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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
This minor 1948 film by Alfred Hitchcock beats a familiar Hitchcockian drum: an attorney (Gregory Peck), in love with the client (Alida Valli) he is defending on a murder charge, implicates himself in her guilt by trying to put the blame on another man. The no-one-is-innocent theme may be consistent with Hitchcock's best films and worldview, but this is one of the movies that got away from his crucial passion for the plastic side of creative directing. Stuck in a courtroom for much of the story, the film is fit to burst with possibility but is pinned down like a freshly caught butterfly in someone's airless collection. --Tom Keogh
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
37 of 39 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Alida Valli didn't make very many pictures in the USA, but the ones she did are without exception worth seeing.
In Italy, of course, she is as important to the indigenous cinema as Sophia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida put together. But here is the USA, she starred in a mere handful of pictures, and we remember her mainly via her connection to David Selznick, for whom she made THE THIRD MAN and THE PARADINE CASE. THE MIRACLE OF THE BELLS and WALK SOFTLY, STRANGER are also worth seeing. In THE PARADINE CASE, she is on trial for murdering her husband in a stuffy British courtroom, to which her sultry and exotic beauty is continually being counterpointed. She is a bird in a gilded cage all right, literally and figuratively. Gregory Peck falls hard for her, and it's watching how low he goes that makes this film one of Hitchcock's best. He even quarrels with his wife, the cold, perfect Ann Todd, and makes it plain to her and to everyone in their bourgeois social circle that he has fallen in love with his client, thus breaking all the rules in one fell swoop.
He begins to suspect that Valli has been framed, and he begins to suspect Louis Jourdan, Paradine's handsome manservant, of an illicit interest in his master's wife. The scenes between Peck and Jourdan are fiery and full of passion. Each of them is fighting for his life and honor. There is as well an erotic charge between the two of them. In a sense Peck is representing the colonialist who seeks authenticity by embroiling himself in the lives and bodies of a darker and more obviously sexed people, whether they be Italian or French. He gets slapped down for his efforts.
Even if you've seen THE PARADINE CASE fifty times, there's always something fresh to watch, whether it's Charles Coburn acting especially kinky, or Ann Todd from THE SEVENTH VEIL acting masochistic one more time. But most of all the movie is trying to make us see Valli as a new Garbo, who had retired from the screen and whom Selznick believed we would swallow Valli as a successor to. In my opinion, she's greater than Garbo by a country mile.
In Italy, of course, she is as important to the indigenous cinema as Sophia Loren and Gina Lollobrigida put together. But here is the USA, she starred in a mere handful of pictures, and we remember her mainly via her connection to David Selznick, for whom she made THE THIRD MAN and THE PARADINE CASE. THE MIRACLE OF THE BELLS and WALK SOFTLY, STRANGER are also worth seeing. In THE PARADINE CASE, she is on trial for murdering her husband in a stuffy British courtroom, to which her sultry and exotic beauty is continually being counterpointed. She is a bird in a gilded cage all right, literally and figuratively. Gregory Peck falls hard for her, and it's watching how low he goes that makes this film one of Hitchcock's best. He even quarrels with his wife, the cold, perfect Ann Todd, and makes it plain to her and to everyone in their bourgeois social circle that he has fallen in love with his client, thus breaking all the rules in one fell swoop.
He begins to suspect that Valli has been framed, and he begins to suspect Louis Jourdan, Paradine's handsome manservant, of an illicit interest in his master's wife. The scenes between Peck and Jourdan are fiery and full of passion. Each of them is fighting for his life and honor. There is as well an erotic charge between the two of them. In a sense Peck is representing the colonialist who seeks authenticity by embroiling himself in the lives and bodies of a darker and more obviously sexed people, whether they be Italian or French. He gets slapped down for his efforts.
Even if you've seen THE PARADINE CASE fifty times, there's always something fresh to watch, whether it's Charles Coburn acting especially kinky, or Ann Todd from THE SEVENTH VEIL acting masochistic one more time. But most of all the movie is trying to make us see Valli as a new Garbo, who had retired from the screen and whom Selznick believed we would swallow Valli as a successor to. In my opinion, she's greater than Garbo by a country mile.
