Search - The Paradine Case on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Questionable for Children Movie Release: 1947 DVD Release: 09/07/1999 Format: DVD - Black and White SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 54 mins Studio: Anchor Bay Members Wishing: 10 Genres: Drama, Courtroom Drama See Also: The Pardine Case

Based on a novel by Robert Hichens, The Paradine Case concerns Anna Paradine (Alida Valli), on trial for the murder of her wealthy husband. British barrister Anthony Keane (played by the aggressively American Gregory Peck) takes on the case-and in the process, falls in love with Anna, despite being married himself. Despite his client's protests, Keane summons Anna's lover, unkempt stableman Andre Latour (Louis Jourdan), hoping to prove in court that Latour was the killer. Only after a series of stunning upsets does Keane realize that, for the first time in his career, he has allowed his heart to rule his head. In a typically perverse Hitchcockian development, the film's most unpleasant character, an autocratic, vindictive judge played by Charles Laughton, is one of the few who can see through Anna's facade. Hitchcock had wanted Greta Garbo to play Anna Paradine, and indeed a screen test was filmed, but Garbo ultimately declined. At the time of filming, Hitchcock was enamored with uninterrupted, 10-minute takes (later used to the extreme in Rope); thus, the Old Bailey courtroom set where much of the action takes place was designed to accommodate multiple cameras and elaborately conceived crane movements. Such techniques were cumbersome in 1947, and as a result the over-illuminated set ended up costing $70,000, jacking up the film's overall budget to a whopping $3 million (quite a pretty penny in those days). The film was a box-office disappointment, spelling the end of the always-rocky association between Alfred Hitchcock and producer David O. Selznick. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Gregory Peck - Anthony Keane
Ann Todd - Gay Keane
Charles Laughton - Judge Horfield
Charles Coburn - Sir Simon Flaquer
Ethel Barrymore - Sophie Horfield
Louis Jourdan - Andre Latour

This taut courtroom drama from Alfred Hitchcock has been given a simple presentation for its release on DVD. The Paradine Case has been transferred to disc in the full-frame aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and the audio has been mastered in Dolby Digital Mono. The dialogue is in English, with no multiple-language options or bonus materials included. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide