Lower Case

I finally caught The Paradine Case, one of the few Hitchcocks I haven't seen. It was a big production with a major star. It was also a flop, and I can see why. The film, which had more interference than usual from producer David O. Selznick (and that's saying something), seems to be twice as long as its two-hour-plus running time.

Mrs. Paradine is arrested in the first scene but we don't even get to the trial until about an hour later. Before then, there's plenty of turgid romance to hold us. A stirring courtroom drama might then save things, but there's not much here, either. While we're at it, it's hard to buy Gregory Peck as a master barrister in the Old Bailey. (I saw the movie soon after watching Witness For The Prosecution, which I don't consider a classic, but at least shows you how to do this sort of movie.)