The Accused (1949) User Reviews

The College Murder Case

[telegonus · 8/10 · 21 November 2002]

In The Accused, Loretta Young plays a psychology professor who kills an amorous male student in self-defense, then spends the rest of the movie covering up her crime. William Dieterle does an excellent job with the familiar material, and Miss Young gives a sympathetic performance. This is one of several crime pictures that Hal Walls produced in the late forties and early fifties, many of which fall into the noir category. Most of these films concern people with conflicted or tortured sexual urges, dysfunctional families, inadequate or just barely adequate men, with the women often hysterical or scheming. At the time this must have seemed daringly modern and contemporary. Now it just seems quaint, a waystation in the breakdown of small-town American values, with the action taking place in a netherworld between Andy Hardy and Tennessee Williams.

The movie is surprisingly sympathetic toward Miss Young, who, though on the cusp of middle age, still looks pretty damn beautiful. Robert Cummings is stronger than usual as her "suitor", while Wendell Corey is his inscrutably poker-faced self, as always, hinting between the lines, that had his character been better written he'd be more than up to the task. If this was so, I believe him. In a smaller role, Sam Jaffe is positively mephistopholean, delivering his lines as tartly as Corey, and in his lab scenes photographed to resemble a Dwight Frye hunchback from the thirties. A nice touch. The Accused is filled with nice touches, as Dieterle and most of his cast are much better than the script, breathing real life into it at times, which makes watching the movie a pleasure. There are no real surprises here, but lots of good scenes.

Structural flaws mar suspense in Loretta Young vehicle

[bmacv · 6/10 · 14 February 2002]

The twist on what we now call sexual harassment lingers as the most interesting aspect of The Accused, an innocuous suspense story with some effective moments. Another lingering aftertaste is the midcentury stereotype of the female academic that's foisted on star Loretta Young -- and the viewer.

Psychology professor Young (!), guarded and old-maidish (she's even saddled with the glamourproof name Wilma Tuttle), becomes the object of the unhealthy attentions of one of her students (Douglas Dick). On the pretext of diving for abalone shells off Malibu, he spirits her off to a secluded lover's lane one night and forces himself on her. She bashes in his skull and fakes his death to look accidental.

Then she begins to attract more attention -- from Robert Cummings, a lawyer friend of the dead boy's family (he falls for her), and Wendell Corey, a dogged homicide cop. In the acting department, there's no contest; Cummings stays his usual namby-pamby self, while Corey delivers a strong, unsentimental performance, among his best.

Much of William Dieterle's direction shows a practiced hand. Especially well handled are the opening sequence of Young fleeing the crime scene, a boxing match where she suffers a flashback, and the ghoulish reconstructions of the murder by forensic pathologist Sam Jaffe.

But a glaring structural flaw keeps The Accused lukewarm. We know from the outset that Young acted in self-defense, which pretty well leeches all the suspense out of Corey's implacable pursuit; the tightening case against her packs no impact because it's safe to assume she won't be spending any time with those harpies from Caged. Consequently the film focuses more on her emergence from a cocoon of droopy skirts, a bun in her hair, sleeping pills and swooning spells into a seductive butterfly flitting into Cummings' net.

Dick, as the young narcissist, calls to mind such amoral charmers as Robert Walker in Strangers On A Train and John Dall in Rope (a film in which Dick also appeared). It's he -- not young nor Cummings -- who supplies what faint erotic spark this movie, about a sexually-based murder, dares to kindle.

Has its Moments

[gordonl56 · 7/10 · 7 November 2014]

THE ACCUSED - 1949

Loretta Young, Bob Cummings, Wendell Corey and Sam Jaffe headline this rather dated noir.

Psychology professor Young has a student who is a bit on the forward side. He is always pushing his attentions on Miss Young. Young finds this a bit on the awkward side and suggests he cool it.

The young man, Douglas Dick, agrees to behave himself. After class, he offers Young a ride home after seeing she missed her bus. Young accepts but the ride goes nowhere near her place. They end up out on a secluded seaside lover's lane. There Dick becomes rather forceful with his advances. While fighting him off, Young bashes in his head with a handy iron bar. She then makes it look like an accidental death by dumping Dick off a cliff.

