A lot of people seem to deride this film, but I found it quite enjoyable. It was Joan Crawfords last contract film at MGM, and far from walking through the part I personally think she sails along quite breezily and relaxed, which is just right for the character she plays. Basil Rathbone always makes a great, charming villain, and the much underrated Fred MacMurray comes across quite well as the hero. Casting of all supporting parts is excellent, and the MGM production values are faultless. The first half of the film is considerably better than the second as "things become a bit chaotic and muddled towards the end -but its great to see a Hollywood film where the Germans actually speak German. There are also one or two quite extraordinary tracking shots, especially one in the concert hall, and in fact this whole sequence has an intensity that one wishes the entire film had. Still, if you can swallow the premise of the film and follow the logic of the "trail" you will perhaps be as entertained as I was by this one.
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arbarnes22 March 2009
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jotix1001 July 2009Helen McInnes novel is the basis of this 1943 MGM film that marked the last time Joan Crawford worked at the studio after a long career as one of its most famous stars in the studio. Richard Thorpe directed the adaptation for the screen. While it is by no means a remarkable movie, it has good moments in the way the two stars, who were obviously in a light mood, make the best out of their characters.
The story revolves Richard and Frances Myles, a newlywed couple, embarking on their honeymoon in the Continent. As they are about to cross the channel, a British intelligence man comes to see them about a small favor: they are asked to find one of their operatives and bring back whatever information he can give the Myles because they will not arise suspicion. Well, little prepares the Oxfor university professor and his bride for the adventure they will encounter.
"Above Suspicion" still is a lot of fun to watch, even if it's not a great spy movie. The easy chemistry between Fred McMurray and Joan Crawford works out fine and it's surprisingly effective. Mr. McMurray was an excellent actor as he proves here. Ms. Crawford had a lighter role as Frances Myles; she shows good sense of timing for this type of genre. Conrad Veidt is hilarious as the German that shows up in most of the places the Myles seem to go. The best thing in the film is the sequence when he dances a sort of modified tango and Richard Myles wants to get his attention on the dance floor! Basil Rathbone is also on hand to give one of his villainous performances. Reginald Owen and Peter Ainley are seen in supporting roles. -
marlene_rantz4 December 2014I, more or less, agree with practically all the reviewers. I, too, have seen better spy thrillers and anti-Nazi movies, however, this movie, was, nevertheless, a good movie! Joan Crawford and Fred MacMurray were very good in the lead roles, although I thought the chemistry between them was not that good, whereas the chemistry between Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray in their movies together, especially "Double Indemnity", was fantastic! Bruce Lester, Reginald Owen, Richard Ainley, and, especially, Basil Rathbone all contributed very good supporting performances! Now we come to the actor for whom, like Mark.Waltz, this movie has a special place in my heart: Conrad Veidt! Conrad Veidt was not only an excellent actor, but he had a way about him that made him stand out in any movie, and this movie was no exception! Near the end of the movie, he danced a tango-smiling, and looking so happy, and that made me feel so good, and then I realized that this was his final movie before his early death at the age of 50! I felt so sad that he would no longer be giving his excellent performances!
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secondtake18 September 2011Above Suspicion (1943)
An odd movie even for its time, being clearly anti-Nazi and a bit of an American adventure on behalf of the British, but set in the months before the war began, earlier 1939. Yet it was made and was released in the thick of the war, four years later, well after even the Americans were involved. It must have seemed a bit lightweight at the time, and it certainly is a bit breezy now, too.
Joan Crawford is at her best when life is going wrong, when the screws are applied or when she has to be a tough and independent women. Here she plays a cheerful and rather carefree newlywed. What Crawford character is truly carefree? Well, in this case her husband is perfectly cast, because Fred MacMurray knows what carefree is better than anything. When the Nazi threat becomes violent, things turn out rather okay, at least at first. The only other actor of note is the Nazi figure, played by the guy who plays Sherlock in all those B-Movie Sherlock Holmes films, Basil Rathbone, and you can't quite make him out as the evil menace he needs to be.
