The Paradine Case (1947)

Following a short investigation, the London Police charge Maddalena Paradine with the poisoning murder of her older, blind husband, retired Colonel Richard Paradine, who was dependent on her and others to manage in his life due to his physical disability. She is up front about being a woman with a past, she only becoming wealthy and thus glamorous because of the marriage. Her personal solicitor Sir Simon Flaquer refers the case to his colleague Tony Keane. In spending time with Mrs. Paradine in prison, Tony is immediately attracted to her, that attraction which morphs into obsession. As such, Tony does whatever he can to clear her of the charges, either in mounting a defense of suicide, assisted or not, or that someone else killed him, the most likely candidate being the Colonel's trusted valet, Andre Latour, with who Tony initially believes Mrs. Paradine was having an affair. In the process, Tony may be blinded to the evidence as it presents itself. Who can see what is going on is Tony's wife Gay Keane, who not only believes their marriage has been a perfect one up to this point, but that he truly does believe his obsession with Mrs. Paradine being love, which Gay herself does not believe it to be. Gay can only stand by and hope for a specific verdict in the case so that Tony can return to her wholeheartedly without the specter of Mrs. Paradine hanging over their marriage.—Huggo