They Won’t Believe Me
Directed by Irving Pichel
Written by Jonathan Latimer and Gordon McDonnell
1947/USA
RKO Radio Pictures
First viewing/Amazon Prime Instant Video
[box] Larry Ballentine: 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.[/box]
Robert Young plays an adulterer and liar with the same sober sincerity with which he approached Marcus Welby, MD. It is surprisingly effective.
As the movie begins, we see Larry (Young) take the stand as the defendant on trial for the murder of Verna (Susan Hayward). As he begins his testimony, the film slips into flashback. Larry is a stockbroker with a very wealthy wife, Greta (Rita Johson). He has a regular 11:00 rendezvous in a secluded corner with Janice (Jane Greer), Greta’s friend. They share an interest in deep sea fishing and much more. Janice finally decides she cannot stand hiding any more and gets a job transfer to Montreal. Larry tells Janice that his marriage is on the rocks, he will get his wife to divorce him that afternoon, and will join her on the train north.
This is a lie. There has been no discussion of any kind with Greta, who however has guessed the affair with Janice. He says he is sick of city life. She tells Larry she has arranged a partnership for him with a brokerage in L.A. and bought them a house in Beverly Hills. Larry caves immediately and stands up Janice.
It doesn’t take Larry long to be seduced by Verna, a sophisticated secretary at his new firm. It also doesn’t take long after the affair begins for Verna to threaten to break things off unless Larry leaves his wife. Once again, Greta bribes Larry with a ranch in the country and he stands up Verna. This time Greta traps him in the isolated ranch house and has the phone disconnected. The sociable and randy broker can’t stand it and spends his time plotting how Verna and he can empty his joint checking account with his wife and escape. Verna agrees and they hit the road to Reno. Life and fate have several lessons on hand for the cad.
Oh, how I hated Larry, the swine! Every silken word that drops from his lips is some kind of lie. And yet Robert Young makes him hard to hate. His comeuppance rivals that of George Minifer in satisfaction. It was hard to tell from the fuzzy print, but I suspect that the visuals might be very nice with a restoration. I had no expectations from the film going in but wound up really enjoying this intricate and offbeat little story and its many twists and turns. Recommended.
Clip (spoiler) – cinematography by Harry J. Wild