The Suspect is an all around entertaining and oft suspense-filled crime-drama with some film nourish elements and features two great performances from both Charles Laughton and Ella Raines.
The Suspect
(1944)
Genre(s): Drama, Suspense, Crime
Kino Lorber | NR – 85 min. – $24.95 | February 9, 2021
Date Published: 01/25/2021 | Author: The Movieman
|
|
|||||||||||
Kino Lorber provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 3¾/5 |
|
Plot Synopsis: Genial shopkeeper Philip (CHARLES LAUGHTON) has to endure the constant nagging of a shrewish wife (ROSALIND IVAN) while he secretly yearns for a pretty young stenographer (ELLA RAINES). When the henpecking gets to be too much, Philip murders his wife and manages to make her death look like an accident. A ruthless blackmailer (HENRY DANIELL) and a low-key detective (STANLEY RIDGES) both discover Philip’s secret, and he has to decide which of them poses the more dangerous threat. Quick Hit Review: The Suspect is an all around fun and highly entertaining film noir-esque crime-drama that isn’t overly complicated but did manage to capture my attention from beginning to end, thanks in large part to both Charles Laughton and Ella Raines’s performances. Nothing extraordinary but I suppose memorable enough and with its short running time and basic plot, this is one I’ll revisit in the future. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 1½/5 |
|
Not a whole lot here, but there is an Audio Commentary with Film Historian Troy Howarth and if you’ve ever gotten previous Kino Lorber or Twilight Time releases in the past, you might be familiar with Howarth who does offer a historical perspective on the movie outlining the cast and crew, as well as the production. |
VIDEO – 4¾/5 |
| Only note is on the back that this Blu-ray release of The Suspect received a new 2K master. As such, the film, which is presented in its original 1.37 full frame aspect ratio, is shown with a 1080p high-definition transfer. Although not entirely perfect as there are many scenes where one can see some scratches and general, albeit minor, film damage, this is still a fine looking picture. Detail is sharp throughout and the black and white presentation is nicely balanced with the whites never overexposed nor the blacks crushed. It appears the original film grain and noise has been retained giving it a fantastic theatrical experience at home and I suspect this didn’t look this good upon its initial theatrical release in 1944. |
AUDIO – 4½/5 |
| The disc comes with a basic but well done DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono track. The bulk of the film is of course dialogue driven and as such comes across with good clarity, and to my ears, no major hissing, pops or other aural ailments. |
OVERALL – 3½/5 |
|
The Suspect is an all around entertaining and oft suspense-filled crime-drama with some film nourish elements. The movie features two great performances from both Charles Laughton and Ella Raines and this Blu-ray from Kino Lorber might be light on features, though Troy Howarth’s commentary is worth a listen, the video and audio transfers are very well done. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.