They Won't Believe Me

1947

1h 35m

IMDb RATING

6.4/10

YOUR RATING

Rate

POPULARITY

Play trailer

0 Videos

21 Images

Drama

Romance

On trial for murdering his girlfriend, philandering stockbroker Larry Ballentine takes the stand to claim his innocence and describe the actual, but improbable sounding, sequence of events that led to her death.

Directors

Irving Pichel

Writers

Jonathan Latimer(screenplay by)

Gordon McDonell(story by)

Stars

Robert Young

Susan Hayward

Jane Greer

See production, box office & company info

Photos21

Top cast

Larry Ballentine

Verna Carlson

Janice Bell

Greta Ballentine

Trenton

Lieutenant Carr

Thomason

Mr. Cahill

Judge Charles Fletcher

Byron Foulger

Henry Bascombe (uncredited)

Lillian Bronson

Aunt Martha Hines (uncredited)

Janet Shaw

Susan Haines (uncredited)

Lovyss Bradley

Miss Jorday (uncredited)

Directors

Writers

Jonathan Latimer(screenplay by)

Gordon McDonell(story by)

All cast & crew

Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

User reviews2

Review

Featured review

8/10

Touched by the hand of God/Satan. They Won't Believe Me is directed by Irving Pichel and adapted to screenplay by Jonathan Latimer from a story by Gordon McDonell. It stars Robert Young, Susan Hayward, Jane Greer and Rita Johnson. Music is by Roy Webb and cinematography by Harry J. Wild. Larry Ballentine (Young) is on trial for murder and he tells his story in flashback. Three dames and fate does not a good mix make. "She looked like a very special kind of dynamite, neatly wrapped in nylon and silk. Only I wasn't having any. I'd been too close to one explosion already. I was powder shy". A splendid slice of noir drama is put together by a group of film makers who knew how to make the noir style of film making work. The story has all the requisite ingredients to lure the interested viewers in, twists and turns, vipers and snipers, dialogue so sharp you could cut a steak with it, and a love rat protagonist (Young splendid in a break from his normal roles) being toyed with by Old Noir Nick and his friend The Fate. In true noir tradition the plot is a little "out there", the middle section drags at times, while Harry Wild's cinematography doesn't kick in till a good hour into the play (worth the wait though!). But this is a little noir treasure waiting to be seen by more people. It's not unknown, the cast list ensures that is not the case, but in film noir circles it doesn't often crop up for discussion. It should, for it's tricky and devilish and pays off with a finale straight out of noirville. 8/10

John Chard13 Nov, 2014