Wives Under Suspicion (1938)

Wives Under Suspicion (1938)

„Wives Under Suspicion“ is a 1938 crime film directed by James Whale. The screenplay by Myles Connolly is based on the 1932 play „Csók a tükör előtt“ (The Kiss Before the Mirror), a drama in three acts, by Ladislas Fodor.

As cuckolded murderer, Joseph Patterson, is sentenced, he warns District Attorney Jim Stowell of retribution. After Pattison is publicly executed, Jim counts the eleven executions he has prosecuted on an abacus made with miniature skulls, reckoning that he has twenty-four more to go.

Soon after, the Tatler publishes rumors of an affair between Jim’s wife, Lucy, and a graduate student, Phil. Jim’s secretary, „Sharpy,“ reminds him of his wife’s birthday.

As the Stowells leave home for a dinner celebration, Jim is shot by an associate of Pattison, but in the hospital, the bullet proves only to have grazed Jim, and Dan, his press aide, regards the incident as a publicity triumph. Jim, who has neglected his wife for his work, decides to take a long-delayed honeymoon. After returning to his office, he finds his aide, Kirk, roughly interrogating Professor Shaw MacAllen. Jim takes MacAllen aside and apparently tries to console him, convincing him to confess to murdering his unfaithful wife. Jim then abruptly excuses MacAllen, because he secretly had recorded the confession, and takes a copy of the recording to add to his collection.

MacAllen’s wealthy relatives hire distinguished lawyer David Morrow for the defense, but Jim is determined to demand the death sentence for MacAllen, because he does not believe in the concept of a „crime of passion.“ During the summertime trial that attracts national attention, Jim realizes that he is living a parallel life. He has neglected his own wife and come to believe that she is having an affair. Jim requests that Lucy stop seeing Phil, as he is head of a student committee supporting MacAllen.

One evening during the trial, Jim returns home, and he and Lucy unconsciously re-enact „the kiss before the mirror,“ as MacAllen’s confession has been labeled by the press. Jim listens again to the recording of MacAllen, then follows Lucy to Phil’s home. He is about to shoot the couple when he realizes how his ruthless ways have almost caused him to murder the one he loves.

The next day, Jim, still dazed, announces that the prosecution will lower the charges against MacAllen to second degree murder. Jim then asks Lucy, who is leaving, to forgive him and start anew. At that moment, Phil and Elizabeth, his girl friend, dash in and announce that they have just been married, with help from Lucy. Although reporters suspect Jim has been bribed, he is not concerned, and informs Dan that he is leaving on a vacation with Lucy. He then tells Sharpy to smash the abacus.

Cast:

• Warren William – District Attorney Jim Stowell
• Gail Patrick – Lucy Stowell
• Ralph Morgan – Shaw MacAllen
• William Lundigan – Phil
• Constance Moore – Elizabeth
• Cecil Cunningham – „Sharpy“
• Jonathan Hale – Allison
• Lillian Yarbo – Creola
• Milburn Stone – Kirk
• J. Anthony Hughes – Murphy
• Samuel S. Hinds – David Marrow

„Wives Under Suspicion“ (dt. Ehefrauen unter Verdacht) ist ein Kriminalfilm von James Whale aus dem Jahr 1938. Das Drehbuch von Myles Connolly basiert auf dem Theaterstück „Csók a tükör előtt“ (dt. Der Kuss vor dem Spiegel), einem Drama in drei Akten, von Ladislas Fodor aus dem Jahr 1932.

Als der betrogene Mörder Joseph Patterson verurteilt wird, warnt er den Bezirksstaatsanwalt Jim Stowell vor Vergeltung. Nachdem Pattison öffentlich hingerichtet wurde, zählt Jim die elf Hinrichtungen, die er bisher vollstreckt hat, auf einem Abakus aus Miniaturschädeln und rechnet damit, dass er noch vierundzwanzig weitere zu vollstrecken hat.