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The Woman in Question

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The Woman in Question
Directed byAnthony Asquith
Written byJohn Cresswell
Joseph Janni
Produced byTeddy Baird
StarringJean Kent
Dirk Bogarde
John McCallum
Susan Shaw
Hermione Baddeley
Charles Victor
Duncan Macrae
Lana Morris
Joe Linnane
Vida Hope
CinematographyDesmond Dickinson
Edited byJohn D. Guthridge
Music byJohn Wooldridge
Production
companies
J. Arthur Rank Organisation
Javelin Films
Vic Films Productions
Distributed byGeneral Film Distributors (UK)
Columbia Pictures (US)
Release dates
  • 3 October 1950 (1950-10-03) (United Kingdom)
  • 18 February 1952 (1952-02-18) (United States)
Running time
88 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

The Woman in Question (released in the United States as Five Angles on Murder) is a 1950 British Murder-mystery film directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Jean Kent, Dirk Bogarde and John McCallum.[1] After a woman is murdered, the complex and very different ways in which she is seen by several people are examined.[2] It was loosely adapted into the 1954 Indian film Andha Naal.[3][4]

Plot

Agnes Huston, an English widow, is found murdered at her house. Superintendent Lodge, the detective on the case, and Inspector Butler start questioning people closely associated with her. Her neighbour Mrs. Finch, tells Lodge that Agnes is a gentlewoman, and throughout her rendition Agnes is shown in a pleasant looking, smart and well-mannered light. She explains that Agnes’ sister Catherine Taylor is a rude, obnoxious woman.

According to Mrs. Finch, before Agnes’ husband Charles died, Catherine once made an unpleasant entry. Agnes and Catherine had an argument about Agnes’ husband having an affair with Catherine. Catherine then left after hurting Agnes’ feelings. On another occasion, Bob Baker, Catherine’s boyfriend once tried to make advances to Agnes and got censured for it. A few days later, Baker and Catherine forced their way into the apartment to see Agnes. Finch ran to get the help of Mr. Pollard, the timid owner of a pet store opposite the building, who came in but withdrew in fear. Catherine and Baker threatened to kill everyone and left. This leads Lodge to question Catherine.

Catherine claims that the day she visited her sister, Mrs. Finch gave her a bad welcome. According to Catherine’s rendition, Agnes is a drunk, rude, and not-very-pleasant-looking woman. Catherine told Agnes that she went to visit Charles; however, Agnes accuses her and Charles of having an affair. They then end up in an argument and Catherine leaves in contempt. She admits to dating Bob Baker and getting engaged with him. After Charles’ death, Catherine and Baker visit Agnes but are intercepted by Mrs. Finch at the door. The two politely insist on entering. Baker arrives at Catherine’s and Lodge and Inspector Butler start questioning him after sending Catherine off. He admits to meeting Agnes at her workplace — she is a fortune teller named Astra. He, being a marketer by profession, gave her an ad script to go through. He tells Lodge that he went to her place on another day to ask about the script, but Agnes hardly showed any concern to it. Bob meets Catherine there. He visited her again two days later, and Agnes attempted to seduce him. When he refused, Agnes got mad and shouted at him to get out. The day when he and Catherine went to visit Agnes because she was interfering with Bob’s divorce with his former wife, she treated them disrespectfully and asked them to get out.

Lodge and the inspector go to meet Andrew Pollard, the pets and birds seller opposite Agnes’. He starts to narrate with a very happy and thoughtful face. He portrays Agnes as a nice, sensitive and ever-smiling woman. She once came into his shop to ask for help with her bird. He visited her another day to tell her that her bird is dead but offered a parrot to replace it. On the day Catherine visited, Mr. Pollard comforted Agnes. Another day, he was politely sent away from her place due to the arrival of one Michael Murray, a naval officer and friend of Charles. On the day Catherine and Baker barged in and Mrs. Finch asked for help, Pollard claims he bravely sent both of them away (completely opposite to what Mrs. Finch said earlier). He admits that he had fallen for Agnes and she had agreed to marry him the previous night but was unfortunately found dead in the morning.

Superintendent Lodge and the inspector visit Agnes’ residence once again and catch Murray as he enters. Lodge questions him. He also admits to have met her at her fortune-telling place. He gives her a bird he won. They immediately date and go to Astra’s (Agnes's) house to sleep together. He then set sail and returned after about three months. She immediately welcomes him and they kiss. Pollard the bird-seller enters and immediately leaves after seeing them kiss. The parrot he gave is behind them, and Murray asks about him. On another night, when Murray comes to see Agnes, he sees her with Pollard. He questions her again about Pollard and she answers him dismissively, angering him. After three more months of sailing, he comes to see her but she is with another man, having presumed he had forgotten about her. He gets furious, manhandles her and leaves in rage.

Lodge remarks that they have seen the central character – Agnes/Astra – only through the eyes of others. Each of these people has seen her differently. He further says that Pollard’s version of the story is the most unlikely of all. They question again a newspaper boy they talked to in the beginning. The boy says that the parrot said “Merry Christmas”, and immediately Lodge deduces the killer. Lodge and Inspector Butler go to Pollard's pet store and ask Pollard to imagine a situation where Murray could have gotten drunk and entered Agnes' house to kill her. Pollard agrees that it must have happened that way. But when the killing happens Lodge switches the killer with Pollard, provoking a confession. Pollard confesses uncontrollably, and Lodge and Butler arrest Pollard.

Cast

Critical reception

In The New York Times, Bosley Crowther wrote "It is not the mystery...so much as it is the nimble twists and wry indications of personality that give this little item its appeal. Jean Kent, who made herself distinctive in "The Browning Version" as the venomous wife, does a neat job of turning the lively facets of the woman in question in this piece...We won't guarantee this little Rank film will knock you out of your chair, but it will certainly twit your risibilities while mildly stimulating your nerves."[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ "The Woman in Question (1950) - Anthony Asquith | Cast and Crew". AllMovie.
  2. ^ "Jean Kent (1921-2013)". British Film Institute.
  3. ^ "Andha Naal 1954". 12 December 2008 – via www.thehindu.com.
  4. ^ Guy, Randor (16 September 2011). "A classic remembered" – via www.thehindu.com.
  5. ^ Crowther, Bosley (19 February 1952). "THE SCREEN IN REVIEW; ' The Woman in Question,' With Jean Kent, an English Film, at the Park Avenue" – via NYTimes.com.