1963 British film
Dr. Crippen is a 1963 British biographical film directed by Robert Lynn and starring Donald Pleasence, Coral Browne and Samantha Eggar. The film's plot concerns the real-life Edwardian doctor Hawley Harvey Crippen, who was hanged in 1910 for the murder of his wife. The cinematography was by Nicolas Roeg.[1]
Plot
In late 1910, Crippen is portrayed as a downtrodden cuckold continually humiliated by his coarse, overbearing wife. There is a strong suggestion in the story that he may have been innocent of murder, possibly killing his wife by accident, and that his younger mistress Ethel Le Neve is completely ignorant of the killing. The plot ostensibly covers Crippen's trial but the story is fleshed out with flashbacks to the doctor's relationship with his wife and his affair.
Critical reception
Bosley Crowther in The New York Times wrote: "Well, one must give good scores to Mr. Pleasence, Miss Browne, Miss Eggar and the rest of the cast for giving a sense of solemnity and suffocation to this stiff tale...But the mystery, the action and the pathos are all too academic and thin—too milky and uneventful—except for those who are real Crippen fans."[2] Britmovie noted a "sincere historical reconstruction about the infamous Edwardian murderer blending courtroom and melodrama. The direction from tv helmer Robert Lynn is satisfactory and is brightly captured in atmospheric black-and-white by cinematographer Nicolas Roeg."[3]
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