Rent Guilty? (1956)

A standard British B movie, with one twist. - Guilty? review by CB

I watched this because Bertrand Tavernier discussed Greville in his history of French cinema. If I hadn't known he was (at one time) a famous French director I would have written this off as a standard British 1950s B movie, which in many ways it definitely is. I haven't seen any of Greville's French films but I assume they are better than this.

Proven Guilty Of Being A Worthwhile Watch. - Guilty? review by NC

A race against time to save the beautiful Madame Martin from a miscarriage of justice. Can lawyer Nap Rumbolt and his reporter friend Pierre Lemaire discover who really murdered the dastardly father of the accused's child, and why? Actually it is not as Bulldog Drummond-ish as all that sounds, and the film does generate a fair degree of excitement here and there. The lawyer's adventures in France as he pursues his investigation, followed by both the police and the bad guys, are especially good. Unfortunately there are scenes of such lack of sophistication, even clumsiness, that they spoil what would otherwise have been a really good watch. One flashback to an incident in the war is long and totally pointless. It's as if there were two directors at work, one who knew what he was doing, and the other a bit of an amateur.

The cast also comprises a marked inconsistency. The uncharismatic lead is John Justin, familiar from B movies. Andree Debar is the accused, who does little more than stand in the dock, answering questions. Barbara Laage is a mysterious shadower of the lawyer's peregrinations, who has to give the impression of a femme fatale, presumably for no other reason than that is what crime dramas must have. Donald Wolfit and Sidney Tafler are the more recognisable faces.

'Guilty' seems to have been released simultaneously in France as 'Je Plaide Non Coupable', whether with the British actors speaking French, or being dubbed, I don't know. One thing that has got better in modern times is the predilection for subtitles rather than the silly foreign accents so prevalent in old black and white films.

Another puzzle: there are all the hallmarks of a cheapie here, with a less than stellar cast; so many scenes shot in the dock of the Old Bailey; etc. Yet there are also scenes in and around what definitely looks like the French countryside.

It is easy to forgive the negatives and enjoy a real curio.