Je plaide non coupable

This is a film worth watching even with a far from perfect sound quality. Cast were competent.

This was one of the post war recrimination films that proliferated in the 1950s.A man is found dead in a hotel.The accused woman had the opportunity and the motive to kill him.However as everyone knows that tends to be a sign of innocence.She is arraigned at the Old Bailey in front of that veteran scene stealer Donald Wolfit who plays a garrulous judge,who is going to make the best of his part.Her solicitor,instead of sitting behind counsel at the trial,goes off to France to try and solve the mystery.The problem about this film is that it is continually drifting into flashbacks so it is often difficult to work out a clear continuity of plot.

Although made in the mid fifties, it has the appearance of being made in the mid 30s. And then there's the contrived action sequences, reminiscent of a 1940's Republic Films Superman or Johnny Mack Brown serial for kids. Lotsa laughs. One is led to believe that if the male lead should unexpectedly visit one of those Parisian street toilets, three thugs would be waitlng inside ready to pounce on him. They should have had Graham Moffatt, Charlie Chan or Buster Keaton put in an appearance to round it all out. For anyone thinking of getting into the film business, this film should be an inspiration that anyone can write a script, act or direct. What a load of Tripe,...Glorious Tripe !

Part murder mystery, part thriller, part courtroom drama- this odd little film has a well-intentioned foot in each of these camps without nailing any particular genre. The unimaginative title doesn't help. That said, it's an enjoyable curiosity shown from time to time on TPTV, and John Justin scrubs up very nicely as our clean-cut English hero among a collection of French and Brit character actors; one of our favourite B-film cockneys of the time, Sydney Tafler, plays an Italian-sounding character who's witness statement is critical to the narrative- delivered in a peculiarly unconvincing French accent. As always, interesting to see who else crops up- the great Donald Wolfit as the judge, and Russell Napier (who is nearly always playing a police inspector), playing - er - a police inspector.

This film soon splits into two parallel narratives; one a rather stolid courtroom drama with an eclectic cast of Britons ranging from Donald Wolfit as the judge to Betty Stockfield as a shifty witness, the other populated largely with French actors and slickly shot by director Edmond Greville following hero John Justin to France in search of evidence exonerating a former resistance heroine.

Based on a novel by Michael Gilbert (originally part of his Inspector Hazelrigg series), the plot is often hard to follow and the final payoff a bit of a letdown, but you keep watching.