Of course, our leading odd couple has been chosen for this mission by some knowing British officials who see the American innocence as a perfect cover for what is actually pretty dangerous stuff. And the movie, despite all these essential weaknesses, is really fun and a bit dramatic and very well made. Yes, it's a good movie, if far from a great one in either importance or effect.
The director, Richard Thorpe, is one of the step-in-when-needed guys with a bunch of B-movies under his belt, and an assortment of mediocre oddballs (a Tarzan movie, the last Thin Man, a Presley movie--Jailhouse Rock--some Westerns, and so on). It might be a miracle this is as workable as it is. The script is fair, but the mood and the setting is terrific. And really, as mismatched as they seem, Crawford and MacMurray are not half bad together. They certainly are trying very hard. -
Well, if Joan Crawford didn't know the end was near for her at MGM, she knew it when she was handed "Above Suspicion," based on the novel of the same name by Helen MacInnes. I read the novel years ago and confess I don't remember much of it.
The year is 1939, before war breaks out. Crawford plays a newlywed, and Fred MacMurray her American husband, who teaches at Oxford. The couple are asked by the foreign office to track down someone while honeymooning in Germany, a man who can help the Allies regarding a German secret weapon. This weapon is a magnetic water bomb that is pulled to a ship and explodes. At first, it's fun; then it becomes dangerous.
This is an entertaining film in part thanks to a good cast of Crawford, MacMurray, Basil Rathbone, and Conrad Veidt. There are some suspenseful sequences. There is also some real stuff of spy books and films - special hats, song codes, codes on maps and in books.
"Above Suspicion" doesn't seem very big budget and despite some Bavarian costumes and quaint German towns, it's all Hollywood set. Given the huge films Crawford took part in at MGM, this black and white movie must have seemed like a come-down. It was. Louis B didn't want over the hill actresses - i.e., those over 30. There's nothing special about her part, which could have been done by any MGM stock player. And at 38, for those days, she was a little old to be a bride. Better things were on the horizon for Crawford, though she couldn't have known it at the time.
Worth seeing. -
kryck8 March 2002"Above Suspicion(1943)" was the last film Joan Crawford made under her Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract. Crawford had strictly made films for the studio since 1925. She left,because she was dissatisfied with the mundane scripts she was offered.Looking at this film,we can see her point.Here's an espionage thriller that has a great premise and a good cast,but falters midway through.The plot is basically about honeymooners(Crawford and Fred MacMurray)being ask to do spy work in Nazi Germany. They must get information about a secret German mine.Along the way,they encounter colorful characters that lead them to clues.They even witness an assassination of a German leader in an opera house.The first 45 minutes is extremely suspenseful and Crawford and MacMurray have great chemistry together.However,the rest of the film is less than plausible and the ending leaves much to be desired.The problem,though,is with the director,Richard Thorpe.Not one of MGM's best directors,Thrope puts too many unnecessary scenes in the film,that distract from the plot.In addition,he wastes the talent of some great character actors,putting them in one-dimensional roles.Basil Rathbone was great at playing sinister roles.Here he plays a conniving Nazi,but has very little to do.The major miscasting was letting Conrad Veidt play a charming spy.Veidt was marvelous at playing an acid-tongued Nazi officer,most notably in the classic,"Casablanca(1943)." In other hands like Alfred Hitchcock or Fritz Lang,this film could have been first-rate.Crawford wouldn't have a hit movie until "Mildred Pierce(1945)",where she gave perhaps the best performance of her career as a self-sacrificing mother. As it is, the film isn't a bomb,but there are much better spy thrillers out there.I give it 2 1/2 stars out of four.