Soon everyone seems to be knocking on her door, starting with Bob Cummings. Cumming is a lawyer who works for the dead man's family. Cummings is just checking about Dick's grades etc with his instructors. Several days later the body is fished out of the water and a coroner's inquest held.

The death is ruled an accident which off course makes Young happy. Police Detective Wendell Corey is not quite so sure and decides to look deeper into the death. Young spends the rest of the picture trying to make sure she covered her tracks, as well as falling for Cummings. Cummings likewise takes a shine to Miss Young.

Hanging around being a pest is Detective Corey. He slowly puts together a collection of clues that start to point at Young. Nothing solid, but lots of little clues that keep the cop digging. Helping him in this is forensic expert Sam Jaffe.

To cut to the quick, Cummings also tumbles to Young being the killer. But he could care less as he is head over heels for her. Corey charges her and presents his case but knows it is going nowhere with a jury.

The film is good looking, but somewhat lacking in the suspense area. The basic story has worn rather thin since 1949. Young as the bookish teacher etc. is old hat now. We know she was only defending herself which eliminates the femme fatale angle.

Director William Dieterle did better work on his other film noir, ROPE OF SAND, DARK CITY and THE TURNING POINT. The film is still worth a look, but one is not likely to give it second viewing.

Deserves to be better known

[jaykay-10 · 24 December 2001]

Here is as "quiet" a suspense film as you are likely to encounter. That is all to the good, as beneath its placid surface crackle psychological crosscurrents that generate tension throughout. Each of the main characters is an interesting study, with ambivalent emotions that alternately spark and grate against those of the others. Additionally (and ironically), these characters are all involved in recognizing and dealing with such behavior, being a psychology professor, a detective and a lawyer respectively. A bit verbose at times, and resolved with a glib, less-than-satisfying ending, this picture nevertheless deserves a wider audience - if it has any at all nowadays. The performances are rock-solid and properly understated for the most part (even by Robert Cummings) in keeping with the conservative small town atmosphere; but there are effective contrasting performances as well, in the smaller roles of the few relatively unbalanced characters, as played by Douglas Dick, Suzanne Dalbert, and especially Sam Jaffee.

Fascinating!

[JohnHowardReid · 7/10 · 29 August 2017]

Producer: Hal B. Wallis. Copyright 14 January 1949 by Paramount Pictures Inc. New York release at the Paramount: 12 January 1949. U.S. release: 14 January 1949. U.K. release: March 1949. Australian release: 16 June 1949. Sydney release at the Victory: 27 May 1949. 9,243 feet. 103 minutes.

COMMENT: No producer in 1940's Hollywood guided such a formidable collection of permanent classics as Hal B. Wallis: All This and Heaven Too, The Sea Hawk, The Letter, The Sea Wolf, Sergeant York, The Maltese Falcon, High Sierra, The Strawberry Blonde, King's Row, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Now, Voyager, Casablanca, Watch on the Rhine, Saratoga Trunk, Sorry Wrong Number…

One of Wallis's talents was the ability to select the right director for the script — and then to get the most out of him! "The Accused", while it is not one of his major films, is an excellent example of this technique.

Ketti Frings at this stage was a writer with primarily a radio and stage background (though she had written the 1940 novel, "Hold Back the Dawn"). This training shows in her screenplay for "The Accused". If you close your eyes you can follow the story perfectly well, for it's written like a radio serial — very skillfully written with essential facts put over with power and subtlety, but it's purely verbal. The script has been wholly conceived in aural terms rather than visual.

With such a scenario on his hands, what does a producer do? 99% would call in another writer — but not Hal Wallis. He assigns the script to a director with a noted visual flair — William Dieterle — who has given the film such a wonderful sheen and style (aided by atmospheric photography and deft film editing). Notice how deep focus framings are inventively utilized for maximum dramatic impact, how the lighting appropriately changes from the chilling murky gray of the flashback sequences to the contrasting brightness of the campus episodes, how long takes are adroitly inter-cut with reaction shots. The director builds up what is essentially a synthetic Loretta Young vehicle into a psychological thriller of considerable suspense and class.

