Is it merely a German version of Hitchcock's "Murder!"? True both films are based on the same source-material. Yet the outcome is different. There is more emphasis on choice of camera and shots and editing in the German film than in the British one. The underlying cross dressing and gay aspects are more obvious in the German film. Yes "Mary'' can be considerably compared to Lumet's "12 Angry Men" made decades
later. Here the juror becomes the detective, while in Lumet's film the juror never really leaves the jury room. The relationship between juror and the accused is explored midway--a rare aspect in any jury-oriented tale. It is therefore goes one up on "Murder!" Further, Alfred Abel (a German actor) is superior to Herbert Marshall both playing the same character of the same tale, that of Sir John Menier. So is Olga Tschechowa playing the role of the accused actress, facing death sentence.