Joan Fontaine won an Oscar for her role in “Suspicion” as Lina, a young woman who is given to reading books, riding horses, and living a quiet life with her parents on their country estate. She is traveling home by train when she meets up with Johnny (Cary Grant) a charming rascal who manages to “borrow” some of his train fare from her. He comes to a fox hunt on her estate and manages to schmooze her, breaking down her natural walls. When he doesn’t return as promised, she realizes how much she likes him, so much so that when he does come back, she’s more than happy to see him. They elope a short time later, much to the chagrin of her parents.
Lina is stunned when she learns that Johnny has no intention of working for a living. He’s a gambler, and believes that anything they need, they can either get by gambling or by using her inheritance. But her money only runs to five hundred pounds a year, certainly not enough to live on. This doesn’t deter Johnny – he keeps on gambling, sure that his luck will change.
When he pawns her beloved antique chairs to pay for a gambling spree, Lina’s heart is broken, but he wins enough to buy the chairs back and swears he’s done with the habit. He gets a job working for his cousin, but an old friend named Beaky comes wandering into town and tells Lina everything Johnny does while she thinks he’s at work. Seeds of doubt are placed in Lina’s mind, and when Beaky turns up dead, she has every reason to believe Johnny did it.
An Alfred Hitchcock film, you’ll find yourself wanting to believe in Johnny’s innocence all the while knowing he’s guilty. It’s a great movie and I highly recommend it, and not just because it stars Cary Grant, but that’s always a plus, in my book.
This film was not rated.
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