Gregory Peck stars as London barrister Anthony Keane, who is defending Maddalena Anna Paradine (Alida Valli)—an Italian woman accused of poisoning her British husband, a blind military hero—in this 1947 courtroom drama directed by Alfred Hitchcock. While preparing the case, Keane falls under the spell of the enigmatic, guarded Maddalena, which upsets his concentration so much that his loyal wife (Ann Todd) can't help but notice, although she resists confronting her husband. Louis Jordan plays the butler, the other logical suspect (naturally), but as Keane pushes against the butler's story, Maddalena becomes even more aloof and uncooperative. In fact, her behavior is so suspicious that everyone except Keane is convinced that she's hiding something big. The Paradine Case is generally considered one of Hitchcock's weakest films, despite a fine cast (it costars Charles Laughton, Charles Coburn, and Ethel Barrymore). It was a pet project for producer David O. Selznick, who also took rare credit for the screenplay, but the leaden script is both awkward and obvious, lacking in dramatic suspense, and Hitchcock is out of his element in the courtroom scenes, which he fails to bring to life. Extras include audio commentary by authors Stephen Rebello and Bill Krohn, a 1949 radio play adaptation, a restoration comparison, and two audio-only archival interviews with Hitchcock conducted by Peter Bogdanovich. Hitchcock completists and Peck fans will be interested, but otherwise this is second-rate work from the master of suspense. A strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)
The Paradine Case
Kino Lorber, 125 min., not rated, DVD: $19.99, Blu-ray: $29.99 Volume 32, Issue 5
The Paradine Case
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
Order From Your Favorite Distributor Today: