- Revisiting contemporary and modern critical appreciation
- Alfred Hitchcock’s treatise in gaslighting and coercive control
- Masterclass in abusive behavior but with a compromised ending
Note: this is part of an ongoing series of 150-odd Hitchcock articles; any dead links are to those not yet published. Subscribe to the email list to be notified when new ones appear.
Suspicion: Writing on a Classic, Part 2 | Collectors Guide, Part 2: Home video and soundtrack
US insert poster
Charming Touch in Murder: Cary Grant and a Happy Ending Highlight Hitchcock Thriller
RKO Radio’s Suspicion is an adaptation of Francis Iles’ Before the Fact, a popular and exceptionally adroit psychological murder story. However, the change in title betrays the film’s single defect—a trumped-up happy ending. Otherwise, this is an exciting, superior thriller, admirably played by a fine cast, and directed by Alfred Hitchcock in the manner that makes him clean of cinematic melodrama.
Except for the box-office-inspired tail spin, and the deviations it required from the Francis Iles* original, the neatly dovetailed script follows the inexorable pattern of the novel. Box-office blandishments or no, Cary Grant’s Johnnie Aysgarth remains a scoundrel, a liar, and a thief—but always charming. It is the school-tie charm that does for Joan Fontaine as Lina, the prim but lovely daughter of the wealthy General McLaidlaw. Lina is not exactly swept off her feet. She meets Johnnie more than halfway overboard. And it is only after the honeymoon that she discovers her husband has no money of his own and no intention of earning any the hard way. But always, in the nick of time, Johnnie turns on the charm that has always turned away wrath.
It would be a disservice to Hitchcock, his fine cast, and, most of all, his prospective audience to give away the denouement by complaining in detail about its new third-act curtain. Naturally this is a film that must be seen from the beginning. And while the ending is downright inept—and, one hopes, contrived over Hitchcock’s plump, protesting body—it doesn’t detract from the excellent melodrama that precedes it.
The endings for Suspicion – Ken Mogg and Bill Krohn
In a role resembling the one she created in Hitchcock’s Rebecca, Joan Fontaine turns in another sensitive and intelligent performance as, through Lina’s mind’s eye, Hitchcock relates how she first discovered her husband’s irresponsibility, later suspects him of murdering his best friend, and, finally, with mounting hysteria, waits the inevitable moment when he will turn on her.
Cary Grant is equally good, faced with the difficult task of being at once caddish and appealing, affectionate and sinister. The lesser roles are more than adequately portrayed by Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Isabel Jeans, the late Auriol Lee, Heather Angel, and Leo G. Carroll. Outstanding in the supporting cast, however, is Nigel Bruce, who gives an amusing and sympathetic characterization as Beaky Thwaite, Johnnie’s bumbling and generous friend, who has a weak heart and a childlike faith in his capacity for brandy.
*The identity of Francis Iles was long a matter of conjecture in literary circles. The finger of suspicion finally pointed to Anthony Berkeley Cox, who writes such mystery stories as The Poisoned Chocolates Case under the name Anthony Berkeley. Berkeley has neither confirmed nor denied the complimentary impeachment possibly because, it is suspected, he had a collaborator as Iles. – Newsweek
Anthony Berkeley Cox, who in fact didn’t have a literary collaborator, published The Poisoned Chocolates Case as an expanded version of his short story “The Avenging Chance” but with more possible solutions. That in turn, like many other literary works, was seemingly based on the infamous murderess Cordelia Botkin, who poisoned her married lover’s wife, sister-in-law and four members of their family by sending them a box of chocolates laced with arsenic. Surprisingly, Berkeley’s novel remains unadapted in any other media but the short story spawned two BBC radio plays and a TV programme in 1937, 1962 and 1968 respectively.
- “The Avenging Chance” (1925) – Anthony Berkeley
- The Poisoned Chocolates Case (1929) – Berkeley | Italian, German, French/orig, Spanish
- Dying for Chocolate: Cordelia Botkin and the 1898 Poisoned Candy Murders (2020) – Kerry Segrave
US magazine advert; in Life
Movie of the Week: Suspicion – Life
Master of mystery Alfred Hitchcock weaves a terrifying web of Suspicion around a fragile young English bride—and captures a classic suspense thriller. Joan Fontaine, in her Academy Award-winning performance, is the bride, a gently-reared heiress who fears she has married a murderer. Cary Grant, in the first of his enormously successful collaborations with Hitchcock, is the husband, a dashing ne’er-do-well with a penchant for the high life—and a bank account that’s strictly low-life.
