Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

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Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

1956,

1h 20m,

Mystery & Thriller

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Watchlist

Watchlist

70%

20 Reviews

Tomatometer

56%

500+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

70%

Tomatometer

20 Reviews

56%

Popcornmeter

500+ Ratings

Novelist Tom Garrett (Dana Andrews) and publisher Austin Spencer (Sidney Blackmer) intend to show how lawyer Roy Thompson (Philip Bourneuf) has been using circumstantial evidence in capital punishment trials. They concoct a scheme in which flimsy evidence will point to Garrett as a murder suspect, but Spencer will exonerate him at the end. Meanwhile, they keep the plan a secret from Spencer's daughter, Susan (Joan Fontaine), who is engaged to Garrett. However, the trial doesn't go as planned.

Derek Malcolm

Guardian

Oct 15, 2014

It is a film of great economy and precision (it lasts only 80 minutes), with the terrifying inevitability of Greek tragedy and a pervading sense that man is his own worst enemy.

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Empire Magazine

Oct 15, 2014

4/5

What this tense thriller lacks in action is more than made for by unpredictable twists in the plot, as well as an eerie atmosphere created by the gothic looking buildings and black and white film.

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Variety Staff

Variety

Mar 26, 2009

Fritz Lang's direction does what it can to inject suspense and interest but the melodrama never really jells.

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Joshua Polanski

Midwest Film Journal

Feb 28, 2025

Only Lang could do Lang. And sometimes he did it better than others.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Aug 30, 2021

2/4

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt turned out to be a disappointing way for Lang to end his stateside career.

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

May 7, 2020

2.5/4

It's a fairly ludicrous premise that is, for the most part, employed to watchable (if decidedly erratic) effect by Lang...

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Jan 27, 2019

The best courtroom movie ever made!

Han S

Jan 4, 2019

Not the best movie from Fritz Lang: it is slow, predictable at many moments and quite dull. But the general plot and the theory behind are interesting enough to keep your attention. Years later, another movie (I will not spoil which) too the same idea and represented it brilliantly.

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Poe S

Sep 30, 2018

A decent courtroom thriller with an interesting plot, although the twists were easy to see coming. (First and only viewing - 9/30/2018)

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Fritz Lang

Director

Dana Andrews

Tom Garrett

Joan Fontaine

Susan Spencer

Sidney Blackmer

Austin Spencer

Philip Bourneuf

Roy Thompson

Shepperd Strudwick

Jonathan Wilson

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Michael Douglas, Amber Tamblyn Looking Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

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Synopsis

Novelist Tom Garrett (Dana Andrews) and publisher Austin Spencer (Sidney Blackmer) intend to show how lawyer Roy Thompson (Philip Bourneuf) has been using circumstantial evidence in capital punishment trials. They concoct a scheme in which flimsy evidence will point to Garrett as a murder suspect, but Spencer will exonerate him at the end. Meanwhile, they keep the plan a secret from Spencer's daughter, Susan (Joan Fontaine), who is engaged to Garrett. However, the trial doesn't go as planned.

Director: Fritz Lang
Producer: Bert E. Friedlob
Distributor: RKO Radio Pictures
Production Co: Bert E. Friedlob Productions
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 13, 1956, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 16, 2016
Runtime: 1h 20m

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