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Hmmm. The casting department at MGM must have just gotten back from a Christmas party where the booze was flowing like rivers, as the way they set up the film was strange to say the least. Fred MacMurray plays an Oxford professor(!) and marries Joan Crawford. This is an odd pairing, I know, but the Oxford part really seemed far-fetched. Then, on the way to their honeymoon, they are approached by the British Foreign Office and asked to do a bit of spying on their trip through southern Germany and Austria (this was set in early 1939--just before the war).
However, despite the odd casting and basic premise, the film worked pretty well provided you didn't think through how easy it was for them to slip through the Gestapo's fingers on two occasions. So why did it work? Well, the acting was very good and they were given excellent supporting players in the form of Conrad Veidt and Basil Rathbone. Once again, though, how they assigned these two roles is very odd. Veidt was famous for his portrayals of evil Nazis, but here he is a good German! And, oddly, the English Rathbone plays a die-hard Nazi! It really did work--but for fans of classic Hollywood, this is a bit strange.
In addition to the acting, the plot and action were very good and the film was given the full MGM treatment--excellent music, direction, sets, etc. They really did a good job of making the MGM back lot look like Austria with all the matte painted mountains that were exceptionally realistic.
Overall, it's a very good WWII propaganda film and curio that is quite entertaining--provided you don't think too much during the film. -
utgard1419 January 2014American honeymooners (Fred MacMurray, Joan Crawford) are recruited by British government to spy on the Nazis just before WW2 starts. They have to contend with Nazi Basil Rathbone and a host of others who may or may not be on their side. Decent wartime thriller with some light comic touches. MacMurray and Crawford both do fine, though it doesn't seem like the part quite fits Joan. This was her last movie for MGM before departing for Warner Bros. Nice support from Rathbone and Conrad Veidt. It's the kind of movie that you feel could have been so much better in the hands of a different director and perhaps different leads. Joan reportedly wanted Alfred Hitchcock to direct. It does seem somewhat up his alley but he certainly would have had the script rewritten significantly. I'm sure it would have been a much better film with Hitch at the helm. As it is, though, it's an agreeable time-passer. I love Fred MacMurray's closing line.
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Those wonderful movies of the past. The film's setting is in the days prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. Although it would have been highly unlikely that British Intelligence would have asked two non-Britishers and non-professionals to do a bit of spying for them which could turn very dangerous for them and give the whole thing away plus creating an international scandal (the World War had not yet started), yet it is always interesting to see how it would have developed. Good slick direction by Mr. Thorpe, excellent acting by Mr. McMurray and specially by Miss Crawford, excellent set design which does not forget the overcoats needed on the Brenner Pass between Austria (in the Film the country is called Southern Germany) and Itally (which did not get into the War until 1940). Good to see two decent people doing the right thing for the right cause endangering their own lives to get away from the Nazi and back to safety. Good work and fun to watch and don't forget the inimitable Mr. Veidt. He should have been in Hollywood a decade earlier.
Barzin Samimi
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krorie2 November 2005If the viewer can keep up with all the directions given in this nifty little spy vs. spy thriller, he is a better man than I Gunga Din. It's amazing that Richard Myles (Fred MacMurray) can remember all the details. The viewer may also be amazed that Fred MacMurray speaks such good German. MacMurray is one of those great Hollywood actors who never received his due, even though he almost matched the performances of Edward G. Robinson and Barbara Stanwyck in the film noir classic "Double Indemnity." He certainly keeps up with Joan Crawford in "Above Suspicion," although the two simply don't jell as a team. Barbara Stanwyck would have made a much better partner for MacMurray in this film.
