Bank clerk William Marble is desperate for money to pay his family's bills. When his wealthy nephew visits, Marble asks him for a loan, but the young man refuses. Marble decides to kill his nephew. It is a twisted path to justice after Marble is transformed by the crime he committed and the wealth he gains.
Acting
Laughton's sweaty, trembling guilt is masterclass discomfort.
Direction
Mendes traps you in Marble's suffocating parlor of secrets.
Director
Lothar Mendes
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Based on C.S. Forester's novel; MGM rushed production to beat a rival adaptation. Laughton filmed this between two of his most famous roles: Dr. Moreau and Nero.
A prime example of pre-code moral flexibility—Marble's murder is calculated, his guilt psychological, and justice arrives almost incidentally. The Hays Code would soon ban such sympathetic criminal protagonists.
US
