The Woman in Question

Plot synopsis:
Agnes Huston, an English widow, is found murdered at her house. Superintendent Lodge, the detective on the case, and Inspector Butler start questioning people closely associated with her. Her neighbour Mrs. Finch, tells Lodge that Agnes is a gentlewoman, and throughout her rendition Agnes is shown in a pleasant looking, smart and well-mannered light. She explains that Agnes’ sister Catherine Taylor is a rude, obnoxious woman.
According to Mrs. Finch, once before Agnes’ husband Charles died, Catherine made an unpleasant entry. Agnes and Catherine had an argument about Agnes’ husband having an affair with Catherine. Catherine then left after hurting Agnes’ feelings. On another occasion, Bob Baker, Catherine’s boyfriend once tried to make advances to Agnes and got censured for it. A few days later, Baker and Catherine barged into their apartment and forced their way to see Agnes. Finch ran to get the help of Mr. Pollard, a timid pet store owner opposite the building, who came in but withdrew in fear. Catherine and Baker threatened to kill everyone and left. This leads Lodge to question Catherine.
Catherine tells that the day she visited her sister, Mrs. Finch gave a bad welcome to her. According to Catherine’s rendition, Agnes is a drunk, not-very-pleasant-looking woman, who is also rude in her manners. Catherine told Agnes, in a nice way, that she went to visit Charles; however, Agnes accuses her and Charles of having an affair. They then end up in an argument and Catherine leaves in contempt. She admits to dating Bob Baker and getting engaged with him. After Charles’ death, Catherine and Baker visit Agnes but are intercepted by Mrs. Finch at the door. The two politely insist their way in. Baker arrives at Catherine’s and Lodge and inspector start questioning him after sending Catherine off. He admits to meeting Agnes at her workplace — she is a fortune teller named Astra. He, being a marketer by profession, gave her an ad script to go through. He tells Lodge that he went to her place another day, to ask about it but Agnes hardly showed any concern to it and meets Catherine there. He visited her two days later, where Agnes attempted to seduce him. When he refused, Agnes got mad and shouted at him to get out. The day when Catherine and he went to visit Agnes because she was interfering with Bob’s divorce with his former wife, she treated them disrespectfully and asked them to get out.
Lodge and the inspector go to meet Andrew Pollard, the pets and birds seller opposite Agnes’. He starts to narrate with a very happy and thoughtful face. He portrays Agnes as a nice, sensitive and ever-smiling woman. She once came into his shop to ask for help with her bird. He visited her another day to tell her that her bird is dead but offered a parrot to replace it. On the day Catherine visited, Mr. Pollard comforted Agnes. Another day, he was politely sent away from her place due to the arrival of one Michael Murray, a naval officer and friend of Charles. On the day Catherine and Baker barged in and Pollard was called for help, he bravely repelled both of them and sent them out (completely opposite to what Mrs. Finch said earlier). He admits that he had fallen for Agnes and she accepted to marry him the previous night but was unfortunately found dead in the morning.
Superintendent Lodge and the inspector visit Agnes’ residence with few others once again and catch Murray as he enters. Lodge questions him. He also admits to have met her at her fortune-telling place. He gives her a bird he won. They immediately date and go to Astra’s (Agnes's) house to sleep together. He then set sail and returned after about three months. She immediately welcomes him and they kiss. Just then Pollard the bird-seller enters and immediately leaves after seeing them kiss. The parrot he gave is behind them, and Murray asks about him. On another night, when to Murray comes to see Agnes, he sees her with Pollard. He questions her again about him and she answers to him dismissively, angering him. After three more months of sailing, he comes to see her but she is with another man. She presumed he had forgotten about her. He gets furious, manhandles her and leaves in rage.
Lodge remarks that they have seen the central character – Agnes/Astra – only through the eyes of others. Each of these people has seen her differently. He further says that Pollard’s version of the story is the most unlikely of all. They question again a newspaper boy they talked to in the beginning. The boy says that the parrot said “Merry Christmas”, and immediately Lodge deduces the killer. Lodge and the inspector go to Pollard's pet store and Lodge asks Pollard to imagine a situation where Murray could have gotten drunk and entered Agnes' house to kill her. Pollard agrees that it must have happened that way. But, when the killing happens Lodge switches the killer with Pollard, provoking a confession. Pollard confesses uncontrollably, and Lodge and Butler arrest Pollard.

Tags: murder, flashback

Review:
'The Woman in Question' shows the same person, the fairground fortune-teller Astra (real name: Agnes) as five different people saw her.
Astra has been found strangled and the police chief tries to put together what has happened to her.Jean Kent is excellent - for me, she was at her best in sleazy, tarty roles and the episode seen from her sister's (Susan Shaw) point of view is no exception.
