The Case Against Mrs. Ames

I was left unsure why Arthus Roche's name appeared on the credits. The screenplay bears no resemblance to the novel, and I am driven to the conclusion that using the title of a well known book (and hence having to credit it's author) was thought to be a good way of getting an audience for a second rate low budget movie. Of course, the novel being set in a Broadway of extremely dubious morals wouldn't have gone down too well with the US censor, or with the Hollywood moguls who would would also not have been to keen on the portrayal in the novel of a gangster mixing freely with the Broadway bosses. The issue (seemingly well researched in the novel) of the hardware shop as a front for the supply of weapons to the gangs would have been a bit hard to swallow, but with all those plot changes, why not just write a new screenplay?

This is a highly entertaining, at times engrossing, film centering on a beleaguered woman's determination to gain custody of her son in the face of an almost universal feeling of revulsion over her alleged responsibility for the murder of her husband.

English actress Madeleine Carroll delivers a convincing performance in a dramatic role of the kind that she was, unfortunately, given too few opportunities to exploit during her career. As Hope Ames she reveals a compelling sense of emotionalism that was never over-wrought and remained contained, but not blunted, by a cool, elegant exterior. Every thing about her had a sense of elegance and refinement that is so characteristic of the exquisitely beautiful English actress, from her angelic countenance to her flawless diction. Even in the highly fraught scenes where she tries to regain the love and trust of her estranged son never descend into rank sentimentality, but elicit a welling poignancy at the heart-felt expression of affection that only a mother could feel for her child.

George Brent plays Matt Logan, a hard-drinking assistant D.A. whose vulgarities and flamboyant excesses provide an effective counterpoise to the cool Mrs. Ames. It seems that Logan represented a sort of tribune of the people in his effort to prove Mrs. Ames guilt in the murder of her husband, his ultimate success having political implications. This secondary theme of class conflict was a favorite among depression era film makers, and the contemporary audience of this production must have got quite a chuckle when Mrs. Ames' snobbish uncle goes so far as to call Logan a communist.

The remainder of the cast is uniformly excellent. Arthur Treacher as Mrs. Ames' butler, Griggsby, adds a little levity with his humorous excesses even though you know that no one could be that big of a ham. On the other hand, Mrs. Ames' son, Bobbie, played by Scottie Becket, couldn't have been more convincing as the snarling, spoiled brat that only his mother could possibly love. Now on second thoughts, maybe that should have been the real case against Mrs. Ames.

THE TOUCH OF VENUS (1948) was the sole other film directed by William A Seiter that I had watched to date - and I really liked it, especially the incredibly gorgeous Aca Gardner. This morning, I watched THE CASE AGAINST MRS AMES, done 12 years earlier.

They are two very different films, but both have pleasing touches of humor bordering occasionally on screwball.

Madeleine Carroll is to THE CASE what Ava was to TOUCH, a stunning female who leaves no male indifferent. Carroll plays a widow, mother of a six year old boy, and she stands accused of murdering her husband who, the viewer finds in due course, was not exactly an altar boy in life. Things get to a head when Carroll's very wealthy mother in law decides to keep the child.

In a court case full of adjournments, delays, deceit, and other malarkey, Carroll's defense lawyer (Alan Mowbray) thinks she is guilty, but somehow she is acquitted. That is when the mother in law - who has been poisoning the little boy's mind blaming Carroll for her son's death - retains Mowbray's services, and Carroll decides to do her own defense.

Not too successfully, and that is when Carroll asks prosecutor Brent to investigate the murder case so her good name is cleared.

I watched a poor copy on Youtube off a VHS tape, so I cannot usefully comment on the quality of the mostly interior photography but the script contains sharp and articulate dialogue, even if cause and effect are not always clear.

Thankfully only 85 minutes long and definitely worth watching. 8/10.

Madeleine Carroll turns in a lively performance here as the accused socialite "Hope" who is on trial for murdering her wealthy husband. Her last ditch and emotional plea to the all-male jury does the trick and she gets off, but her mother-in-law (Beulah Bondi) wants her as far away from her child "Bobby" as possible so pretty soon they are going to have head back to court. Not only has the boy's grandmother employed "Waterston" (Alan Mowbray) as her solicitor - he was the defence lawyer for the original crime, but "Logan" (George Brent) the DA who failed in that prosecution has rather lost the plot since and taken to the bottle. "Hope" reckons the only way to keep her son is to prove, categorically, that she didn't kill her husband and so engages "Logan" to get to the bottom of just who did kill him! This hits the ground running and allows Carroll to pretty much own the screen throughout. There is some solid support from the wise-cracking Brent, Mowbray and the ever reliable Arthur Treacher brings a little stiff upper lipped humour as butler "Griggs". The actual investigation is a bit superficial and the clues rather fall into place but there's some fun to be had whilst the expected romance blossoms and the courtroom drama thickens. It might also show an early cinematic example of child grooming, too. Worth a watch, I'd say.

Madeleine Carroll hits the American studios in this soap opera mixed with a murder mystery. She is on trial for killing her husband, but charms the all-male jury into finding her not guilty. This so enrages George Brent, the ADA finishing up the case, that he berates them, and claims that the District Attorney deliberately threw the case, then tossed it into his lap to take the heat. He's jailed for contempt, but bailed out by Miss Carroll. Her mother-in-law, Beulah Bondi, has been taking care of her son, Scotty Beckett, and wants Miss Carroll to give him up. Miss Carroll wants Brent to find out who really murdered her husband, and offers him $25,000 if he can prove she did it.

The mystery part of the movie stalls long enough for the case over young Beckett to be ready for judgment before Brent rushes in with the answer to the mystery. The structure makes it clear that the audience is there to watch Miss Carroll suffer, with the mystery an added fillip. From Miss Carroll's viewpoint, it doesn't matter who killed her husband so long as she didn't, and the audience comes to agree.

The script skirts the edge of the Hays Office adroitly, with abortion referred to circumlocutiously, as well as three shady ladies who make a living being kind to gentlemen. But the most adroit part of the movie is the way it offers secondary characters, like Richard Carle's, as part of the background, present, perhaps better defined in Arthur Somers Roche's story, but a sensible part of the background, given just enough to do to make his inclusion good. It's a handsome decision and it pays off in an enjoyable movie. With Arthur Treacher, Alan Mowbray, Esther Dale, Eddie Brophy, Mayo Methot, and June Brewster.