Above Suspicion

1943 "It happened on a honeymoon!"
6.5| 1h30m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 31 May 1943 Released
Producted By: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Two newlyweds spy on the Nazis for the British Secret Service during their honeymoon in Europe.

Genre

Thriller

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Director

Richard Thorpe

Production Companies

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

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Above Suspicion Audience Reviews

Redwarmin This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place
Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one
Griff Lees Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.
Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
Michael_Elliott Above 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.
secondtake Above 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.
blanche-2 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.
arbarnes 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.