This movie is a classic courtroom thriller with an excellent, cozy mystery style resolution. It’s clever and surprising in all the right ways, and the ending is Hitchcockian in its drama while being more Film Noir in its style. For period courtroom dramas you can’t do much better than this.
Closest comparison: It’s like The Mysterious Affair At Styles by way of Anatomy of a Murder.
Setting: Courtroom Drama
Plot: Cozy Mystery
Tone: Noir Thriller
This film is a deft illustration of the Hitchcockian principle of letting the audience in on a dastardly secret, rendering the ensuing mundane scenes rivetingly tense. The most simple and natural occurrences become plot twists and Alfred Hitchcock effortlessly ushers the story along to its nail-biting conclusion. By beginning with letting the audience know that a man wants to kill his wife, he imparts a morbid curiosity and sense of impending doom into every word and gesture. It’s standard Hitchcock fare, and as such it’s superb.
Closest comparison: It’s like an episode of Columbo as told by Alfred Hitchcock.
Setting: Drama
Plot: Mystery
Tone: Suspense
