The Woman Accused *** (1933, Nancy Carroll, Cary Grant, John Halliday, Irving Pichel, Louis Calhern, Jack LaRue) – Classic Movie Review 7350

Director Paul Sloane’s 1933 drama The Woman Accused is a Thirties high-concept movie: a version of a Liberty Magazine’s idea to get 10 renowned authors to write a chapter of a serial without consulting each other.

Based on the story by Polan Banks, it stars Nancy Carroll, Cary Grant, John Halliday, Irving Pichel, Louis Calhern and Jack La Rue.

And so a new bride, actress Glenda O’Brien (Nancy Carroll) has a fling with her lover Jeffrey Baxter (Cary Grant) on a three-day pleasure cruise. Her ex-lover Leo Young (Louis Calhern) interrupts them but is hit with an Oscar and his partner Stephen Bessemer (John Halliday) accuses new bride Glenda of the killing and tries to trick her into admitting her guilt.

The result is an utterly contrived and unbelievable but fascinating and entertaining cocktail-party puzzle, with the director Sloane and writer-adapter Bayard Veiller taking great pains to make the loose ends meet as much as possible.

Also in the cast are Norma Mitchell, Frank Sheridan as Inspector Swope, John Lodge as Dr Simpson, William J Kelly as the Captain of the Boat, Harry Holman as Judge Osgood, Jay Belasco, Gertrude Messinger, Lona Andre, Donald Stuart, Gregory Golubeff, Robert Quirk and Steve Pendelton.

Carroll and Grant also appeared in Hot Saturday (1932) together.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7350

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