Le procès Paradine

Original title: The Paradine Case

IMDb RATING

6.5/10

13K

YOUR RATING

Gregory Peck, Ann Todd, and Louis Jourdan in Le procès Paradine (1947)

A happily married London barrister falls in love with the accused poisoner he is defending.

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Crime Drama Romance Thriller

A happily married London barrister falls in love with the accused poisoner he is defending.A happily married London barrister falls in love with the accused poisoner he is defending.A happily married London barrister falls in love with the accused poisoner he is defending.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.5/10

13K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 6 wins & 1 nomination total

Minor Role
(uncredited)

Russell Custer

Barrister in Courtroom
(uncredited)

Jack Deery

Juror
(uncredited)

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Storyline

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Trivia
When Sir Alfred Hitchcock delivered the completed movie to the studio, after a Hitchcock record of ninety-two days of filming, it ran almost three hours. This rough cut was initially trimmed to two hours and twelve minutes, which was the version screened for the Academy of Arts & Sciences. In this version, Ethel Barrymore can be seen as the half-crazed wife of Lord Horfield, which explains the Oscar nomination for her performance (there was apparently a brilliant museum scene where Lady Horfield requests Anthony Keane to save Mrs. Paradine, and another scene where Lady Horfield tries to hide her coughing from her husband). Producer David O. Selznick subsequently cut the film to two hours and five minutes, and then to its present length of one hour and fifty-four minutes, in which Barrymore's screen time totals about three minutes. In 1980, a flood reputedly destroyed the original, uncut version, making the restoration of the cut scenes unlikely, although it has been reported that some of these cut scenes reside at the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York.

Goofs
When Latour appears outside Keane's inn room, the wind is blowing wildly, whipping Latour's hair across his forehead; yet just a split-second later, after Latour has entered the room, his hair is perfectly combed without a hair out of place.

Quotes
Judge Lord Thomas Horfield: I do not like to be interrupted in the middle of an insult.

Crazy credits
In opening credits scroll below Ethel Barrymore: "and two new / Selznick Stars / Louis Jourdan / and / Valli". Alida Valli's name is in script form, and Jourdan had been playing leading roles in French films for several years before making "The Paradine Case".

Alternate versions
Originally released at 132 minutes.

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

User reviews127

Featured review

9/10

Alida Valli: Hitchcok before Visconti

I'm crazy about Alida Valli. I'd seen every film she's ever done except "The Paradine Case" until today that is. Today I met Mrs Paradine for the first time. Strangely enough it doesn't feel like Hitchcock it feels more like Carol Reed the director who gave her a major International hit with "The Third Man" a couple of years later. I fell in love with Alida Valli in the 1954 Luchino Visconti's tragic romantic epic "Senso". Now having seen "The Paradine Case" I see a glimpse of the woman in "Senso" where her actions, are also atrocious but govern by love. A love who will only lead to tragedy. Visconti showed us an Alida Valli that other than a great beauty was also a great actress. Hitchcock introduced her as VALLI in this film, a gimmick with very short legs. Here she plays the widow of a blind man that "allegedly" she killed. The casting of Gregory Peck is a major problem, maybe not for the box office in 1947, but it certainly detrimental to the suspension of disbelief, so needed in a thriller. Charles Laughton is superb in his few, short scenes. I wonder if Hitchcock himself was the inspiration for his role. A judge, a lascivious man with an roving eye for young pretty women. Ethel Barrymore plays his wife, to absolute perfection. Then, Louis Jourdan, beautiful of course, Charles Coburn, Ann Todd but, it is Alida Valli who gives this film that extra something. Considered a "minor" Hitchcock by most but not by me. 9/10