The Paradine Case

7/7/2022

Gregory Peck is "Keane", a happily married London barrister who is called to defend a woman accused of murdering her wealthy, blind husband. Alida Valli (simply Valli in the titles) is the accused, a glamorous woman who simply reeks of gold-digger right from the start and with Leo G. Carroll leading the prosecution and a wonderfully curmudgeonly Charles Laughton as the High Court judge, you sense the writing is already on the wall for the women. Peck struggles in the role, to be honest, he lacks incisiveness - he is just a bit too "nice". When he discovers that it's possible that she had been having an affair with then old man's valet - a dashing Louis Jourdan - he seems torn between a sense of envy (he is clearly smitten) and a desire to secure a fair hearing and at times that drags this