Product Details

• Actors: Joan Crawford, Fred MacMurray, Conrad Veidt, Basil Rathbone, Reginald Owen
• Format: Black & White, NTSC
• Language: Arabic, English, French, German
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: MGM (Warner)
• VHS Release Date: March 7, 1994
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302224314
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #144,520 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars JOAN TAKES ON THE NAZIS..., January 29, 2002

By 

Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Above Suspicion [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is a lively, moderately entertaining film with a somewhat implausible plot. Newlyweds, Richard Myles (Fred MacMurray) and Frances (Joan Crawford), are asked by British intelligence to do a little espionage work, while they are on their honeymoon in 1939 Germany. Richard, who is a professor at Oxford University, and his wife agree to do so without a qualm.

While in Germany, they follow a series of puzzling clues having to do with music and a red rose. There are many sinister Nazis, however, hot on the trail of the newlyweds, as they bumble about Germany. Through a series of twists and turns they come across an old school chum of Richard, a haughty aristocrat (Basil Rathbone), who turns out to be a lot more than they bargained for. With the aid of a mysterious Austrian agent (Conrad Veidt), Richard and Frances manage to complete their mission, but not before Frances has a hair raising run-in with the Gestapo. The Nazis, however, are no match for Frances.

This 1943 film is definitely a war propaganda movie. There is no doubt that the Nazis are the bad guys. Expect a lot of adventure and witty, highly stylized repartee between the newlyweds. Good performances are given by the entire cast. Although the plot is implausible, the film is still entertaining.

Fans of Joan Crawford will definitely enjoy this film.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars ABOVE SUSPICION IS WAY ABOVE AVERAGE, November 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Above Suspicion [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This film has it all, suspense, comedy, drama, romance and Joan and Fred MacMurray sing a duet! This 1943 classic was the last film Joan made under her 18 year tenure at MGM. Mayer should have kept her on the payroll. This is a sensational movie. The pace is lively and Joan plays a very likeable and human character. She and Fred have a good chemistry together. This film will leave you feeling good.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Joan Crawford Versus the Third Reich, July 13, 2003

By 

Simon Davis (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Above Suspicion [VHS] (VHS Tape)

"Above Suspicion", was a timely film in some respects coming out as it did in 1943 with America now fully involved in the war overseas. And despite her unhappiness with the direction her career was taking in the early 1940's it was another example of Joan Crawford adjusting herself to the changing tastes of movie goers as this film and her previous effort "Reunion in France", have war focused themes. Critics have complained about the improbable plot and the fact that the story makes it obvious that the Nazi's are the real bad guys, well in real life the Nazi's were the bad guys and while it does have a story that is highly improbable it is still very enjoyable and indeed gripping at times.

Joan Crawford was teamed with Fred MacMurray for the only time in "Above Suspicion", and they make a surprisingly compatiable team as Frances and Richard Myles, two newlywed Americans who are about to depart on their honeymoon when they are approached by a mysterious representative of the British Secret Service to undertake a secret mission within Nazi Germany for the precise reason that as two innocent tourists they are "above suspicion". Their task is to secure through a series of contacts the valuable plans to a new secret weapon of the Nazi's, a magnetic mine. Their travels take them from Paris all the way to Salzburg where they find themselves in more danger than they anticipated when they excepted the assignment. In Austria they run across sinister aristocrat Count Sig von Aschenhausen (Basil Rathbone in another fine performance) who although an old Oxford collegue of Richard's, now has a new strange quality to him and arouses their suspicions by trailing them and watching their every move. With the help of Austrian agent Count Hassert Seidel (Conrad Veidt) the couple make contact with a Doctor Mespelbrunn (Reginald Owen) where they obtain the information they require and then attempt to flee over the border seperately in disguise. Frances is unfortunately captured by the Nazi's and tortured in a remote Castle where Richard and a group of British Agents manage with great difficulty to rescue her and safely cross the border into Switzerland.

Dismissed as a wartime propaganda movie I feel it gave home audiences a feel of what was happening in Europe at the time. Certainly the idea of conscripting civilians for such dangerous missions as this is an absurd one but in the light of the terrors of war the film does convey a message of what was actually going on in Europe with the Nazi's taking control. Joan Crawford delivers a very believable performance under the circumstances, of a young bride who is caught up in the adventure of "being spies" to use her characters words. The rapport between her and MacMurray is very amiable and believable and they handle the numerous twists and turns in the convoluted story very well. Ably assisted by acting veterans Basil Rathbone, Conrad Veidt and Reginald Owen the actors all make something very gripping and enjoyable out of at first glance quite unpromising material.The film adapts a brisk pace and the story never flags for a minute. Backed up by an expensive MGM production the general Germanic feel of the story is well captured and the films other production qualities are well done. One can feel they are actually in parts of Austria on the eve of World War Two.

"Above Suspicion", marked Joan Crawford's farewell to MGM where she had been a star since the late 1920's. She moved on the next year to a long stay at Warner Brothers where among many fine films she scored an Oscar for her work in "Mildred Pierce". While this film is certainly not in the same league it is nevertheless a story filled with exciting story developments, action and suspense,and also a timely message about what was happening in Europe in the period before the start of the war. Take a look at Joan's farewell performance on the MGM lot, while not her best it still stands the test of time and makes "Above Suspicion", an enjoyable way to spend an hour and a half.