The Unsuspected (1947) – Claude Rains in Shadow

The Unsuspected (1947) – Claude Rains in Shadow

In 1947, director Michael Curtiz—fresh off Casablanca—stepped into the shadows of film noir. Claude Rains delivered one of his most chilling performances as a seemingly respectable radio host hiding sinister secrets. Curtiz crafted a world of glamour, deceit, and murder. This is a story where elegance masks danger, and every word drips with menace.

Today, we’re talking about The Unsuspected (1947). Since this film is from 1947, it falls squarely in the middle of the Classic Film Noir era.

This film has way too many characters, making it hard to follow on first viewing. But that’s not to say it isn’t worth a watch. It’s filled with A-level talent, and the story and hidden clues are interesting as you can figure them out. The talented and prolific Michael Curtiz directed the film. The cast is amazing, with Claude Rains, Audrey Totter, and Fred Clark in his first role.

On IMDb.com, this film has a 7.2[1] rating, and that seems about right. On RottenTomatoes.com, the film doesn’t have a Tomatometer score, but it is at 77 percent[2] audience approval, echoing the IMDb.com rating.

Cranky old New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther wrote in an October 4, 1947, review:

There is reasonable ground for suspicion that the people who made The Unsuspected thought that they were fashioning another Laura, popular mystery of a few years back… But, beyond a brisk flurry of excitement and wickedness at the start, it bears little show manly resemblance to that previous top-drawer effort in this line… the yarn gets away temptingly. Once launched, however, it starts leaking, pulling apart at the seams, and generally foundering in a welter of obvious contrivances and clichés… Claude Rains is intriguing as the fashionable radio ghoul and Michael North, a new young actor, looks good as the lad who ‘breaks’ the case. However, the rest of the performers… are as patly artificial as the plot.[3]

This time, I have to agree with Crowther on his review and the ratings mentioned above. However, I found this Film Noir mystery interesting for another reason. So, let’s get going with the actors.

Actors – The Unsuspected (1947)

Returning

The cast was led by the great Claude Rains, playing the role of Victor Grandison. I talked about this great actor in The Wolf Man (1941), Casablanca (1942), Notorious (1946), and a few others.

Great Femme Fatale actress Audrey Totter brought sass to this movie as Althea Keane, Victor’s niece and ward. I have spoken about this master of the glare in Lady in the Lake (1946) and The Set-Up (1949).

Hang dog-faced, Fred Clark played Homicide Chief of Detectives Richard Donovan. This was Clark’s first film, but I talked about Clark in Sunset Blvd. (1950)

New

Joan Caulfield played the role of Matilda Frazier, Victor’s wealthy niece and ward. Caulfield was born in New Jersey in 1922. She had a private education before attending Columbia University. After failing to succeed on the stage, Caulfield turned to modeling, where she achieved remarkable success. Her modeling work led to other acting roles. Her first film credit was in 1945, but her first memorable film was probably today’s film.

She appeared in the comedy Dear Ruth (1947), opposite William Holden, playing a demure female. This typecast her and started her film decline. She continued to act on stage and make films throughout 1951. Beginning in 1952, most of her work was on television. She had a short-run television series called “Sally.” Caulfield continued to work with her last role being on “Murder She Wrote” in 1987.

She achieved success after her time in Hollywood, earning money through business and stock investments. Caulfield died in 1991.

Ted North was in the role of Steven Howard. North was born in 1916. North began acting in 1940 with small parts in films such as Chad Hanna (1940), Roxie Hart (1942), The Ox-Bow Incident (1943), and today’s film, The Unsuspected (1947), being his last film.

North became a successful agent in the 1950s. Some of the clients include Milburn Stone and Amanda Blake from “Gunsmoke.” North died in 1975.

Constance Bennett played producer Jane Moynihan. Constance was born in 1904 in New York. Constance was the first of three sisters to go into acting, the others being Barbara and Joan Bennett. Her film debut was in the silent film Cytherea (1924). A 1925 marriage slowed her career, but after her divorce, she became successful in talkies.

Some of her best-known films include The Easiest Way (1931), What Price Hollywood? (1932), Moulin Rouge (1934), and Topper (1937). In the 1940s, she began making fewer films and performing more on stage.