All that aside, this is still a topnotch suspense movie from World War II. The flick is fast-paced and has worn well with the passage of time, since all the goings on are now just history to most viewers. Since director Richard Thorpe was an old hand at directing action pictures he lets the show get on the road and move along rapidly. He throws humor in from time to time to ease the tension the way Hitchcock would do in a more masterful way. Viewers used to seeing Basil Rathbone play Sherlock Holmes will enjoy seeing him play a dastardly Nazi stooge who receives his just desserts. In the opposite direction viewers may also enjoy seeing Conrad Veidt playing a good guy who assists the newlyweds Frances and Richard Myles (Joan Crawford and Fred MacMurray)in their dangerous mission inside Nazi Germany. Those who enjoy World War II espionage films, should find this one a winner. -
The cast is attractive, the premise is intriguing....but the film is blah. It looked like a poor man's "The Thin Man," or tried to be, but all it wound up was "poor." The humor was average at best, and it took way, way too long to get to any action and suspense. By halfway through, I can imagine most of the audience in the theater half asleep.
Being a fan of classic films, especially during the 1990s when I couldn't watch enough of these old movies, I was pumped up to see a film starring Joan Crawford, Fred MacMurray, Conrad Veidt, Basil Rathbone and Reginald Owen. That's some cast. But this story is just plain ludicrous. Do they honestly believe the British Foreign Office and newlywed and her husband - with no experience - to go inside Nazi Germany and be an effective spy?
Well, maybe that's where the humor came in, but it's "Thin Man" quality and Crawford and MacMurray, although fine actors, are no Myrna Loy and William Powell in playing these kind of roles. The "Thin Man" movies had far more sophistication than this film. No, this just doesn't cut it in any aspect: humor, suspense or credibility. -
Suspense, a little intrigue, adventure and espionage make for an enjoyable World War II movie. "Above Suspicion" has all of that and a little more. It has romance in a newly wed couple. And its stellar cast give good performances all around.
This movie is based on a novel of the same name by Scottish writer Helen MacInnes. The story takes place in 1939, before the start of World War II. Although filmed entirely in California, the outdoor scenes around Mt. Wilson and Bishop could resemble scenes in Austria and southern Germany. The MGM studio set was so authentically recreated that I saw a couple scenes with small religious wayside shrines in them. These are common in many places in Europe.
I wonder what audiences thought when they heard reference in this movie to Dachau. The concentration camp had been opened there in 1933 for political prisoners. While the Allies knew about the POW camps and concentration camps by the middle of the war, the public had heard very little about them yet in the press. So, this film has two references to Dachau – but they don't use the word "concentration" in the same breath. At one point toward the end, Fred MacMurray's character, Richard Myles, says, "At least it's not a concentration camp," referring to the detention place where the Nazis have taken his wife.
Joan Crawford plays Frances Myles, the new bride of Oxford professor Myles. Conrad Veidt, Basil Rathbone, Reginald Owen and Bruce Lester round out the list of the major supporting cast. All do very well.
The film has a couple of humorous lines as well. When Richard and Frances are in Salzburg, Austria, they are almost trampled by German troops marching in the street. A Gestapo officer goes into a bookstore where they are browsing and trying to make a contact. He has words with Richard who then answers him with a closing term, "dope." The Gestapo officer turns to a woman in the shop and asks her in German what "dope" means.
This was the last film that Conrad Veidt made. He died of a heart attack on April 3, 1943, the month before the film was released. Veidt is most famous for having played the Gestapo Major Strasser in the 1942 film, Casablanca. But he had been an accomplished actor and film star in Germany. When Hitler came to power in 1933, Veidt and his Jewish wife, Lily, fled the country. He became a British citizen in 1939, moved to the U.S. and made many films here. In war films, he was most often cast as a German officer or Nazi chief. He was equally adept at comedy, mystery, romance and drama. Veidt was only 50 years old when he died. It's too bad he didn't live to see the end of the Nazi regime which he so despised.
This film is a light espionage thriller that most should enjoy. It's a nice showcase of several stars of the time, with a last, kind look at Conrad Veidt. -
nycritic9 March 2005In 1943 Joan Crawford was dismissed from MGM (or she walked away after buying her contract out, whichever version applies) and after several years of being offered lesser and lesser starring vehicles with the exception of THE WOMEN and the minor hit A WOMAN'S FACE, and after being on the box-office poison list (in which she was not alone but in good company) she was given this last movie.