Admittedly, too much footage is still taken up with the familiar Young heart-burnings and hysteria (she even has a pervading off- camera commentary as well), but many of the sequences (particularly those with Sam Jaffe and Wendell Corey) deliver a taut, tense, powerful impact.

While the conclusion is somewhat abrupt and predictable, it's a movie that moves all the way thanks to Dieterle's frequent changes of set, scene and camera set-ups, and his skilled use of tracking shots and similar fluid camera movements.

For all its aural orientation, the dialogue has a realistic edge to it which fine actors like Wendell Corey know how to deliver with the right amount of intensity. Corey has a tailor-made part, and receives excellent support from character players like Sam Jaffe, Sara Allgood, Bill Mauch (one of the Mauch twins from "The Prince and the Pauper"), Francis Pierlot, Al Ferguson, Charles Williams and Henry Travers (yes, Henry Travers making a surprise unbilled appearance as Jaffe's assistant).

Wallis has dressed "The Accused" in great production values, including sets, locations, and a vast crowd of extra players, among whom Bess Flowers can be spotted as a wardress at court. She even has one word of dialogue — "Sure."

"I wasn't very happy with Wallis," Dieterle told Tom Flinn. "He used me to try to make something out of very second-rate material." This movie is an intriguing example of that fascinating and entertaining "something".

The Crime of Fear.

[hitchcockthelegend · 7/10 · 7 March 2014]

The Accused is directed by William Dieterle and adapted to screenplay by Ketti Frings from the novel "Be Still, My Love" written by June Truesdell. It stars Loretta Young, Robert Cummings, Wendell Corey, Sam Jaffe and Douglas Dick. Music is by Victor Young and cinematography by Milton R. Krasner.

Wilma Tuttle (Young) is a college professor who is prompted into an act of self defence when one of her students attacks her sexually. The damage done, Wilma covers up her crime and finds her conscience gnawing away at her, especially as she is actively involved in the police investigation…

Good sturdy story is well played out by a good sturdy cast, The Accused makes up for what it lacks in noir visuals with noir infected psychological smarts. Helps that Wilma Tuttle is a strong characterisation in Young's excellent hands, the whole film hinging on the fact that Wilma's crime is perfectly understandable to us viewers, she has our sympathy, more so since she has the chance of love with Cumming's amiable and cunning lawyer.

We follow the police investigation through its various strands of science, with Wilma privy to what is going on as well. This puts a devilish kink to proceedings as Lieutenant Ted Dorgan (Corey) is pretty sure he knows what really happened (an inquest had previously ruled the death as an accident caused whilst diving).

Further spice comes with the knowledge that Dorgan also has the hots for Wilma, thus this puts Wilma in a whirlpool of fear and fret, conscience battering and the amorous attentions of two male suitors, both of whom are intricately bound to the investigation. Plus she's trying to keep it together at work whilst she's teaching her students psychology!

It all builds to a good conclusion, which is nicely open ended, to round production out as an entertaining noirish meller. 7/10

A great idea that just wasn't carried off that well...

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 1 July 2009]

Loretta Young plays a psychology professor who has quite a few neuroses (this is quite the cliché--for once, I'd like to see a movie with a well-balanced psychologist!). One of her students is a cocky young war vet who thinks he's quite the ladies' man. When a seemingly innocent offer to drive her home becomes an attempt by him to force himself on her sexually, she reacts by striking him repeatedly and killing him. In her vulnerable state, she panics and makes the body appear as if he died by accident. Still in a bit of an emotional fog, she stumbles home. Only later when she is thinking clearly does she realize that she should have gone to the police and reported the attempted rape--but by now it was too late.

A problem occurs with the film at this point. Young's character is so flaky that she gets sick and is a delirious state for days. In fact, throughout the film this supposedly capable professor seems on the verge of screaming or crying. When she recovers from her breakdown, the body has been found. Soon, it's ruled an accidental death but a determined homicide detective refuses to give up the case.

Now had Ms. Young's character not behaved so strangely throughout the film (remember, she is a trained psychologist and professor), THE ACCUSED would have worked a lot better. Think about it--a film from 1949 that was willing to actually tackle the topic of rape and killing the attacker. But due to the odd characterization, much of the importance and impact is lost. Overall, it's interesting and worth seeing--but also quite flawed.