In 1946, she married her fifth husband, a U.S. Air Force colonel. She helped coordinate shows for the U.S. Occupation and Berlin Airlift troops. Constance died at Fort Dix in 1965 at 60. I took basic training at Fort Dix and often thought I would die there as well. She is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Hurd Hatfield played the besotted Oliver Keane, unhappy husband to Althea. Hatfield was born in 1917 in New York City. His father was a deputy district attorney for New York. Hatfield was educated at Columbia University before heading to England to study acting.

Hatfield’s film debut was Dragon Seed (1944), which featured many prominent stars, but the film now suffers from the use of yellowface. His next film was his most well-known, which contributed to his typecasting. He was the title character in The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945).

In the late 1940s, Hatfield appeared in other well-known films such as The Diary of a Chambermaid (1946), The Beginning or the End (1947), today’s film The Unsuspected (1947), and Joan of Arc (1948).

In the 1950s, his film work slowed, so Hatfield focused on the stage. His future supporting roles include The Left Handed Gun (1958), King of Kings (1961), El Cid (1961), The Boston Strangler (1968), and Her Alibi (1989).

Hatfield became friends with Angela Lansbury during the filming of The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945). He moved to Ireland and remained there for over two decades until his passing at 81 in 1989.

Jack Lambert played the killer Mr. Press. He was born in Yonkers, New York, in 1920. Lambert began acting in 1943. He eventually became a character actor who excelled in playing tough guys in Westerns and Film Noirs. Some of his better-known films include The Killers (1946), The Harvey Girls (1946), Border Incident (1949), The Enforcer (1951), Vera Cruz (1954), Kiss Me Deadly (1955), Day of the Outlaw (1955), and, of course, today’s film, The Unsuspected (1947).

Lambert left acting, for the most part, in 1967, moving to Carmel, California, where he and his wife ran a boutique. He died in 2002.

Story – The Unsuspected (1947)

In a dark mansion, a gloved hat-wearing man moves by a haunting painting of Matilda Frazier (Joan Caulfield). They are, of course, trying to invoke Laura (1944). The uninvited man watches from the doorway as the secretary Roslyn (Barbara Wooddell) takes a phone call from Althea Keane (Audrey Totter) asking if her husband, Oliver Keane (Hurd Hatfield), had returned home yet. Roslyn drops the phone and screams as the man approaches. Althea hears the attack but takes no action. She checks the exact time as 9:37 P.M. before leaving with her date.

The killer stacks books to make the murder look like a suicide by hanging. They actually show the man’s face, but you would have to stop the film at the right frame and turn the movie upside down to see it. The phone continues to ring as the fake suicide is laid out. 

Jane Moynihan (Constance Bennett), who is Victor Grandison’s podcast producer, I mean, radio show producer, reads about the suicide of Roslyn that was preceded by the loss of Matilda Frazier at sea sometime earlier. Jane mentions that Victor Grandison (Claude Rains) was in the New York studio broadcasting his show live when the suicide occurred. The police quickly ruled that there was no foul play associated with the suicide.

The queue is given, and Victor begins reading another script on the radio. Victor is a well-respected member of high society. His show is called “The Unsuspected.” It is essentially a true crime podcast. The show focuses on the guilt the killers feel and the inevitability of their capture. People who may be criminals themselves are shown listening to the show.

Detective Richard Donovan (Fred Clark) waits at the mansion for Victor to return from his radio broadcast. Also, there, drinking is Oliver, Althea’s husband. Oliver loved Matilda but was tricked into marriage by Althea. As a result, he has jumped feet first into a liquor bottle and plans to stay drunk as much as possible. There are many other people present as Althea is hosting a party for Victor’s birthday.

Before Victor arrives, Steven Howard (Ted North) arrives with his suitcases and says he will be staying after he meets with Victor. Althea is quite taken by Steven. Steven is very interested in the painting of Matilda. Althea says her husband, Oliver, painted it for her before becoming a drunk. Steven announces that he is married to the deceased Matilda.

Victor arrives at his surprise party. It is revealed that Althea is Victor’s niece. Donovan finds Steven searching the area where the suicide took place. Donovan provides crime information for Victor’s radio show.