ABOVE SUSPICION is one of the handful of films that came out during World War II which served as a backdrop to denounce anything remotely Nazi. This, of course, is really mindless fluff -- much like today's ridiculous blockbusters trying to capitalize on the crisis situation of the moment (be it war or terrorism) and of course, bringing into the mix some high-power action names and some flashy but silly storytelling -- and in no moment can anyone believe that Crawford and MacMurray are British spies working undercover, no more than anything which takes place here. Worthy of notice was that Crawford began around this time to lower her voice and polish her diction which would become her trademark in later performances, but other than that -- an end to a contract and the beginning of what would be her (more rewarding, albeit brief) years at Warner Bros. -
modern_maiden27 July 2004Even though I am a big fan of classic film and Joan Crawford, "Above Suspicion" left me very disappointed. This Nazi era spy film has is complete with secret codes, disguises, evil-doers and international intrigue -- all normally very fascinating stuff, except that in this case it is presented in a simplistic, juvenile way that fails to impress...in fact fails to even keep you awake at times.
It's impossible to believe that the British "Foreign Office" would select Joan's character (a perky soon-to-be housewife) and her husband (played by Fred MacMurray) to carry out an urgent, covert spy operation in Nazi Germany. Crawford and MacMurray jaunt casually through their mission as if it were dinner theater instead of a serious life-threatening mission. They appear to be playing a second-string version of Nora and Nick Charles from "The Thin Man" series, but their sad attempts at lighthearted humor only detract from the potential danger and suspense that could have made this film so much more sophisticated and interesting.
As far as suspense, plot, and general interest is concerned, I give this film a 3 out of 10. But it would be a great choice if you ever had to choose an unoffensive family film for people who do not have discerning taste. It would easily entertain kids, as it's only one step removed from a Scooby Doo Mystery. -
Michael_Elliott25 January 2014Above Suspicion (1943)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
By-the-numbers WWII drama from MGM has Joan Crawford and Fred MacMurray playing newlyweds who are asked by the government to do some spying as they make their way into Nazi controlled territory. ABOVE SUSPICION was one of the hundreds of films turned out by Hollywood to motivate or at least pursued the country to support the war and to show how evil the Nazi party was. With so many films in this sub-genre it's always hard to find a "great" film and this here certainly isn't one of them. While the film remains slightly entertaining from start to finish, there's really no way to deny the fact that there's just nothing overly special here and it's also incredibly uneven. I say uneven because the tone of the film seems to change from one scene to the next. Sometimes you feel as if you're watching some sort of light comedy and then the next minute everything is being handled so heavily. At times there seems to be a wink-wink going on between the two leads and then the next second everything is back to being dead serious. I thought the entire tone of the film was just wrong and it was incredibly hard for me to believe the story or take it too serious. Both Crawford and MacMurray are good in their roles, although I'm not so sure they play were together. I really didn't buy them as a married couple and I also didn't buy them working together on these missions. Conrad Veidt is good in his role as a good German and Basil Rathbone steals the film as the evil German. Reginald Owen has a good supporting part as well. Again, at just 90-minutes the film moves well enough but there's just not enough going on here to make it worth watching except for fans of the cast. -
siciliankan16 October 2021Joan Crawford has a childlike playfulness about the possibility of (and her supporting role of) being a spy. She brings a lightness to the more serious suspenseful moments - and the cast, with Fred MacMurray, Conrad Veidt and Basil Rathbone is strong. Had the movie been able to finish as strongly as it started, it could have been very highly regarded. Nonetheless, it is, for fans of 40s film making, definitely worth a watch.
