Review of Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

This is Lang's final movie in America.He was to make another two-part movie in Germany but the latter can easily be dismissed compare to'beyond a reasonable doubt".Prologue:an execution scene,filmed with an absolute intelligence :instead of focusing on the condemned person,the camera searches those who watch a human being die:priest,wardens,executioner,journalists and among them the hero (Dana Andrews).The black and white cinematography is austere,unspectacular,and it will remains so during the whole projection. The hero's soon-to-be father-in-law,who attended the execution too, wants to demonstrate the absurdity of death penalty.He asks Andrews to play the wrong man,guilty of murder;he would bring the proofs or evidences of his innocence just before his execution.To reveal more would make me a spoiler.Suffice to say the suspense is constant,the plot unlikely (Hitchcock's screenplays were too) but fascinating.In France,this movie is praised by the unanimous critics as a peak of the film noir.Give it a chance,it deserves it!