Victor meets with Steven and accepts the facts of his story. He allows the young man to stay and agrees to give him the painting. Steven says they were married three days before her ship went down. He says he didn’t know about Matilda’s millions.

Matilda is shown to be alive as she boards an outbound plane in Rio.

Victor works on his script with his producer. They practice by recording the show and rehearsals on vinyl. Donovan returns with a file on Steven, confirming he is legitimate and has his own wealth, as he stated. A cable arrives, and Victor finds that Matilda is alive and heading home.

Althea is working hard to seduce Steven. Grandison, let’s Steven know his wife is coming in the next day. Steven meets the still-shocked Matilda. He informs her, to her shock, that they were married three days before her ship went down. Steven acts shocked when she doesn’t recognize him. He takes her to a hotel where they stayed. After she calls Grandison, he tells her they are married. Then the waiter calls her by her married name.

On the way back, they stop by a Justice of the Peace (Walter Baldwin) who performed the ceremony, remember Matilda, and verifies that the marriage was legit.

Back at the mansion, Grandison, who only lives off Matilda’s wealth, is being held at gunpoint by Mr. Press (Jack Lambert), who says he can’t sleep since Grandison made a broadcast about an earlier murder Press had committed. Grandison has Press put down the gun. He then plays on vinyl, a recording of Press confessing to the murder. Press breaks the record, but Grandison says he has other copies. Grandison says he enjoys playing god as Press leaves.

Outside, Steven arrives and sees the mysterious Press leaving. Matilda goes to her room only to find out that Althea has taken over her room. Sweet Matilda is going to let Althea stay until Althea starts complaining about how unfair it is that a rich person married another rich person. Althea goes on about how she and Oliver, whom she stole, don’t have any money.

Steven meets Jane, and they go to the mansion bar for a drink with Oliver. Oliver gets on Steven for being too friendly with his wife. Oliver is concerned about Matilda’s feelings. Grandison tells Matilda that he thinks Steven is a fake.

Steven leaves early one morning on the train. Grandison uses this time to search Steven’s bungalow. He finds a picture of the dead Roslyn, which says to “Steven, with all my love.”

In the city, Steven meets Jane. Like a good podcast producer, she has gathered records from a reporter and telephone logs. Steven thinks Grandison is on to him. Jane also has a letter from Roslyn from the day before she died, and she was not suicidal.

That night, Matilda comes down for dinner, and it is awkward with Oliver. She goes into the office to see Roslyn, but it is Jane working inside. Jane has to tell that Roslyn was found dead hanging from the chandelier.

Donovan now has Roslyn’s letter and file. He calls Grandison and says he has to come see him. Donovan shows a photo taken at the crime scene with Grandison and a clock showing 9:35 P.M. Donovan says a knocked-over lamp blew a fuse, giving the time of the murder. He also says they know about the 9:34 P.M. call from New York. Donovan also wants to know who hung up the phone at the murder site. The photos show Grandison upside down, looking at the desk.

Oliver is outside talking to Matilda and seeing Althea meeting with Steven. Matilda freaks when she finds out Roslyn was murdered. Donovan asks to see Althea in the morning. He reviews Grandison’s alibi of the show and train schedule.

Grandison snoops on Althea and Steven. Althea is mad about having to rely on Grandison and Matilda for her money. Steven tells Althea that Roslyn was murdered, and he gives the police the information. She tells him about being on the phone when Roslyn screamed.

Grandison goes back to the drunken Oliver, who says he is leaving Althea. Althea comes into the bar, and Grandison begins recording the fight on one of his albums. After he has recorded enough of the couple fighting, Grandison stops the fight. He urges Oliver to leave before taking Althea into the recording room. He confronts her about telling Steven she thinks Grandison murdered Roslyn. Grandison said he did it because she was snooping, like Althea has been doing. He then pulls a gun from the drawer and shoots Althea in the soundproof room. This makes the recording seem like Althea and Oliver had a fight and then Oliver shot her. Grandison is shown upside down, reflecting on the record.

Grandison goes outside and cuts the brake line on a car. He then gives Oliver the key to the car before planting the murder weapon in Oliver’s overcoat. Steven goes to Matilda to warn her that her life is in danger. He also says Althea told him that her seduction of Oliver was Grandison’s idea. Of course, Grandison overhears this conversation. Matilda doesn’t want to believe, but the evidence is piling up.

