Above Suspicion (1943 film)
Above Suspicion | |
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Bronislau Kaper | |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Loew's Inc.[1] |
Release date |
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Running time | 90 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Above Suspicion is a 1943 American
The plot follows two newlyweds who spy on the
Plot
In the spring of 1939 in England,
In
Some days later, Richard and Frances attend a performance of Liszt's music. During a passage that Thornley had been practicing earlier, a Nazi commandant is shot and killed. Officials insist on questioning each member of the audience. Richard and Frances are rescued by Gestapo chief Count Sig von Aschenhausen, a former Oxford schoolmate of Richard's. Thornley killed the Nazi colonel as revenge for the torture and murder of his Austrian fiancée.
Frances and Richard visit the home of chess collector Dr. Mespelbrunn and von Aschenhausen is there. They notice sheet music for "My Love Is Like a Red, Red Rose" on the piano. But when von Aschenhausen fails to respond to a code signal that Richard gives him, the couple become suspicious. They hear thumping noises upstairs and discover that von Aschenhausen is holding Mespelbrunn prisoner. Mespelbrunn tells them to run and that they are being hunted by the Gestapo. Frances and Richard leave the house just in time, and Count Seidel arrives to help them free Mespelbrunn. He is revealed as the missing scientist, Dr. Smith. All four head for Innsbruck, and Mespelbrunn gives Richard the plans for the countermeasure.
The couple obtain counterfeit passports from the Schultzes, an elderly couple. They are planning to catch the train to Milan at separate stations, but, when the Schultzes are arrested by the Gestapo, the police are on the lookout for the Americans. Frances is detained and questioned by the Gestapo, but Thornley, in Innsbruck to catch the same train, finds Richard. Richard, Thornley and Seidel gain entry to where Frances is being held and kill her captors, including von Aschenhausen, but Thornley is also killed. After fooling the Nazi border guards, Seidel and the American newlyweds reach freedom in Italy.
Cast
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This film marked the end of Crawford's 18-year career with MGM before she signed with
Reception
Variety wrote: "Both MacMurray and Miss Crawford completely handled their roles, despite drawbacks of script material", and T.S. in The New York Times commented, "Joan Crawford...is a very convincing heroine."[5]
Critic Howard Barnes wrote in the
Home media
The film was released on Region 1 DVD on April 6, 2010, as part of the Warner Bros. Archive Collection.
References
- ^ Above Suspicion at the American Film Institute Catalog
- ISBN 978-0-498-06928-4.
- ^ a b "Above Suspicion". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
- ISBN 0-306-81624-5, pp. 149–151
- ^ Quirk, Lawrence J.. The Films of Joan Crawford. The Citadel Press, 1968.
External links
- Above Suspicion at IMDb
- Above Suspicion at the TCM Movie Database
- Above Suspicion at AllMovie
- Above Suspicion at the American Film Institute Catalog
- Above Suspicion at Basil Rathbone.net