The Verdict

 (1946)
Directed by Don Siegel
Written by Peter Milne, based on a novel by Israel Zangwill
Starring Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Joan Lorring, George Coulouris, Paul Cavanaugh, Morton Lowry
IMDB Entry

No, The Verdict isn't the Paul Newman movie and has no connection with it. But it is an intriguing mystery with two of the best-known character actors of the 40s.

George Grodman (Sydney Greenstreet) is superintendent of police when a man is executed. Grodman put forth a strong case, but after the man is hanged, it turns out that his alibi -- considered fictitious -- was solid. It is too late to change things, and Grodman becomes the fall guy, replaced by John Buckley (George Coulouris), who gloats over Grodman's downfall.

Grodman returns to his home, consoled by his friend Victor Emmric (Peter Lorre) and two neighbors, Clive Russell (Paul Cavanaugh) and Arthur Kendall (Morton Lowry). Kendall and Russell clash over politics and leave angrily.  That night, Kendall is murdered. The door and windows are locked from the inside.* Buckley takes over the case and it leads him to Russell, whose alibi breaks down. But things are much more complicated than that.

It's a relatively subdued performance by Greenstreet, and it's odd to see him with muttonchops, but he still plays it well. Lorre has little to do, but he oozes the same sinister charm he did in all his roles. Colouris is just the right mix of obnoxiousness and overconfidence. 

The solution is a nice, unexpected twist, and the mechanics of the locked room are well thought out.

This was Don Siegel's first full-length film. He later helmed such films as Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Dirty Harry, and a couple of episodes of The Twilight Zone. He's best known as an action director, but The Verdict is more like a cozy mystery.

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*I do like locked room mysteries.

**Best known for playing Walter Parks Thatcher in Citizen Kane -