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SnoopyStyle27 January 2020In 1939, Oxford Professor Richard Myles (Fred MacMurray) and new bride Frances (Joan Crawford) are headed for a continental honeymoon. They are recruited by the government for espionage as war looms against the Nazis. This has limited thrills and action until the last act. Not much is demanded from either MacMurray or Crawford. The best scene is Richard surreptitiously demeaning the Nazi police. They're upper class ivory tower types doing a scavenger hunt across Europe while avoiding the Nazis. It's good propaganda but it has limited drama.
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atlasmb18 January 2015Reviewers seem to have wide range of opinions about "Above Suspicion" and I can understand why.
Released in 1943, the film actually portrays action that takes place in 1939. The British, anticipating a Nazi invasion of Poland, are preparing for the inevitable. They ask newlyweds Richard and Frances Myles (Fred McMurray and Joan Crawford) to try to track down the "formula" for a new German secret weapon while on their honeymoon. Because they are newly married, surely they would be above suspicion. Richard is a student at Oxford. He wants to keep his bride in the dark about the danger of their mission, but she sees through his subterfuge and is delighted by the fact they will now be "Spies!"
The mission is convoluted and unnecessarily complicated, as if written by Rube Goldberg. As they travel from Dover to Paris to Salzburg, they fumble their way from clue to ambiguous clue, managing to keep their sense of humor.
Basil Rathbone and Conrad Veidt plays significant roles in this drama that was called "tongue in cheek" by TCM. It's a fair assessment for a story that feels like it could have been written by a teenager. Nevertheless, it's a fun ride punctuated by assassinations and Tyrolian chases. -
I'll always have a special place in my heart for this film because it casts the usual Nazi villain Conrad Veidt as the good guy for a change. With that severe face and totally serious Arian voice, he was typecast for years as villains, and once World War II came around, he was relegated to playing cultured Germans who underneath were anything but on the side of the Allies. But here, sadly in his last film, he is cast against type, that face and voice still imperious, but with a much lighter heart, and on the side of an American couple (Fred MacMurray and Joan Crawford) who are on the European mainland on their honeymoon. MacMurray is an Oxford professor who was asked on his way out of England to perform a service for the Allies and new wife Crawford is game for helping him. On the way, they encounter MacMurray's old college chum Basil Rathbone who hides his suspicions in order to find out what MacMurray and Crawford are up to. Veidt keeps popping up for a few amusing bits, and you aren't quite sure why he's there. There's murder at the symphony, a chase down a mountain road, and ultimately a confrontation between Allies and the Axis that goes the way of the Reichstag.
A fine cast of supporting players include Cecil Cunningham as Rathbone's imperious mama, Eily Malyon as a hotel attendant ("Make sure you pull down the shade", she tells MacMurray and Crawford suspiciously, adding "There's a practice blackout tonight" for comic innuendo) and MGM perennial Reginald Owen. While this was Crawford's last MGM film under her long contract and she had been considered box-office poison, it was a nice way to leave the studio she had considered home for 18 years. It has all the fun of some of the lightly comic anti-Nazi films that Warner Brothers had done (particularly "All Through the Night") with MacMurray wryly delivering some lines insulting the Nazis. "Vat is dope?" one of the S.S. workers asks rather confused. Relatively short at only 90 minutes, the film flies by, its mix of romance, comedy and action always entertaining and entirely suspenseful. -
smithy-828 October 2003"Above Suspicion" is an average spy yarn, but fun. It was Joan Crawford's last movie at MGM. She was disappointed with the movie, but she was wrong. It is always fun to see a well-dressed, just-married couple take an European honeymoon, not knowing where they are going, to spy for the British. This was before WWII.