I love the moment when we first see this version of Astra, sprawled in bed in a messy room, drunk.
Hermione Baddeley is equally good as the nosy neighbour Mrs Finch.Jean Kent (in 'Sixty Voices' by Brian McFarlane) felt the episode closest to the character in her view was the happy-go-lucky girl as seen by the Irish sailor played by John McCallum.
When a fortune teller named Astra (Jean Kent) is found murdered, the police investigate and hear several versions of the kind of woman she was in "The Woman in Question," a 1950 British film directed by Anthony Asquith.
Besides Kent, the film features the excellent Hermoine Baddeley and Dirk Bogarde, still in the early part of his career.The police are given five women and therefore, five different stories.
To her neighbor Mrs. Finch (Baddeley), Astra was pure class, gracious and sophisticated with questionable taste in men.
To Pollard, the owner of the pet store who was crazy about her, she was pretty, quiet, and sweet (though the audience can see how manipulative she is); to Baker (Bogarde) who wants to do a nightclub act with her, she is a tart; to her sister, she's a slovenly drunk.Finally, from a violent sailor, Mike Murray, she's a faithless woman who cheats on him while he's away.
She also lets Pollard do things for her for free and must realize he has a crush on her.All in all, an interesting and sometimes funny film.
Kent is excellent in all of Astra's manifestations, and, since I am a Dirk Bogarde fan, I loved seeing him and hearing him with an American accent (which he actually did pretty well with).
"Five Angles on Murder" or "The Woman in Question" is not the most exciting film you'll ever see, and like a lot of British films, it's a bit slow in the beginning, but it's enjoyable..
A Woman in Question (recently IMDb lists it as Five Angels on Murder) is a Rashomon like story told in flashback.
The story develops after a women is found dead and police detectives question witnesses, each of whom provides a different account of events leading to the murder.
For the first twenty minutes or so, the film feels like a run-of-the-mill investigation film noir, but then it takes a unique spin, providing five different accounts of the events.
It is quite interesting to watch from there on in, even though the male characters are rather thin and flat - the investigators in particular.
The conclusion is also a bit disappointing and it is all a bit overly melodramatic at times, but the core of the picture - its middle section - is really quite strong, and that is what causes this film to be much better than the average piece of crime investigation film noir out there..
Sort of like a British "Rashomon"..
Both "Five Angles on Murder" and the Kurosawa film "Rashomon" came out the same year, so it's very possible that neither film influenced the other-- though they sure have a similar style.
Both films consist of a mystery and you see the story through different folks' eyes...and they have extremely different views on exactly what ACTUALLY happened.
Both are worth seeing, though by many "Rashomon" is considered a classic.When the film begins, a child finds a woman dead in her flat.
Apparently she was murdered and the police interrogate several people to try to determine what happened.
She LOVED the deceased and HATED her friend, Mr. Baker (Dirk Bogarde).
When the police talk to the deceased's sister, she sees Baker very differently...as she was in love with him.
And so the movie goes...with the police interviewing different folks and all having a very different view of the dead woman as well as their opinions about who was responsible for her fate.
Of all the folks in the film, Jean Kent really stands out as the victim.
This is because she had to play such a different character depending on the viewpoint of the interviewee...ranging from almost sickly sweet and refined to coarse and god-awful!
While I would never say the film is as good as the Kurosawa film, it IS very good and very well made...far better than most British pictures of the era..
Love murder mysteries, Anthony Asquith often was a very reliable director and Jean Kent, Dirk Bogarde and Hermione Baddeley have all been great in other films.After seeing it, 'The Woman in Question' is solid and has some inventive elements.
It mostly lives up to its potential but doesn't entirely, there are a few short-comings that bring it down from a potentially great film to just a good one worthy still of more credit.
'The Woman in Question' doesn't get into high gear straight away, it's a little too slow to begin with.
Was also one of those people who found the ending abrupt, though the solution was clever and unexpected still.Most of the performances are fine, but for my tastes Duncan Macrae is a little pallid and John McCallum much too hammy.However, 'The Woman in Question' is atmospherically produced and shot.
Asquith directs with a lot of engagement and command of the material, helped by that it's good stuff to work from, and the film is hauntingly scored without intruding too much.Script is thought-provoking and does a wonderful job with the development and writing of the titular character, a complex and juicy one.
The story is not perfect but is mostly tense and suspenseful with some inventive elements, especially in its treatment of the titular character and what we find out about her.With the exception of two, the performances are very good.
The best of the lot is Jean Kent, who is also the best thing about the film and is simply incredible with some of the widest range of emotions ever seen on film.