Beauty and Brains.

[brogmiller · 6/10 · 18 December 2021]

After a dramatic start with oodles of the German Expressionism one has come to expect from the accomplished William Dieterle, what follows is alas something of an anti-climax, thoroughly proficient but lacking an edge.

It is essentially a vehicle for that most gracious of actresses, the lovely Loretta Young, whose reputation in Hollywood circles as a Miss Goody Two Shoes makes her excellent casting as a reserved psychology professor whose quiet sensuality leads to devastating consequences. Her performance is aided immeasurably by the marvellous score of Victor Young although her 'interior' monologues are rather weak.

Her leading man is the underrated Robert Cummings whilst Wendell Corey's detective and the pathologist of Sam Jaffe offer the most interesting characterisations.

German emigré William Dieterle adapted quickly to Hollywood filmmaking and gave us some absolute gems in the thirties and forties but things were never quite the same once circumstances obliged him to work for Paramount whilst his 'greylisting' by the accursed HUAC did not exactly improve his employment prospects. One can only say that he does his best here with the material at his disposal.

Interesting investigation of the dilemma of having committed a crime unintentionally.

[clanciai · 9/10 · 7 July 2015]

This is actually a love story and, as is usually the case with noirs of the 40s, a very well written one, especially since it deals with some rather tricky psychological matters, of which guilt complex resulting in fear approaching the borders of possible schizophrenia is just one. What makes this film more than average of classy noirs of the 40s with a romantic and seriously psychological intrigue is the interesting peripatetic moment of the boxing match, when Loretta Young unintentionally gives herself away, and how very interestingly Robert Cummings as her lawyer and lover reacts to that. The acting is superb throughout, the story is credible and convincing, the dilemma of unintentionally having killed someone and the natural urge to avoid the consequences and take responsibility for what was not intended, anyone can understand and relate to. To all this comes Victor Young's endearing score fashioning the experience with a golden frame, the beauty of which increases all the time. In brief, this is a much underrated, unjustly forgotten and deeply human and interesting film, that deserves some intention after having been more or less buried alive since 50 years.

When panic sets in, your guilt will be exposed!

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 25 June 2019]

That's what happens for psychology professor Loretta Young when she tries to hide the fact that she accidentally killed one of her students. Of course, The killing was justified considering that the student (Douglas Dick) was possibly about to rape her. She had confronted him during a test and made arrangements for him to be transferred to another class but when he convinced her to allow him to drive her home, they ended up on the cliffs overlooking the ocean in Malibu and in attempting to get away from him, smashed him over the head and arranged for his body to be found in the ocean. His guardian (Robert Cummings) shows up before the body is discovered out of concern for where he's gotten from the dean, and young begins to spend time with him in order to clear her conscience and hide what happened. But with detective Wendell Corey certain that it was homicide, young begins to panic more and more.

"In my next life, I'm going to be a minister. The only one I'll have to pick on is the devil", Corey says, wishing that he had two personalities so he could deal with suspects in a less aggressive manner. it's one of his more interesting characterizations, having played emotionally dead males in a variety of Paramount film noir. Young, having appeared in mostly romantic dramas and like comedies, joins the like of Paramount's Barbara Stanwyck, Veronica Lake and Lizabeth Scott, although her character is far from the vixen that those three ladies play.

It's a bit surprising to see the lady like young handling rats as part of a school experiment, and in the scene where Dick attempts to seduce her, it is very apparent that even if briefly, Young's staid character is erotically excited, even though the majority of her personality is scared of those feelings. much of the film psychoanalyze has her character, especially with the deceased and in voice overs that he has when Young reads his exam. The great detail that is put into the script is surprisingly bright, with Young able to fool a potential witness by eliminating her sexually frustrated attitude with just the addition of a touch of blush and quickly able to turn it back.

Considering the other films that Young had released in 1949 ("Mother is a Freshman", "Come to the Stable"), this is a far cry from those light-hearted performances although it was her performance as the nun in "Come to the Stable" which got her an Oscar nomination. There's a bit of comedy provided by veteran actress Sara Allgood as the overly concerned landlady (one of her last films) so smart girl the movie doesn't drown itself in its psychological banter. I had seen this film years ago in my early twenties and couldn't get into it, so fortunately maturity has made it a lot better.