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Thus spake Andre La Tour, the valet and the catalyst for the murder of Col. Paradine. Valli is Mrs. Paradine, and she wants Andre La Tour, so badly she murders her husband and benefactor to remove any and all obstacles standing between her and La Tour. Louis Jourdan is La Tour, and handsome in a sharp, chiseled way; Valli is really something to see, very beautiful and arresting, and the accent further enhances her mysterious image. Gregory Peck, her attorney, falls for her, hard and fast, and is almost sympathetic in his desire to possess her. Ann Todd, a curious mixture of ice and warmth, is steadfast in her loyalty to her husband, and Joan Tetzel is good as her friend and the daughter of Charles Coburn, (I enjoy the banter between Coburn and Tetzel, he is always a joy to watch)who is a colleague of Gregory Peck's. The score by Franz Waxman is one of the stars of the movie, and haunting, as his music always is. The movie is unusual and quieter than the typical Hitchcockian fare, but should not be judged more harshly for that, but taken on it's own merits, which it has in abundance. Charles Laughton ("curious how the convolutions of a walnut resemble those of the human brain...") is wonderful as the censorious and righteous Judge of the proceedings, and rather an unpleastant bully to his wife, Ethel Barrymore, who seems rather wasted in this weak role as the much maligned wife. She is one of my favorite actresses, but I much prefer her in "The Spiral Staircase", a much richer role and one more worthy of her immense talent. I own this on VHS and DVD, and of course, the DVD is far superior in quality.
18 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Pleasant and interesting courtroom drama set in England, about a beautiful young widow, accused of murdering her much-older, rich and blind husband, defended on trial by a successful barrister who, in the process, gets caught under her spell, eventually falling in love with her.
Italian actress (Alida) Valli is alluring, ravishing, sophisticated and mysterious, as the lady in question. Gregory Peck is good as the barrister, so absolutely infatuated with Valli, that risks his own career for her sake. English actress Ann Todd is also good as his troubled wife. Others in this stellar cast: Charles Coburn, Joan Tetzel, Louis Jourdan, Ethel Barrymore and, last but not least, Charles Laughton, who gives an excellent performance as an aristrocratic, rather cruel and ironic Judge.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Classic Hitchcock
Bought this DVD to add to my Hitchcock collection. Reproduction quality was pretty good, although that wasn't my primary concern. Read more
Published 12 days ago by Catherine Weis
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Gregory Peck favorite
The suspense and deep emotion of this movie classic just gets better each time it is watched. A great gift for an attorney.
Published 13 days ago by Barbara Dudley
4.0 out of 5 stars
Middle phase Hitchcock
This film is much better that the critics gave it credit for. The ending is a bit contrived, but the drama and acting are all first rate.
Published 1 month ago by C.J.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not exactly an escape from Dullsville
For a description of the plot, etc., read other reviews. Just some thoughts on this movie...
The Paradine Case (1947) is an Alfred Hitchcock drama that stars Gregory... Read more
The Paradine Case (1947) is an Alfred Hitchcock drama that stars Gregory... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Joker
4.0 out of 5 stars
Tony, Watch Out
Okay, okay I `ll back off a little on my remark that on the basis of two recently reviewed Alfred Hitchcock films, The Wrong Man and I Confess, apparently the late thriller... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Alfred Johnson
5.0 out of 5 stars
love gregory peck
Love this dvd...good quality.....wow and was delivered fast!...any movie with gregory peck is fantastic..they dont make them like him anymore....lol
Published 6 months ago by PATZ
2.0 out of 5 stars
Utterly Predictable Plot Saved Only By Decent Morality Play
The courtroom can often be a place of high drama in cinema (think: A Few Good Men). In "The Paradine Case", however, there just isn't enough compelling material to make its... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Zachary Koenig
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not nearly as bad as its reputation would lead you to believe
THE PARADINE CASE is widely regarded as the worst of his films made while under contract with David O. Read more
Published on May 24, 2010 by Robert Moore
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Selznick Memo Movie
Nominally an Alfred Hitchcock film, it has egomaniac David O. Selznick's paw prints all over it (and his name, literally, all over the opening credits). Read more
Published on February 28, 2010 by William F. Flanigan Jr.
5.0 out of 5 stars
You can see that Hitchcock formula and well done too.
The movie is very proud to be a David O. Selznick film and displays it proudly at the beginning.
This is one of those movies where you go "yeah yeah" I saw before. Read more
This is one of those movies where you go "yeah yeah" I saw before. Read more
Published on May 25, 2009 by bernie
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