Grandison puts on the record that he spliced together of the fight and his murder. Matilda and Steven hear the sound of the assumed murder. Grandison acts shocked that Oliver is gone, pointing at the window he opened. Steven goes outside by the open window and sees Grandison putting the recording away. Steven calls the police, and they get an APB out on Oliver and the vehicle he is driving. The half-drunk Oliver goes over a cliff when the brakes fail.

Donovan closes the case when the bullet that killed Althea matches the gun in Oliver’s pocket when he died.

Matilda meets with Jane in New York. Steven is sitting at the bar. Jane invites him over and then leaves. Steven confesses that he paid the waiter to call her Mrs. Howard, and they are not really married. He says he knew Roslyn and assumed they would be married. When he returned from the war, she was dead. The Justice of the Peace was actually Rosyln’s uncle. He also tells that Grandison murdered Oliver. Grandison has a short recording from the night of Rosyln’s murder and could have made it back in time to kill her.

Matilda tells Grandison that she loves Steven. He gives his blessing for their marriage. Grandison asks Matilda to help him with his script for the night. He has her write out a suicide note, seemingly for the show.

Grandison calls Press and demands that he come to the mansion to do a job for him. Press is not happy. Steven slips into Grandison’s office to search. He finds the hidden recording and plays it. He immediately calls Donovan, but is cut off when Grandison discovers him in the room. Grandison destroys the recording in the fireplace, and Matilda prepares to leave with Steven.

Press clubs Steven over the head and loads him into a wooden trunk, which he places in the back of his truck. Matilda sees Press tying down the trunk.

Grandison chews out Matilda, but as soon as he sees Press leave, he changes to Mr. Nice Guy. He tells her Steven will be right back. He offers her a drink that he spikes. Press calls and pretends to be Steven. Press hangs up. Matilda drinks the drugged champagne as Press races away with Steven in a truck. Matilda passes out from the drugs.

He puts the suicide note and the pills together before washing the glass. Matilda wakes briefly and sees the chandelier. It sparks her to get up, and she sees the setup. She passes out in the hallway but is discovered by Donovan, who has come out over Steven’s failed call.

Press, driving recklessly, hits a car, and the police begin to chase him. If you are committing a crime, obey the traffic laws.

Matilda is okay and traveling with Donovan. Matilda identifies Press’ car for Donovan, and he increases the number of chasers. Press arrives at his junkyard and dumps the box by the claw that is loading debris into a fire. The police arrive and arrest him. Donovan stops the claw operator just as he is about to drop Steven into the fire.

Not knowing what has happened, Grandison begins his show. As he sees the police arrive in the control booth and block the exits, as well as Matilda and Steven alive, he changes the story and announces that he is a murderer and was indeed The Unsuspected.

Conclusion- The Unsuspected (1947)

Curtiz was a prolific director across many genres. In this film, he left a small Easter egg, as the radio station call sign was WMCB, a combination of his initials and WB for Warner Bros.

Hurd Hatfield as Oliver tells Joan Caulfield as Matilda, that the portrait has died. He is referencing one of his important films, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945).

The film has a very effective score from composer Franz Waxman. Waxman won two consecutive Oscars, for Sunset Blvd. (1950) and A Place in the Sun (1951).

When Donovan compares the bullets in the police laboratory, they use a stock shot from Torchy Runs for Mayor (1939).

In the end, Victor Grandison couldn’t escape his own performance. His arrogance exposed him, live on the air, for the world to hear. The Unsuspected (1947) may not be at the top of my All Film Noirs list, but it deserves a place in the spotlight—an elegant, overlooked gem of Michael Curtiz’s Warner Bros. era. If you enjoyed this dive into a hidden classic, be sure to like, subscribe, and join me for more journeys into the shadows of Film Noir.

World Famous Shorty Summary – Did he have a true crime podcast in 1947?

Boxes

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[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039941/

[2] The Unsuspected | Rotten Tomatoes

[3] ‘ The Unsuspected,’ New Warner Mystery, With Joan Coalfield and Michael North, at Strand — ‘Blonde Savage’ at Rialto – The New York Times