Would the 'plot' work by today's standards? May contain spoilers.

[Emmjewels · 9/10 · 28 August 2008]

Guess I was the only one here who really enjoyed the characters of Warren Ford (Robert Cummings) and Wilma Tuttle (Loretta Young), as I looked beyond the fact that their 'circumstances' were what brought them together in the first place, to why I still consider this to be a true film noir despite it. Loretta's character was dead on in the way she 'handled' what happened to her with Bill Perry (Douglas Dick), because I've seen the same 'incidents' in other movies during the 1930's and 40's done almost in the exact same manner, and I won't have really expected anything different here to keep the storyline moving along. Wendell Corey (Lt. Ted Dorgan) was like a thirty bloodhound with a 'clue' that he didn't want to let go of, until he'd gotten exactly what he'd come for, and his 'quips' made it that much better to keep you watching just to see if he finally 'got his man'. Sam Jaffe (Dr. Romley) at times reminded me of a 'detective version' of 'Doctor Kildare', or even a lab coated version of 'Columbo', with the way he went about doing his 'job'. As for Douglas Dick (Bill Perry), what can you say about character who thinks he's the 'cats meow', is slicker than a bottle of 'Brylcreem', feels that all women are fascinated by him, but refuses to take 'NO' for an answer? "Don't you just love how some of these pretty boys end up"? So, all in all, I guess it just goes to show you that there are some of us out there who really "did" thoroughly enjoy viewing this movie (enough that I wouldn't mind seeing it available VHS or DVD for my own viewing pleasure.), and wouldn't mind seeing it again very soon. And my answer is 'yes', I do believe the plot of this film 'could' work by today' standards, 'if' it isn't changed too much in the long run.

Love Is Blind

[ccthemovieman-1 · 5/10 · 13 November 2005]

The Accused This is one of those popular story lines in which the killing is shown early on and then the film deals with the police trying to piece things together while the killer tries to look innocent.

In this case, the "accused" is a woman, played by Loretta Young. She plays a college teacher who defends herself against an obnoxious student but then makes the big mistake of trying to cover up the incident, even though it was self- defense, thinking it would look bad if she was discovered being with this student in the first place. (Today, we read true-life stories of worse, sad to say.)

Bob Cummings and Wendell Corey are detectives who know some foul play is involved but then Cummings, who gets increasingly annoying in here, falls in love with Young. He then winds up defending her in the short courtroom finale. Cummings gives a good example how "love is blind."

Corey, meanwhile, plays the determined cop who doesn't care what people think of him so long as he solves the crime. He is by far the most interesting of the characters in this film. Sam Jaffe also entertains in a supporting role as a crime doctor.

A tight story and capable cast make good viewing

[bux · 30 October 1998]

Good film noir concerning a prudish, but attractive, college prof that kills a student, during what today would be considered 'date rape.' Cummings and Corey are capable co-stars, and the lovely Young as always, is easy on the eyes.

Sober concept reduced to vanilla flavored story

[wpmasters · 8/10 · 23 February 2008]

The Accused is the kind of movie that begins promisingly, but then the script loses its nerve. That we root for the movie to be better, indicates the promise it showed, but then lost after the first third of the movie. Loretta Young plays a repressed psychology professor who kills one of her students in self defense, then covers up her crime. For a short time, Young actually stays in character before the script changes her from a frumpy spinster to the glamorous movie star, the better to hide her original appearance from a truck driver who gave her a ride on the evening of the killing. The movie displays many nice touches provided by director William Dieterle. Wendell Corey makes us wish he had been given better roles and the untalented Robert Cummings makes us ask if he was cast as a favor to someone.

Very nice noir

[the-antichrist-is-near · 8/10 · 14 September 2022]

Great acting in a compelling story. Very interesting premise, where we start with the actual crime and follow the killer in the aftermath. Keeps the attention and some tension throughout and wraps up nicely in the end.