Dirk Bogarde is charismatic in an early role and his accent, which was a good attempt to stretch his acting chops, wasn't an issue to me.In support, Hermione Baddeley in particular has a ball and Charles Victor has some fine moments, especially in the final third.Overall, good and solid film that could have been more.
Made the same year - 1950 - as Rashomon which is acclaimed for retelling the same story several ways, The Woman in Question does the very same, allowing Jean Kent to portray five rather different versions of Astra, the fortune teller.
The women in the film are much better drawn than the men, despite both the director and writer being themselves men, and despite the narrative framework of the all-male police team.
The combined portrait of Astra is not very flattering, especially her refusal to visit her dying husband, and in her using Pollard, the pet-shop keeper, to work for her for free, but then refusing his polite advances, she is walking a dangerous line.
The underlying sadness of her person comes through, but she is not as sad as Pollard.The outstanding secondary character is Mrs Finch, the nosey neighbour from next door who never stops talking.
Hermione Baddeley, in the part, practically steals the first part of the film to the extent that the rest almost seems like an anticlimax.
This film is a slightly below average detective movie which passes the time if you've nothing else to do.
As with many similar black and white films of the era "The Woman in Question" offers an insight into post-war Britain, but it doesn't hold a candle to "Brighton Rock" which, like this film, also has a seaside setting.The story takes a while to get started, but Jean Kent is excellent as the murder victim as described to the police by different witnesses.
Hermione Baddeley also does well in a dull and overlong role as neighbour Mrs Finch, whose son discovers the murder.
Jean Kent has been murdered in her bedroom.
Duncan Macrae and Joe Linnane conduct the investigation by speaking with the people around her.The gimmick in this movie is that as each of the witness/suspects describes the events, we see it from the speaker's viewpoint...
and the character, appearance and behavior of every individual changes according to whose version we are hearing.
THree years earlier, Hitchcock had misused it in THE PARADINE CASE and the year this came out, Kurosawa directed RASHOMON which seems to assert there is no objective reality.That's not what's happening here.
In the course of so doing, we get to see the actors perform their roles in a variety of manners, particularly Miss Kent, who ranges from slattern to aristocrat.
In the US, this would have been a vehicle for the actress in the lead role looking for an Oscar.
THE WOMAN IN QUESTION is a British detective story of the 1950s and a little different to the rest, following an atypical plot structure, featuring some characters who are presented in a much more harsh and realistic light than is usual for the genre, and set in Brighton, although mostly this is a set-bound little thing.The film turns out to be nothing more than a blatant rip-off of Kurosawa's RASHOMON, with the events leading up to the murder of a young woman told by various different characters who each put their own spin on things.
It's an interesting premise in itself, but the writer is unable to sustain suspense for the entire running time, and in the second half this falls apart quite spectacularly with sub-plots that go nowhere and seem to have been included merely to pad out the narrative.It's a pity, as THE WOMAN IN QUESTION does have some good stuff amid the tedium.
Jean Kent has the chance to play the victim in a number of different characterisations and is completely convincing in all of them.
Dirk Bogarde has a supporting role, but it's an obvious one that he can do little with.
A woman is murdered.
There's not a single character in the film that you care about, nobody's interesting, there's not a trace of suspense, it's just an empty exercise in figuring out who the murderer is (yawn).
They try to pump a little interest into this hackneyed old mystery by portraying most of the story in flashbacks and showing the victim while alive as having a different nature according to how various people saw her.
You won't hate this film, but you'll be lucky to stay awake to the end..
This film repays several viewings.
It's not just Astra who changes according to who's telling her story.
Astra's sister Katie as remembered by Mrs Finch is a nasal-voiced slut.
When we see her with the police (and this we assume is "reality"), she is much nicer than Mrs Finch's view of her, but more lower-class than her own self- image.
In the minds of Mrs Finch and Mr Pollard, Astra is always seen in a shaft of light, her voice is like an angel's - and her dressing gown is clean.
Katie has the unkindest view of Astra - seeing her as a round-shouldered slattern with a growing out perm, a filthy dressing gown, someone who sleeps in her makeup and (ripped) stockings.
But at the very end, when the Inspector tells Pollard "This is what really happened" we see...
Astra herself, not seen through the distorting lens of another character.
And she is the hunched, harsh-voiced woman in the dirty dressing gown.Apart from the unusual psychological detective story (who killed her?
Despite a tendency to be overshadowed by the likes of Carol Reed, David Lean, etc, Puffin Asquith was arguably the finest all-round Director to emerge from England turning out consistent high quality product unlike Reed, for example, whose early work was risible.
By the mid forties Asquith was on a roll and between 1945 and 1952 he turned out six exceptional movies, The Way To The Stars, While The Sun Shines, The Winslow Boy, The Woman In Question, The Browning Version and The Importance Of Being Earnest.
