The Verdict
The Verdict is a 1946 American film noir mystery drama film directed by Don Siegel and written by Peter Milne, loosely based on Israel Zangwill's 1892 novel The Big Bow Mystery. It stars Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre in one of their nine film pairings, as well as Joan Lorring and George Coulouris. The Verdict was Siegel's first full-length feature film.
Plot
At London's Newgate Prison in 1890, a man convicted of murder is executed. Scotland Yard Superintendent George Grodman had assembled the case against him based on circumstantial evidence. The defendant had claimed that at the time of the murder he was with a Reverend Hoffman, who then immediately departed for Wales, but this alibi witness could not be found there. However, this turns out to be because he actually went to New South Wales. Hoffman returns to London just after the man he would have cleared is executed, and Grodman is fired over the miscarriage of justice. His replacement as superintendent is the obnoxious and gloating John Buckley.
Cast
- Al Ferguson
- Arthur Shields
- Billy Bletcher
- Clyde Cook
- Colin Kenny
- Creighton Hale
- Frank Hagney
- George Coulouris
- Herbert Evans
- Holmes Herbert
- Howard Davies
- Ian Wolfe
- Jimmy Aubrey
- Joan Lorring
- Leo White
- Milton Parsons
- Morton Lowry
- Paul Cavanagh
- Paul Scardon
- Peter Lorre
- Reginald Sheffield
- Rosalind Ivan
- Sarah Edwards
- Sydney Greenstreet
- William H. O'Brien
More details
| author | Peter Milne |
|---|---|
| contentLocation | London |
| director | Don Siegel |
| editor | Thomas Reilly |
| events | capital punishment |
| genre | crime drama historical mystery |
| keywords | alibi arrest circumstantial evidence drug exonerate frame kill locked room married woman member of parliament miscarriage of justice morning mp murder weapon new south wales newgate prison other man scotland yard sleep stabbed to death travel wake up wale |
| musicBy | Friedrich Hollaender |
| producer | William Jacobs |
| productionCompany | Warner Bros. |
| publisher | Warner Bros. |
| theme | film noir |