Plot 5/5 Characters 3/5: Looking back on it, even with the psychology babble, the characters seemed rather one-dimensional. (Or maybe just subordinate to the plot.) Direction 4/5: Not bad, but not extra-ordinary either.

Score 2/5: Rather bland at times.

Cinematography 4/5 Editing 5/5 Pace 5/5 Dialogue 5/5: Great writing overall.

Altogether a very enjoyable movie. Maybe more a detective than a noir, but with a nice cast.

Tepid melodrama seems quaint by today's standards...

[Doylenf · 5/10 · 29 November 2006]

At the time of release, THE ACCUSED was probably considered a daring story for Hollywood to tackle--a teacher about to be assaulted by a student kills him rather than being subjected to rape. The prim schoolteacher is played by LORETTA YOUNG with all her virginal modesty bolstered by wearing her hair in a bun with Peter Pan collars adorning her neckline.

Rather than confess to her crime, she tries to conceal it from the prying eyes of detective WENDELL COREY and lawyer friend ROBERT CUMMINGS. Both of these actors have given stronger performances in other films but apparently neither one had their interest in these roles heightened by a lackluster script.

Slowly, the film tries to build suspense until a final courtroom scene, but by that time the tale has lost a lot of its credibility and the characters are so poorly etched that you won't care that much about the outcome.

Young is as pretty as ever but her role has no depth and what should have been a taut exercise in suspense has been turned into a mushy romantic drama rather than a gripping film noir.

A Loretta Showcase

[dougdoepke · 7 March 2011]

A college professor (Young) commits murder while defending against an over-amorous student.

That noirish opening scene of a dark figure struggling along a deserted nighttime highway is iconic, especially when followed in flashback by deserted city streets and a lonely all-night bus. But once the flashbacks end, the movie settles into a fairly routine game of cat- and-mouse with strong psychological overtones. I'm also tempted to say the movie becomes a vehicle for Young, who gets to transform from dowdy career woman to fashionable beauty. However, the male roles (Cummings & Corey) are too large and well acted to allow that. Nonetheless, the film remains a Young showcase where the diva even gets to do the little fashion pirouette that distinguished her TV series.

Note a convention of the time: namely, that a woman can't have a career and be beautiful at the same time. Thus, Wilma (catch the plain-Jane name) as a professor is both grim and repressed. It's only after she essentially drops the career role that her appearance flowers. Young handles the demanding transition pretty well, without going over the top. Nonetheless, the number of close-ups leaves no doubt who the star is. My money, however, is on the rather exotic Wendell Corey (Det. Grogan). He's such an icy presence, it's hard to keep your eyes off him. Too bad that alcohol got the best of this unusual actor.

All in all, the pace may drag at times, but the movie still features enough points of interest to keep the momentum going.

wildly underrated noir

[tkrasker · 10/10 · 9 February 2024]

A feminist response to the misogyny that overran the film industry in the 1940's. The premise is pure noir. Loretta Young's psychology professor is sexually assaulted by a student; in defending herself, she accidentally kills him. And then like so many noir protagonists, she's left having to cover up her crime - and not merely cover it up, but lend her expertise to the investigation. But here's the twist: before he died, her student penned a personality profile of his professor that's likely to expose her: the sexually frustrated female of many a Forties flick (e.g., Young's own 'The Doctor Takes a Wife'), who hides her fear of intimacy behind glasses she doesn't need. Young realizes that to avoid detection, she'll need to forge a more outgoing persona, and though it starts out as a ruse, she soon grows comfortable in her own skin. She discovers she enjoys this new game of cat and mouse, toying with witnesses who don't recognize her because she's figuratively and literally let down her hair. In time she reclaims the upper hand that women on screen had routinely enjoyed a decade earlier. 'The Accused' is eager to expose how '40s films have pigeon-holed women, and fittingly, screenwriter Ketti Frings lays the blame squarely at the feet of men. The film's two male leads - one of whom (Bob Cummings) ultimately wins her - ogle and leer at Young as if it's something women should not only be used to, but enjoy. (When she dresses up for a dinner date, Cummings notes approvingly that her "brains don't show.") It's hard enough in this environment for a woman to get by. A woman in academia? She hasn't got a chance. Small wonder that Young has receded into a repressed version of herself; it's an act of self-preservation. Frings' screenplay not only explains why so many post-war women on screen have lost their sense of liberation, but makes it clear that no men are going to swoop in and save them; they'll have to save themselves. Although Frings receives the sole script credit, at least six other writers at Paramount had a hand in it, but it never feels like a hodgepodge; the touchups and rewrites result in energy, bite and an abundance of good lines. Heck, 'The Accused' even manages to make that problematic staple of film noir - "the police will never believe it's an accident, I'll have to cover it up" - entirely convincing. Young is vibrant throughout.

