Le crime était signé

A film producer accused of murdering the leading lady of his latest project must acquit himself and save his marriage. Stewart Granger was more than apt at the part of the producer and his relationship with Donna Reed (who plays the part of his wife) is full of fairly intelligent dialogue. George Sanders' character as the actual killer of the leading lady, who had totally humiliated him with her numerous affairs, makes convincing sense as the plot unfolds of an older man confronted with a marriage that's only evidence of matrimony was the worthless piece of paper the marriage certificate was written on. The ending is a bit of a stretch, but there are a lot of nice interior shots of the jet set enjoying a swanky party on the French Riviera where the story takes place.

A rather tawdry murder mystery set among film makers in the South of France (although the principals plainly never left Walton-on-Thames), directed for all its worth by a young John Guillermin (later described by Granger as "peculiarly lacking in charm, to say the least") from a screenplay by film noir veteran Jonathan Latimer from a play by Philip Mackie, with gothic photography by Wilkie Cooper and suitably trashy musical accompaniment by Mischa Spoliansky (performed on the soundtrack by Johnny Dankworth).

It's good to see female lead Donna Reed play a more active role in the proceedings than one is accustomed to, while George Sanders also looks less bored than usual during this period in his life.

Stewart Granger looks for "The Whole Truth" in this 1958 film also starring Donna Reed, George Sanders, and Gianna Maria Canale. The exotic Canale plays the star of producer Granger's film. He once had an affair with her when his wife (Reed) briefly left him. It's over, but she wants to start it up again. At man (Sanders) visits Granger posing as a Scotland Yard detective and informs him that his star is dead. Except she's not - she shows up at a party at Sanders' house. He drives her home, leaves the car, and when he returns to it, she is indeed dead. Granger must then prove that he was framed.

This film is a little disjointed. It has some neat twists and is told with some humor, but somehow, it doesn't hang together. Reed, normally quite good, isn't much of a presence. The rest of the acting is better. Granger is very believable as a producer, and we've seen George Sanders do elegant sinister many times. I actually enjoyed Canale the most. She kind of reminded me of Gina Lollabrigida.

The whole truth. The 1958 one. Stewart granger, donna reed, george sanders. Married but separated max poulton (granger) has been enjoying the company of his leading lady gina (giana canale) while out of town, working on a film. But when he tells gina it's over, she gets angry. Then carliss from scotland yard shows up, asking questions. About gina's murder. And then, a very drunk gina shows up! And she hasn't been murdered. So what is this carliss pulling? And when things get crazy, now carliss is telling a completely different story. What's going on ? Can max convince the coppers that he had no part in any of this? We feel the suspense and anguish that poulton is going through, as the police lock him up. It's pretty good. Kind of a silly bit right at the very end, but it all works. Based on the play by philip mackie. He won the bafta for court martial. Directed by john guillerman. He had also directed the 78 version of death on the nile, and towering inferno!

Max (Stewart Granger) is a film producer and lousy husband. Why lousy? Because some time ago, he had an affair with one of his leading ladies but his wife doesn't know about it. However, his latest film project is with this same temperamental actress and Max is naturally concerned about what this unstable lady will do. Well, it turns out she's not the one to worry about, but her deranged husband...who works out what seems to be the perfect frame up when he kills his wife. What is Max to do?

The best part of the film is George Sanders...who plays wonderful villains. Here, he's at his smoothest and nastiest and he sure has got poor Max in a bind! Overall, well done and my only reservation is that the story is amazingly farfetched when you think about it.