Joan Crawford and Fred MacMurray made a great team. MacMurray had the skill to team well with every leading lady he worked with. It was great to see Crawford work with Conrad Veidt again. They worked well in "A Woman's Face". Too bad Crawford and Veidt never worked again. Mr. Veidt died in 1943. This was his last movie. -
TheLittleSongbird29 December 2018'Above Suspicion' was another example of a film that had a lot going for it. Love pre-1970s classic film of all decades and genres, and most of all the cast consists of hugely talented people. Seeing Basil Rathbone and Conrad Veidt in anything is always a joy and both Joan Crawford and Fred MacMurray have given many great films. It was very interesting to see how they would fare together in the same film. The story sounded intriguing and Richard Thorpe was always a competent, if not always distinguished, director.
Having watched it, 'Above Suspicion' could have been better, much better. Was kind of expecting a great film with the amount of potential it had going for it, hope this is not coming over as horrible, but it turned out to be a quite good one on the whole with a lot of fine merits which is actually still a good position to be in. Can definitely see why a good number of people liked it and why it didn't work for others, because there are things that would have made it far worse than quite good (perhaps average or below) if in lesser hands and without those fine merits. For all its flaws though, 'Above Suspicion' is worth a watch.
What stops 'Above Suspicion' from being a great film is that to me some of the second half could have been executed better. It does slacken in pace and it does get increasingly implausible and silly towards the end to the point of credulity straining. Culminating in the film's biggest flaw (again personal opinion), which is the ending which doesn't ring true for a second and is something of a head scratcher.
It is interesting seeing Crawford and MacMurray together and there is some wit and tension between them. To me, the chemistry between the two characters didn't quite gel.
Something that is a bit of a shame, because actually Crawford and MacMurray are both very good in the roles. Particularly Crawford, whose performance is committed while also controlled and compared to other performances of hers in a way muted. MacMurray has both intensity and charm, always commanding the screen. They are more than complemented by the supporting cast, with notable contributions from an against type Veidt, charmingly dynamic in his final film, and especially a marvellously sinister Rathbone (no stranger to playing villains and he sure knew how to play them well). As well as the main interest point, as one can guess it is the performances of the cast that is 'Above Suspicion's' main saving grace.
Thorpe's direction is some of his slickest and the film is stylish and atmospheric visually. The script is taut and provides plenty of escapism without being heavy-handed or out of kilter lightweight. The story much of the time is involving with some nice suspense and thrills, which is why it is frustrating that it loses its way later.
Concluding, quite good and enjoyable, wish it was better though. 7/10 Bethany Cox -
bkoganbing3 January 2007For what she obviously knew what would be her last film with MGM, Joan Crawford saunters through the part of a newlywed bride who thinks a little espionage on her honeymoon with Fred MacMurray would be just the thing to give it some spice.
Above Suspicion finds MacMurray and Crawford as a pair of newlyweds in 1939 Great Britain. He's a visiting American professor at Oxford and right after their visit to the preacher MacMurray is asked by someone from British Intelligence to locate some of their missing agents in Nazi Germany. Also to try and get a copy of the design of a secret weapon which was the original agent's mission.
Incredibly enough they agree both being good anti-Nazis. They get into a whole lot of intrigue over in the Reich which includes the assassination of a concentration camp head. It also includes meeting a former Oxford colleague of MacMurray's Basil Rathbone who now works for the Gestapo. Rathbone is no fool, he's a shrewd adversary and gives the best performance in the film.
The part Joan does seems to have been written with Myrna Loy in mind, possibly something to do with Bill Powell, though at Powell's age it would have been a tough sell for him as honeymooner. Myrna after Pearl Harbor put her career on hold and devoted herself exclusively to all kinds of war work permitted for females. I'm sure a lot of parts were written for her that got played by others and this got assigned to Crawford on her way out of MGM. Obviously the miscasting didn't bother Louis B. Mayer a bit.
As for MacMurray he had a career turning role just ahead in Double Indemnity at his home studio of Paramount. This might have worked for him better had he been teamed with a frequent screen partner, Carole Lombard. But that was a casting decision no longer possible.
Conrad Veidt is also in this in one of his last roles before his untimely death. He's a 'guide' which is a term to cover a multitude of talents that prove useful to the spying honeymooners.
