MovieChat Forums > The Verdict (1946) Discussion > SPOILERS - how it ends - SPOILERS

SPOILERS - how it ends - SPOILERS

posted 15 years ago by TheManInOil
7 replies | jump to latest

This was very enjoyable, mostly for the performances of Lorre and Greenstreet, but also the atmosphere and the storyline were good. However, when all is revealed, although it's a fun idea, it really doesn't make a lot of sense. We're to believe that Greenstreet ruined the career (and essentially, the life) of a Member of Parliament, and sent him to prison wrongfully for a period of months, simply to make the new Superintendant look bad? That's REALLY evil and out of character, and in the end he muses how he didn't really do anything terribly wrong.

"Now let's have an intelligent conversation. I'll talk and you listen."

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] bradford-1 14 years ago

Just watched this for the first time and while I loved the atmosphere and characters, you have to take some things with TWO grains of salt. That shadow we see heading up the steps toward Lorre's room definitely belongs to someone much smaller than Greenstreet. And also, there was no guarantee the housekeeper would've been so taken aback, she wouldn't have noticed Kendall was still breathing.

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 12 years ago

The ending made perfect sense. He was punishing himself and the true killer by killing off the true killer. That way, he was also getting himself hanged. He also found a way of showing that younger superintendent that these types of crimes aren't always easy to solve.

I think he honestly thought that he could get that innocent man out of jail by finding his lover, but that plan didn't work.

Brilliant movie.

~~
JIM HUTTON: talented gorgeous HOT; adorable as ElleryQueen; SEXIEST ACTOR EVER

[–] sigggyfreud 10 years ago

Grodman made it quite clear he murdered Kendall because Kendall had escaped the law (by killing his aunt and letting an innocent man die) and there was no way to "bring him to book." Grodman hadn't foreseen that Russell's alibi would not hold up and that Russell would wind up being convicted of the crime. Grodman didn't reveal his guilt till the very end and he had no other choice because he DIDN'T WANT TO DIE for doing what he thought was bringing a quilty man to justice. BTW I wonder why the death of Russell's girlfriend wasn't explained. Did she get sick? Commit suicide when she heard of Russell's situation? Odd that wasn't at least mentioned.

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 10 years ago

Regarding the death of Russell's girfriend: they probably didn't explain it because it wasn't relevant to the story. My guess is that she just got sick.

~~
JimHutton (1934-79) & ElleryQueen

[–] liscarkat (16476) a year ago

Grodman did want Russell to be convicted and sentenced to death, so he could save him at the last moment and prove to his replacement, Buckley, that even Buckley could make such a mistake. I don't have any problem with Grodman becoming a vigilante and executing Kendall, who had murdered his aunt and lied in court, resulting in the death of an innocent man. The terrible thing Grodman did was to put his friend, Russell, through the hell of imprisonment and coming within moments of being hanged, a psychological trauma he'll probably never fully recover from.

[–] Owlwise 10 years ago

My feeling was that Grodman was just slightly unhinged by shame & guilt after the innocent man was executed. Note how he wanders the streets in a daze while the news is discussed in horror & anger all around him. Then note how his dreams are haunted by voices of accusation & guilt. His brilliant, self-assured mind slipped a gear, so to speak -- he became obsessed with seeing that justice was done & his reputation cleared, even if it meant becoming a killer himself -- though to his mind, killing Kendall wasn't murder so much as it was execution. Inwardly, it all still seemed quite logical to him, even if on some deeper level he realized what he was doing.