The secretary of an affably suave radio mystery host mysteriously commits suicide after his wealthy young niece disappears.The secretary of an affably suave radio mystery host mysteriously commits suicide after his wealthy young niece disappears.The secretary of an affably suave radio mystery host mysteriously commits suicide after his wealthy young niece disappears.
- Steven Francis Howard
- (as Michael North)
- Cab Driver
- (unconfirmed)
- Bride's Mother
- (uncredited)
- Party Guest
- (uncredited)
- Party Guest
- (uncredited)
- Radio Program Coordinator
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe radio station call letters, WMCB, were created by inserting Michael Curtiz's initials into those of Warner Bros.
- GoofsDuring Oliver Keane's accident scene, he is seen driving a gray car at first, but when he skids off the road and tumbles down the hill, it is black.
- Quotes
Steven Francis Howard: Quite a large party, isn't it?
Althea Keane: Would you like to meet anyone?
Althea Keane: It's not very appetizing. It's Victor's birthday. Once a year his friends crawl out of the woodwork.
[Sarcastically]
Althea Keane: This year it's a SURPRISE party!
[Lights cigarette]
Althea Keane: Will he be surprised to see you?
Steven Francis Howard: [He takes her hand with the lit match] I like matches. You never have to refill them...
[He pulls her hand toward him to light his own cigartte]
Steven Francis Howard: ... and when you're through with them, you simply throw them away...
[He blows out the match]
Steven Francis Howard: ... like people.
- Crazy creditsOpening titles and closing credits are typed in a bound manuscript, and gloved hands can be seen flipping the pages. This is a nod to the scripts that Grandison writes for his radio show.
- ConnectionsReferences The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
Looming shadows stalk through the baronial upstate manse of Victor Grandison (the ineffable Claude Rains), host of a wildly popular true-crime radio show. Next thing, his loyal secretary is hanging from a chandelier (an apparent suicide, but we know better). This ghastly occurrence doesn't faze the house's other occupants his gold-digging niece (Audrey Totter) and her boozehound husband (Hurd Hatfield), possibly because Totter was on the phone with the victim as she uttered her last scream but never bothered to report it. Or it could be that everybody's still in shock over the loss of another niece (Joan Caulfield), who has perished in a ship's fire while crossing the Atlantic.
Into their lives strides a Mysterious Stranger (Ted North), claiming to be Caulfield's widower. He's received variously: Rains treats him with cordial suspicion, Hatfield with glum distaste (he had a thing for Caulfield, too) while Totter throws herself at him, `vibrating.' And then who should turn up, safe and reasonably sound, but Caulfield herself. The plot is admittedly a little complicated (made more so by the resemblance between North and Hatfield, with their bland, unhappy faces, and between Totter and Constance Bennett, who could pass as her older sister (playing the Eve Arden role of the wise-cracking spinster helpmate). But it's nothing that a few more homicides can't clear up....
With Casablanca and Mildred Pierce behind him, Curtiz was at the height of his powers for The Unsuspected, and Warners plainly gave him full rein for this lavish production. He's matched every step of the way by the wondrous Woody Bredell, who supplies richly detailed, always evocative cinematography (it's a smashing-looking movie). Nor does the script falter: Every line gleams with witty malice. Though Caulfield unfathomably gets top billing, she pales next to Rains and Totter in top form, with Bennett a close runner-up. The movie boasts just about everything.
Why, then, isn't it better known? Usually labeled film noir, it's really more of a high-style 40s sophisticated mystery, as was Otto Preminger's Laura (and, like Laura, it hinges on a beautiful young woman, presumed dead, who unexpectedly re-emerges). But while Laura receives reverent homage as an evergreen classic (`They don't make em like that anymore'), The Unsuspected remains relatively unknown except to fans of the noir cycle. Yet it's every bit at good a movie certainly no less plausible and honed to an even finer level of elegance. Go figure.
- bmacv
- Dec 29, 2003
- How long is The Unsuspected?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime1 hour 43 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1