Review of The Strange Mrs. Crane

This movie gallops through so many silly plot shortcuts that the cardboard characters simply cannot be believed. The worst and most obvious is the incriminating letter hidden in the pocket of Lord's coat. Her geriatric husband sends the coat to the jury room with the innocent suggestion that "she might need it." Why would she need it? The jury deliberations are indoors in climate-controlled conditions. And then she puts the signed jury verdict in a pocket of the same coat. Why? It was a short walk from the jury room to court room, where she would read the verdict. Then, in her apparent guilty confusion, she hands the letter to the bailiff instead of the verdict document. Of course, the bailiff is compelled to read the letter in open court, and the wording is so specific and so damning that all is made clear. A rule of thumb: The shorter these B pictures are, the worse they are.