himself with a pistol in his hand - a perfect parallel to the case he is trying. It changes his life.

Warren Williams has a tendency to overact, but to hear him bellow in the courtroom, and cackle with glee when he pulls one over on his adversaries, is not to be missed. There is one caution. Is it possible to be too sophisticated? All the other actors are unremarkable, with the exception of Lillian Yarbo who plays the maid. Her lines and expressions are priceless.

If, like me, you long for the days when Hollywood took the time to actually write a coherent script. A time when dialogue really meant something. A time when you second guessed the story and paid attention to the actors - instead of the special effects, take time out for this one. If you can find it.

Wives Under Suspicion (1938)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A tough as nails D.A. (William Warren) is seeking the death penalty on a man charged with killing his wife after catching her cheating. The D.A. refuses to see any other side of the story under he begins to think his own wife is cheating. This is the first non-horror film from director James Whale that I've seen and while it isn't too bad I'm certainly thankful he stayed in the horror genre. Warren gives a good performance but the story is rather flat and way too overly dramatic to be too interesting. This was a remake of the 1933 film THE KISS BEFORE THE MIRROR, also directed by Whale.

Most, (but not all) prosecutors only care about convictions, not justice.

The junior prosecutor wants to be the senior prosecutor. The senior prosecutor wants to be the assistant district attorney. The assistant district attorney, wants to be the district attorney, and the district attorney would like to be the mayor.

They climb this ladder by getting convictions. This movie is the story of an aggressive DA with no compassion. However, circumstances in his own life changes him so he becomes more interested in fairness and appropriate punishment, not maximum punishment.

Very well acted by Warren William and Gail Patrick.