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43 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"I Was Afraid You'd Stop Loving Me", July 30, 2005
Joan Fontaine was wonderful in this sensitive film about a shy woman who unexpectedly finds love and allows her insecurities to fuel her imagination with suspicion. She easily won the Academy Award for her performance following her fine turn the prior year in Rebecca. Based on a novel by Francis Iles, Hitchcock's second film starring Fontaine is more about love and the fear of losing it than suspense, but still has enough of his little touches to make it enjoyable as both.
Joan Fontaine is the shy but wealthy Lina. Though her head is often buried in books, her heart still beats, and when she is shown a little attention by irresponsible charmer Johnnie Aysgarth (Cary Grant), who calls her monkey-face, she begins to fall in love. When she overhears her family talking about her, it hurts her deeply, and she turns to Johnnie for the romance and adventure both she and those who know her thought she'd never have.
Fontaine is wonderful as she pines for the popular Johnnie to come calling again, until finally a cablegram salvages her pride in front of her skeptical family. Grant is excellent as the off-beat and fun Johnnie. When the shy Lina tells him she loves him, he realizes he feels the same and they run off and get married one rainy night.
Lina tries to be happy but begins to see Johnnie in a different light when his pal Beaky (Nigel Bruce) shows up. Johnnie's gambling and irresponsible ways are off-set by his charm, however, and her faith in him is always restored, as when he buys back a family heirloom he has sold when he hits it big at the track.
Lina learns through the town gossip that not only has Johnnie lost his job, but may have lost it because of theft, and decides to leave him. She is writing her note to him when Johnnie breaks in to tell her the sad news of her father's death. All is forgotten for a time as she needs Johnnie more than ever.
When Johnnie's debts become serious and the sweet but slow Beaky turns up dead, in a manner Johnnie has read about in her friend's mystery novels, her insecurities allow her imagination to take the next step. And when she discovers Johnnie has attempted to borrow against her life insurance policy....
Fontaine is simply marvelous in a tender and subtle performance and Cary Grant gives Johnnie just the right mix of charm and danger. The beautiful romantic score from Franz Waxman was Oscar nominated. Heather Angel has a nice part as the maid Ethel and Auriol Lee lends fine support as the mystery writer friend of Lina. Nigel Bruce, of Sherlock Holmes fame, really shines as Johnnie's pal Beaky.
Though some have a problem with Hitchcock's ending, the sensitive and romantic tone of the film almost demands the ending we get. A very fine romantic film with a touch of suspense.
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39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not the best of Hitchcock, but the best that WHV owns, August 8, 2009
Hitchcock's three greatest films, IMHO, are "Rear Window", "Vertigo", and "Psycho". However, those are owned by Universal. The four films in this collection are very good films by general standards and pretty good films by Hitchcock standards.
"Suspicion" was made in the U.S., but has the look and feel of Hitchcock's British films. Joan Fontaine plays a woman who marries a charming man (Cary Grant) and doesn't realize until after their marriage that he is a perpetual adolescent - and pathological liar. But could he also be a killer? If you don't know the answer until the end, that is because Hitchcock didn't know either.
"Strangers on a Train" has a pro tennis player (Farley Granger) wanting to divorce his cheating wife so he can marry someone else. However, the cheating wife is expecting and thinks her current husband will be a great provider even if he isn't the father - divorce is out of the question. Our hero makes the mistake of discussing his problems with a sociopath on the train ride home. The sociopath (Robert Walker) suggests they perform each other's murder. You see, Walker's character comes from a wealthy family and wants his father done away with since his father has cut him off financially until he stops wasting his life. Unfortunately, Walker's character goes ahead with his end of the non-existent bargain, making everyone think that the tennis player has killed his estranged wife.
"I Confess" concerns a priest who hears the confession of a murder for which he is suspected. The priest could clear himself two ways - either by breaking his vow and revealing the killer to the police, or he could reveal his alibi - he spent the afternoon in question with a woman with whom he was involved before he became a priest. Either way out is unacceptable to the priest. Seldom seen, this has always been one of my favorites.
"The Wrong Man" has Henry Fonda as a under-capitalized musician accused of a crime. He fits the description of the robber, has no alibi, and has no money - which gives him a motive for the robbery of which he is accused. Nobody in law enforcement will believe him. This is probably the weakest film of the four although it is still pretty good.
All four of these films are in the more deluxe The Alfred Hitchcock Signature Collection (Strangers on a Train Two-Disc Edition / North by Northwest / Dial M for Murder / Foreign Correspondent / Suspicion / The Wrong Man / Stage Fright / I Confess / Mr. and Mrs. Smith). That set is full of extra-features, featurettes, and commentary. If you have any real interest in Hitchcock I suggest you save your pennies and buy that set. You won't regret it.
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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A terrific blend of mystery, drama, suspense and even some comedy make this film a winner!, September 14, 2005
This review is for the 2004 Warner Brothers DVD.
The movie opens on train where Johnnie Aysgarth (Cary Grant) sits down in a private first class compartment with a frumpy young woman named Lina (Joan Fontaine). Johnnie makes an excuse that he was in another first class car but couldn't stand the smoke. When the conductor collects the tickets, he finds that Johnnie doesn't have a first class ticket or enough money to cover the difference in fare. With some slick salesmanship, Johnnie gets Lina to pay the additional fare. This is a foreshadowing of things to come. They meet again and have a whirlwind romance and get married. Lida quickly finds out that Johnnie has champaign tastes on a beer drinker's budget and uses a lot of charm and shrewd chicanery to obtain money without doing an honest day's work. As time goes on, Lida losses trust in Johnnie but later develops legitimate fears that he may go as far as committing murder for financial gain. This sets up the remainder of the film with plenty of suspense and drama finding out who the real Johnnie is and how far he'll go with his money scheming shenanigans.
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie for many reasons, but mainly because of the two leading actors: Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine. Not only were their individual performances terrific, but also the chemistry between the two was astounding. The Johnnie Aysgarth character was a spellbinding enigma throughout the entire film. Alfred Hitchcock masterfully directed the acting so that it was hard to tell if Johnnie was a charming, but irresponsible child in a man's body or deadly sociopath. Joan Fontaine won an Oscar for her performance as the emotionally tortured wife. Nigel Bruce also did a great job in a supporting role as Johnnie's old friend 'Beaky'. Another wonderful thing about this movie is that there is a clear comical element to the film - especially when Johnnie assumes that his newly wedded wife has lots of money but finds out she doesn't. The way Johnnie wiggles his way out several tight spots is a fascinating display of his creative and spontaneous ingenuity. All in all, it's a terrific suspense film with virtually no wasted moments in the entire movie. The ending is slightly controversial only because we find out in the commentary that the ending was change at the last minute. Some people would have undoubtedly preferred the original ending. I'm fine with the released version.
The DVD picture quality is nearly perfect for a movie this old. The transfer is sharp and blemish-free, with only a few grainy scenes. The sound was fine and DVD includes a bonus commentary segment about "Suspicion".
Movie: A
DVD Quality: A
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