Matrixston Wow! Such a good movie.

Artivels Undescribable Perfection

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Salubfoto It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

bkoganbing For his final film on his Warner Brothers contract Claude Rains got a starring role instead of being in support of one or two of Warner's name contract leads. Rains plays Victor Grandison the host of a radio mystery show where he narrates crime stories. He's a most popular host with good Hooper ratings I'm sure. Hooper by the way was the equivalent of the Nielsen ratings for television.Rains lives well courtesy of his niece Joan Caulfield who has some large inherited wealth. There's another niece Audrey Totter who lives with them and her husband Hurd Hatfield, but not happily. One of Rains's aides at the radio station is murdered. Then Caulfield is reported missing at sea. Before she's found Ted North arrives at the estate claiming to be her husband, but she can't remember getting married.A couple of more deaths occur and always Rains is The Unsuspected one. What he is is a master manipulator of people and events. The key to it all is North who is definitely not what he seems. Also Constance Bennett is around who works at the radio station. I liked her, but she's got a most ill defined role. And we never do learn why the first aide is killed.Nevertheless Claude Rains is really giving a performance that they ought to show in acting classes. So many emotions, so subtly conveyed. For Claude Rains fans everywhere.

imb-14 I have yet to understand the mindset of the major studios putting out clunkers on DVD, yet not paying much attention to the classic movie scene, except for the major hitters. I'm sure it takes more time since many of these need some restoration work and subtitles. However, superb classics such as The Unsuspected (directed by a MAJOR studio director no less)should have some attention paid to them. It's a shame that The Uninvited, the finest ghost story every to appear on film, has yet to be studio released either.I just noticed that Amazon is touting DVD's that are copied from the TV and put onto DVR's for nearly $30.00! I can get them for $10.00 from Brad Lang.All that being said, The Unsuspected is lush viewing and has a great script with a couple of sassy broads (Totter & Bennett)tossing off one-liners like hand grenades. There are a couple of glaring plot holes (hence my rating of 9 instead of 10), but I'll forgive that since the film is so wonderful in every other way.

MartinHafer This is a generally well-written murder mystery film. While I liked it, one flaw is that by the end of the film almost everybody has been either killed, attempts were made on their lives or they were the murderer himself--not too many people were left and there just weren't enough red herrings to make it a true mystery. Still, considering the interesting plot and the actors involved, it's still a nifty story.The film begins with a grisly murder that looks like suicide to the police--however, the audience sees the truth that it IS a murder. Soon afterword, a long-lost heiress (Joan Caulfield) to the estate where the murder occurred turns up alive after a ship wreck. Upon returning, she is met by a man who claims to be her husband, though she has no recollection of marrying him. However, his story does appear true and she's left wondering how this could have happened.In addition to this, the lost heiress finds that many of the people who live in her home are weasels. The man she once intended to marry has married a nasty lady (Audrey Trotter) and Caulfield isn't too pleased to have them there. Before she can get around to telling them to leave, they are dead--he apparently killed her and then died while trying to make his getaway. However, in a poor move, the director shows what REALLY happened, as you see Claude Rains arranging the whole thing--though keeping this a secret for a bit longer would have probably made for a more interesting and exciting film.It seems that Caulfield's guardian (Rains) is a radio personality who has expensive tastes and he's been killing anyone who stands in his way. Ultimately his plan is to kill Caulfield to get her millions, but considering that practically everyone is dead or a near-death victim, by now the film starts to unravel a bit. Rains' brilliant alibi no longer seems so brilliant and the film ends on an interesting but anticlimactic note. Having the film end with Rains committing suicide while on the air would have been really exciting! Overall a very good but certainly not great film. It's worth seeing, but it sure could have kept us guessing longer.

BaronBl00d Deftly directed by Michael Curtiz and starring a slew of first-rate entertainers such as Claude Rains, Audrey Totter, Constance Bennet, Hurd Hatfield, Joan Caulfield, and the always overlooked Fred Clark, The Unsuspected seems to be in the shadow of other film noir films of the decade(at least by many of the review accounts on here)most notably Laura with Clifton Webb and Gene Tierney. Well, I love Laura and think it is a first-rate film - it is a different kind of film as well. The Unsuspected is generated by different goals and objectives by the lead "killer" if you will. Curtiz is always impressive creating suspense and keeps the pacing of the film very tight and tense. The actors do excellent jobs playing a variety of character types with Claude Rains stealing his scenes as only he can with that deceptively mellifluous voice. Fred Clark plays a detective that somewhat acts as the film's conscience in a way. Clark gives a very subtle yet strong performance. I have always felt he had been overlooked as an actor, because he was so good with comedic roles. At any rate, The Unsuspected is a great mystery thriller with a series of murders, attempted murders, a drugging, a fake identity, and a radio broadcast all figuring into the resolution prominently.