Wives Under Suspicion *** (1938, Warren William, Gail Patrick, Constance Moore, William Lundigan, Ralph Morgan) – Classic Movie Review 12,122

Legendary director James Whale remakes his own 1933 movie The Kiss Before the Mirror as the 1938 crime film Wives Under Suspicion, with Warren William, Gail Patrick and Ralph Morgan.

The 1938 American Universal Pictures black and white crime film Wives Under Suspicion is based on Ladislas Fodor’s 1932 play Suspicion, is directed by James Whale, and stars Warren William, Gail Patrick, Constance Moore, William Lundigan and Ralph Morgan. James Whale had previously filmed it as The Kiss Before the Mirror.

Obsessive state’s lawyer, District Attorney Jim Stowell Warren (William), much absent from his wife Lucy Stowell (Gail Patrick), is shocked when he discovers that events in a case he is prosecuting, where a cuckolded teacher (Ralph Morgan) shot his philandering wife, are being mirrored in his own life, and he starts having murderous ideas when he doubts his wife Lucy (Patrick)’s fidelity.

Wives Under Suspicion tells a stolid story that opts for talky drama when mystery thrills perhaps could have worked better. But director Whale, who first made the story as The Kiss Before the Mirror in 1933, still manages to make something atmospheric and imaginative of it.

He turns it into an intriguing curio, with gripping, if stagy acting, and strong highlight moments.

It is released by Universal Pictures.

It entered the public domain in the US in 1966 because the claimants did not renew its copyright registration in the 28th year after publication.

Ralph Morgan, who appears in the remake as Professor Shaw MacAllen, is the brother of Frank Morgan, who played the prosecutor in The Kiss Before the Mirror.

The cast are Warren William as District Attorney Jim Stowell, Gail Patrick as Lucy Stowell, Constance Moore as Elizabeth, William Lundigan as Phil, Ralph Morgan as Professor Shaw MacAllen, Cecil Cunningham as Sharpy, Samuel S Hinds as David Marrow, Milburn Stone as Eddie Kirk, Lillian Yarbo as Creola, Jonathan Hale as Dan Allison, Matty Fain, James Flavin, William Gould, John Harmon, Grace Hayle, Tony Hughes, Edward LeSaint, Bert Moorhouse, Frank O’Connor, David Oliver, Lee Phelps, William Ruhl, Francis Sayles, Edwin Stanley, Ben Taggart, and Minerva Urecal.

Wives Under Suspicion is directed by James Whale, runs 68 minutes, is made and released by Universal Pictures, is written by Myles Connelly, based on Ladislas Fodor’s 1932 play Suspicion, is shot in black and white by George Robinson, is produced by Edmund Grainger, is scored by Charles Previn and Frank Skinner, and is designed by Jack Otterson.

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 12,122

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