A Reel Retro Review: BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT (1956)

With no new films to review for the foreseeable future, Reel Speak will randomly review a classic film from the TCM library every week. Not just for the sake of filling time, but to hopefully introduce some overlooked and perhaps forgotten screen gems from the past to those of us who may be unfamiliar or unawares of their existence. 

Austrian-German filmmaker Fritz Lang will always be remembered in film history as the man who made the groundbreaking science-fiction drama METROPOLIS in 1927; the film that would blaze the way for every Jedi and droid to come over the decades. Lang would become an American citizen in 1939, and would make 23 features over the next 20 years, working in many genres for nearly every major studio in Hollywood. His 1956 noir film BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT was one of those many features. 

 

Austin Spencer (Sidney Blackmer), a newspaper publisher, wants to prove the inadequacy of circumstantial evidence in the American court system. He talks his daughter’s fiancé Tom (Dana Andrews), into a hoax; to frame himself for a murder. 

 

It is common knowledge that if the audience can’t buy into the basic premise of a film, then the film is a lost cause. Filmmakers have a wide berth to make their sell, as even the most outlandish and super-high concept films can be explained to audiences in more than one way. REASONABLE DOUBT has a premise that is flat-out absurd; frame yourself for murder, and then reveal the hoax after being found guilty just to humiliate the city’s district attorney and to prove a point about the judicial system. 

 

The bulk of the film has Tom and Spencer building their case; planting circumstantial evidence that points to Tom being involved in the death of a random person they found in the news. Their plan involves taking photographs of Tom planting said evidence, with Spencer revealing everything after a guilty verdict. If it sounds like a high risk just to prove a point, it is. Tom’s vindication rests on Spencer counting on his high public standing and credibility only. But if that isn’t enough, the two schemers put all their eggs into one basket…and anyone who has ever seen a movie before can tell early on that the basket will eventually break. 

 

Lang still keeps a tight and enjoyable film going. The entire cast works well together and they all seem committed to a concept that isn’t an easy sell. The courtroom scenes are very well done even for 1950’s simple standards, and even the dry legal scenes click by nicely. 

 

Even though audiences may guess early on where the film is going thanks to that weak basket, the film offers an excellent twist at the end that makes up for a lot. BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT is an oddball of a film in Lang’s long career, but it says a lot about the judicial system and the lengths that can be taken to expose its faults. 

 

BOTTOM LINE: Rent it 

 

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Reel Facts: This would be the final American film Lang would direct, as he returned to Germany the following year. Joan Fontaine, playing Tom’s fiancée, won an Oscar for Best Actress for her performance in Alfred Hitchcock’s SUSPICION (1941). She would appear in 45 films in her career that would span five decades.