Well, I'll bet Ralph and Alice didn't have a honeymoon as interesting as this one. -
sol121829 July 2010***SPOILERS*** Rediculas war time espionage drama that in fact takes place in the early summer of 1939 when there was no war going on in Europe between Germany and Britian. We have this fun loving American couple Frances & Richard Myles, Joan Crawford & Fred MacMurray, traveling on vacation to Nazi Germany in order to obtain for Great Britian the secret blueprint for a magnetic mine that the Germans are working on.
Despite the movies title-Beyond Suspicion-the two especially Richard Myles act so obnoxious and suspicious that it's a miracle that the Nazi's didn't suspect them of being spies as soon as they laid eyes on them. That's in Richard's in you face dislike of anything German to the extent of calling a Nazi Gestapo Officer a dope right to his face not once but twice within a minutes time! And getting away with it without being shipped off to the nearest Nazi concentration camp!
Instead of the two "dopes" just going to the place where anti-Nazi German scientist Dr. Mespelbrunn, Reginald Owens, is staying at and getting the secret information for the magnetic mine that he invented the two American "spies" for the British Empire are given a myriad of asinine and brain twisting clues, by the British Secret Service, as well as secret hand foot and nose signals! It's these signals,like a catcher and third base coach uses in baseball, that they and their German contacts uses in what seems like every ten seconds in the movie! That to the point where they become almost meaningless to anyone that's watching! This muddles things up so much in the film that by the time the Myles' finally get to meet Dr. Mespelbrunn who's being held hostage in his own house by the Gestapo you and possibly even they forgot what they were there for, the plans for the secret magnetic mine, in the first place!
There's also a nice little side plot in the movie, to make things even more confusing, with British tourist Thornley, Bruce Lester, planning to gun down the Commadaunt Col.Gerold, Frank Reicher, of the Nazi concentration camp where his wife was interned and later murdered! Thorney plans to pull this off in the middle of a standing room only Listz concert at the local opera house with hundreds of German soldiers and Gestapo agents in attendance!
P.S The movie turned out to be both the last film that Joan Crawford made for the MGM studios and Conrad Veidt's, who played a good guy for once, last movie ever! Veidt died on April 3, 1943 of a massive heart attack, probably after seeing the rushes, before the movie "Above Suspicion" was released. Also check out Basil Rathbone as the mysterious Sig Von Aschenhausen who tries so hard to be what he isn't in the movie that you instinctively know what he is as soon as you get to see him! -
bookladyinred20 April 2020I'm a huge fan of Helen Macinnes, whose book of the same name is the basis for the movie. Like many books, it didn't get the best conversion to film. Some of my favorite plot points didn't happen, because so many important details were changed.
As a movie, apart from the book, it wasn't terrible. The code words, etc, were delivered clumsily, and would have gotten the Myles killed in the Germany of the book, and the concert sequence was created out of whole cloth. But I suppose they had to have something more exciting for the movie than the subtle tension in the book.
I'm disappointed that it was so different from the book. -
If you like the kind of spy-romance yarns spun out by Hollywood in the 1940s--the kind with tongue-in-cheek dialogue that lets you know you're not supposed to take any of it too seriously--you'll enjoy this amusing, yet suspenseful film in which Conrad Veidt plays a "nice guy" for a change. Honeymooners Joan Crawford and Fred MacMurray are asked by British intelligence to do some spying while on their European jaunt. The agreeable pair go along with a plan that has them on the trail of an agent and in and out of dangerous situations as they are pursued by Basil Rathbone, chilling as usual as a Nazi.
Good entertainment with some amusing dialogue and light-hearted performances by Joan and Fred that indicate they should have been teamed more than once. As it is, this is Joan Crawford's last film at Metro after seventeen years with the studio and comes just two years before "Mildred Pierce" at Warners. Good cast and fine production values make it an absorbing treat.