Jean Kent featured prominently in two of the six, this one, and its successor, The Browning Version, a masterpiece and one of the finest films ever produced in England.
Beside Rattigan and Wilde the name John Cresswell gets lost in the shuffle and perhaps rightly so; this was his first screen credit and though he achieved a dozen or so more this was arguably his finest hour and even that was a rip-off of Rashomon.
It was arguably Jean Kent's finest performance and she revelled in the chance to play Astra the Gypsy Fortune Teller who failed to foresee her own demise and who was five women in one, depending on whether it's Hermione Dabbely, Dirk Bogarde, Susan Shaw, Charles Victor or John McCallum who's describing her.
"The Woman In Question" has all the ingredients in place to be a good ol' whodunit, but it is more than that: it is a filmic essay on the subjective nature of truth, on how we frequently see people not for who they are, but for who we want them - or pigeonhole them - to be.
John Cresswell's script is ahead of its time; Anthony Asquith's direction is workmanlike, sometimes routine, but other times creative.
Jean Kent has what must be a dream assignment for any actor who wants to prove their worth - that of playing several characters who are really all one character - and she pulls it off successfully.
This is a film worth seeing - possibly more than once.
***SPOILERS*** Clever Rashomon-like British film involving fortune-teller Madam Aster who was found strangled in her flat in an obvious crime of passion by someone she may not have been that passionate with.With policemen Supt.
Butler called on the scene they check out all the clues to Madam Aster's murder and come up with five suspects.
As the movie goes on we get statements, and flashbacks, from the five suspects in Madam Aster's murder that all contradict each other.
It becomes very apparent to both Lodge & Butler that Madam Aster had deeply offended everyone of the five persons suspected of murdering her.
There's Madam Aster's landlady, and suspect #1, Mrs Finch who didn't like the company that she kept in her apartment that included, suspect# 2, double-talking BS artist and carnival mind reader Bob Baker.
It was Baker who left Madam Aster for her far more attractive sister, and suspect #3, Catherine Taylor after she threw him out of her apartment!
All that the frustrated Pollard ever got from her, for his noble and unselfish services, was nothing more then a handshake smile and thank you!And finally we come to the insanely jealous rummy and bar-room brawler, as well as suspect #5, Sailor Mike Murray who wherever he went violence always followed.
Sailor Mike went nuts when he showed up unexpectedly at Madam Aster's apartment, after being out at sea for three months, and finding her with an other man!
Throwing Madam Aster's boyfriend, or possible John, down a fight of stairs a fired up Sailor Mike then checked out and got himself juiced up in a local ginmill.
With Sailor Mike coming on the scene after Madam Aster's body was discovered by the police was that his way to show that he was innocent of murdering her or him just playing ignorant in order to throw the police off his tail!
***SPOILERS*** It's Supt Lodge who finally cracks the case not by having the evidence lead him to Madam Aster's murderer but the murderer him or herself unknowingly doing the job for him!.
Film Noir in Rashomon Style.
Investigating the brutal murder of a fun-fair fortune teller, a detective encounters five different witnesses' accounts of her character.This ingenious noir thriller provides an opportunity for Jean Kent to give the stand-out performance of her career as the murder victim who is seen though different eyes throughout the narrative.
Every critic in the world has pointed out this obvious fact, but very few have zeroed in on Susan Shaw who gives a far more subtle but nonetheless equally telling interpretation of the victim's sister as her part in the drama is also recalled by the various witnesses.Also handing out an astonishingly well-rounded performance is Dirk Bogarde who cleverly overdoes the bogus American accent in order to tip the audience off to his real persona.
To my mind, Macrae lacks the charisma for this important part and I would have much preferred to see Duncan Lamont, a fine actor, who does wonders with his small and inconsequential role as a direction finder at the fun fair.Asquith has handled his players well, although I thought that a little more ingenuity in camera angles would have made the film even more noirishly appealing..
Movie in question..
At first sight,"woman in question" seems to be a whodunit with a Georges Simenon flavor thrown in.The form seems intriguing,presenting twice some scenes,first from the witnesses' point of view,then from the main characters ' themselves.That's why we have five different portraits of the same woman.She 's so many women that we do not know if she is for example the nice little pet lover who falls for the birdman or the slut whom her sister depicts.Actually the trick is not new at all:see "citizen kane" ,which remains unsurpassed for that matter.And I could mention at least a dozen of movies which follows the same pattern.The crime and the flashbacks recall Marcel Carné's "le jour se lève" (1939).The plot is never really exciting and the final revelation downright disappointing,even if there's a good twist:the scene begins with one of the suspects the culprit and ends up with another one.Although  at the top of the credits,Dirk Bogarde is only a supporting actor here.Another disappointment.