For what she obviously knew what would be her last film with MGM, Joan Crawford saunters through the part of a newlywed bride who thinks a little espionage on her honeymoon with Fred MacMurray would be just the thing to give it some spice.
Above Suspicion finds MacMurray and Crawford as a pair of newlyweds in 1939 Great Britain. He's a visiting American professor at Oxford and right after their visit to the preacher MacMurray is asked by someone from British Intelligence to locate some of their missing agents in Nazi Germany. Also to try and get a copy of the design of a secret weapon which was the original agent's mission.
Incredibly enough they agree both being good anti-Nazis. They get into a whole lot of intrigue over in the Reich which includes the assassination of a concentration camp head. It also includes meeting a former Oxford colleague of MacMurray's Basil Rathbone who now works for the Gestapo. Rathbone is no fool, he's a shrewd adversary and gives the best performance in the film.
The part Joan does seems to have been written with Myrna Loy in mind, possibly something to do with Bill Powell, though at Powell's age it would have been a tough sell for him as honeymooner. Myrna after Pearl Harbor put her career on hold and devoted herself exclusively to all kinds of war work permitted for females. I'm sure a lot of parts were written for her that got played by others and this got assigned to Crawford on her way out of MGM. Obviously the miscasting didn't bother Louis B. Mayer a bit.
As for MacMurray he had a career turning role just ahead in Double Indemnity at his home studio of Paramount. This might have worked for him better had he been teamed with a frequent screen partner, Carole Lombard. But that was a casting decision no longer possible.
Conrad Veidt is also in this in one of his last roles before his untimely death. He's a 'guide' which is a term to cover a multitude of talents that prove useful to the spying honeymooners.
Well, I'll bet Ralph and Alice didn't have a honeymoon as interesting as this one.
Above Suspicion finds MacMurray and Crawford as a pair of newlyweds in 1939 Great Britain. He's a visiting American professor at Oxford and right after their visit to the preacher MacMurray is asked by someone from British Intelligence to locate some of their missing agents in Nazi Germany. Also to try and get a copy of the design of a secret weapon which was the original agent's mission.
Incredibly enough they agree both being good anti-Nazis. They get into a whole lot of intrigue over in the Reich which includes the assassination of a concentration camp head. It also includes meeting a former Oxford colleague of MacMurray's Basil Rathbone who now works for the Gestapo. Rathbone is no fool, he's a shrewd adversary and gives the best performance in the film.
The part Joan does seems to have been written with Myrna Loy in mind, possibly something to do with Bill Powell, though at Powell's age it would have been a tough sell for him as honeymooner. Myrna after Pearl Harbor put her career on hold and devoted herself exclusively to all kinds of war work permitted for females. I'm sure a lot of parts were written for her that got played by others and this got assigned to Crawford on her way out of MGM. Obviously the miscasting didn't bother Louis B. Mayer a bit.
As for MacMurray he had a career turning role just ahead in Double Indemnity at his home studio of Paramount. This might have worked for him better had he been teamed with a frequent screen partner, Carole Lombard. But that was a casting decision no longer possible.
Conrad Veidt is also in this in one of his last roles before his untimely death. He's a 'guide' which is a term to cover a multitude of talents that prove useful to the spying honeymooners.
Well, I'll bet Ralph and Alice didn't have a honeymoon as interesting as this one.