Ridiculous

[buddylove447 · 3/10 · 9 August 2020]

I love a good noir - but this isn't one. The plotting and dialogue (especially the voice over going on on in Loretta Young's head) is so poor that at times it is utterly laughable. In fact this film gave me more laughs than the entire Abbott and Costello box set my estranged ex gave me for Xmas. For me this made the film impossible to take seriously, and very difficult to get involved in as a serious thriller or drama. The leads flounder a bit, but Corey and Jaffe stand out and are rather decent. The romance doesn't work, and neither does the ending.though I was glad it came.

Mid-Century Chick Flick

[GManfred · 29 May 2010]

"The Accused" is a pretty good movie with some good acting turns by some reliable Hollywood stars. It is not a film noir but primarily a love story with some melodramatic moments. It is also too long and could have used a heavier hand in the cutting room.

Having said all that, I was tempted to stop the DVD player as I didn't think it was my cup of tea (the action is minimal) but the story became more absorbing as it unfolded. Right off the bat, in the opening scene, we find out that Loretta Young kills one of her students while fighting off an attempted rape. The rest of the picture involves a cat-and-mouse game between her and Police Lieutenant Wendell Corey, with lawyer Bob Cummings trying to pick sides.

The picture moves along spasmodically (as I said, it's too long) to its eventual denouement but spiked with some genuinely interesting plot turns.I must say I always felt Wendell Corey was a bit of a stiff but here he shows some depth, and Bob Cummings is the opposite of his usual feckless, irresolute self. But the film is Miss Young's and her legion of fans will not be disappointed - plus, she's beautiful as always. I have to think this was released as an 'A' picture, as they hired Victor Young to write the music - it doesn't get any better than that.

This movie really is worth watching but don't go out of your way - unless you're a Loretta Young fan.

I Wanna Live... (kinda)

[onepotato2 · 5/10 · 29 May 2009]

This movie starts in an unusually interesting place. A woman is fleeing some deed, under cover of noir night. It continues to another interesting place. The woman is a psychology instructor, who in 1949 is allowed to speak intelligently & authoritatively on the topic. Then we flashback to the crime. The crime is passable. But unfortunately after that, the movie which started so interesting descends into bland convention and melodrama. Seeking the quickest route to audience identification, the movie selects "romance" as our pathway through things. It makes the movie less engaging by the minute, and really shrinks the possibilities of what it can be. The noose tightens for way too long, forcing the writers to draw out the tension and run it against the romance all the while. The weak frisson just doesn't create much engagement in a viewer. Cummings is not terribly interesting and Wendell Corey plays yet another irksome investigator.

Psychology will never be an exact science

[dbdumonteil · 14 June 2009]

This movie begins quite well,and,unlike some people wrote,it's not that much dated.Douglas Dick is as disturbing a student as he is handsome.But his part is too underwritten and he disappears too soon.

What remains is much too predictable: as soon as Bill's guardian appears ,you know what they're up to from mile off;for instance guess with whom,this respectable man,portrayed by Robert Cummings will fall in love with?

In a thriller,the hero(or here the heroine) must be in jeopardy:we know early in the story that the teacher is not risking anything ;maybe if they did not show the scene by the sea? maybe?

We are left with the Cummings/Corey duel :both actors deserved a better script.

Loretta Young plays a very educated professor (she teaches psychology of course) and she 's got to show tricky to frustrate the enemy (that is to say the cops) in his plans.

Aren't there better movies to remember Loretta Young ? "heroes for sale" "a man's castle" "the crusades" "the bishop's wife".....