He lived a lie that led him from one disastrous love to another!
On trial for murdering his girlfriend, philandering stockbroker Larry Ballentine takes the stand to claim his innocence and describe the actual, but improbable sounding, sequence of events that led to her death.
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Character
Grave, spare, plot-driven and classical in form.
- gravecomic
- sparerichly built
- character-ledplot-driven
- classical in formformally daring
- unpretentiousprestige
Who loves it, who doesn't
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“Is Robert Young the best thing in They Won't Believe Me?”
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“Would They Won't Believe Me hit harder if it came out today rather than in 1947?”
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Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.
- John Chardon TMDB · Nov 20148/10
Touched by the hand of God/Satan. They Won't Believe Me is directed by Irving Pichel and adapted to screenplay by Jonathan Latimer from a story by Gordon McDonell. It stars Robert Young, Susan Hayward, Jane Greer and Rita Johnson. Music is by Roy Webb and cinematography by Harry J. Wild. Larry Ballentine (Young) is on trial for murder and he tells his story in flashback. Three dames and fate does not a good mix make. "She looked like a very special kind of dynamite, neatly wrapped in nylon and silk. Only I wasn't having any. I'd been too close to one explosion already. I was powder shy". A splendid slice of noir drama is put together by a group of film makers who knew how to make the noir style of film making work. The story has all the requisite ingredients to lure the interested viewers in, twists and turns, vipers and snipers, dialogue so sharp you could cut a steak with it, and a love rat protagonist (Young splendid in a break from his normal roles) being toyed with by Old Noir Nick and his friend The Fate. In true noir tradition the plot is a little "out there", the middle section drags at times, while Harry Wild's cinematography doesn't kick in till a good hour into the play
Read the whole review on TMDB - JPV852on TMDB · May 20217/10
Decent, if not also a bit slow, film noir crime-drama, features some fine performances by Robert Young and Susan Hayward. Had fun with the numerous amounts of irony including ending. Should also note this is the original 95-minute version, seen on home video for the first time in 20 years (re-issue version was only 80-minutes). **3.5/5**
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Cast
- Robert YoungLarry Ballentine
- Susan HaywardVerna Carlson
- Jane GreerJanice Bell
- Rita JohnsonGreta Ballentine
- Tom PowersTrenton
- George TyneLieutenant Carr
- Don BeddoeThomason
- Frank FergusonMr. Cahill
- Harry HarveyJudge Charles Fletcher
- Byron FoulgerHenry Bascombe (uncredited)
Crew
- Irving PichelDirector
- Jonathan LatimerScreenplay
- Harry J. WildDirector of Photography
- Roy WebbOriginal Music Composer
- Elmo WilliamsEditor
- Joan HarrisonProducer
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Pairings
Companions we picked from the closest works, and how to take them.
Similar in taste
Closest on the same fourteen dimensions, from everything scored on Tastebuds Other media included when they land close.
Manhattan Night 201682% alikeBoth grave.
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Game · Both grave.
The Witness 198377% alikeGame · Both grave.
Often watched with
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