Hitchcock’s first American film, Rebecca (also starring Miss Fontaine), was a smashing success but his next two films were not of the same caliber, and he needed another major hit. Suspicion’s stylish chills put him back on top of the heap… and returned audiences to the edges of their seats. So hang on for all-out suspense that’s all-out Hitchcock!
Suspicion is considered one of the best examples of director Alfred Hitchcock’s mastery of psychological suspense. The film’s unrelenting tension is magnified by Hitchcock’s brilliant use of lighting and imagery. In one of the director’s most famous scenes, Hitchcock places a light bulb in a glass of milk to give it a menacing, poisonous glow. This type of innovative filmmaking became Hitchcock’s trademark.
Suspicion is based on the novel Before the Fact by Frances Iles, the rights for which sat on a studio shelf for six years before it was dusted off to satisfy RKO executives who believed that a Hollywood-style happy ending would be more acceptable to American audiences. It is also rumored that the studio felt a star of Cary Grant’s magnitude would mar his image by playing a murderer. Ultimately the ending change did not hurt the film’s box office—profit levels hit $450,000, an impressive sum at that time. Suspicion received three Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Actress (Joan Fontaine) and Best Music (Franz Waxman).
Cary Grant as Johnny Aysgarth: Born Archibald Alexander Leach in Bristol, England, Cary Grant was the Hollywood archetype of the sophisticated man-about-town. He had a rocky start as a 13-year-old song-and-dance man and Coney Island lifeguard until he was discovered by Arthur Hammerstein and made his way to Hollywood. Grant’s first studio contract brought him a rapid succession of strong supporting roles which helped him become one of the movie industry’s most popular leading men.
In fact, it was Grant in one of his early roles who was on the receiving end of Mae West’s famous line, “Why don’t you come up sometime ‘n see me?” While under joint contract with RKO and Columbia, Grant revealed his undeniable flair for screwball comedy in such hits as Bringing up Baby and The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer. The screen personality of the witty, debonair, lady’s man was true to Grant’s own personality and he was fond of saying “I play myself to perfection.” Suspicion was Grant’s first film with Alfred Hitchcock and began his long association with the legendary director.
Old reviews: Bulletin/quotes, Harrison’s, Hollywood, NY Times, Times, Variety/quotes
Bad boys make your heart beat faster: Cary Grant love bombs Joan Fontaine
Joan Fontaine as Lina McLaidlaw: Born Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland, Joan Fontaine’s career began in West Coast stage companies and initially trailed far behind that of her older sister, Olivia de Havilland. In 1937 however, she began appearing regularly in films and in the early 1940s achieved critical acclaim for her performance in two Alfred Hitchcock films. In the span of four years, she was nominated for three Academy Awards and won both an Academy Award and a New York Film Critics Award for her performance in Suspicion. Fontaine’s gripping portrayal of the paranoid heroine, Lina McLaidlaw, brings the tension of the film to its thrilling heights.
Nigel Bruce as Beaky Thwaite: Born William Nigel Bruce, he began his acting career on the London and Broadway stage before moving to Hollywood in 1934. The move served him well, as he began a distinguished film career that would establish him as one of Hollywood’s most beloved character actors. Suspicion was Bruce’s second film with Alfred Hitchcock [following Lord Camber’s Ladies]. Beaky Thwaite, Suspicion’s irresistible bumbler, was a role which seemed to be tailor-made for him. The real son of a baronet, he played the upper-crust, often foolish character to perfection. Bruce is probably best remembered for his role as Dr. Watson opposite Basil Rathbone’s Sherlock Holmes, a part he also played on radio for eight years.
Alfred Hitchcock, director: Born in London, Alfred Hitchcock obtained a widely varied education during his youth, including Jesuit studies at London’s St. Ignatius College; mechanics, electricity, acoustics and navigation at the School of Engineering and Navigation; and art courses at the University of London. He also worked as an electric cable technical estimator and an advertising sketch and layout artist before his transition into film. Hitchcock’s international reputation as the Master of Suspense began in 1934.
His commercial and critical success was due, in large part, to his ability to both shock and amuse. He focused strongly on the build-up of emotion and mood in a story, deftly accomplished through the use of lighting, camera angles and well-directed actors. It was this emotion that was one of the primary contributors to the long-lasting popularity of his films. Alma Reville, who co-wrote the script for Suspicion, was married to Hitchcock. They met when she was a film editor and script girl for one of his earlier films. – US Turner VHS (1988) and Image LD (1989) LDDb
US title lobby card
Related articles
This is part of a unique, in-depth series of 150-odd Hitchcock articles.
