Dr. Crippen – 1962 | 98 mins | Drama | B&W

Plot Synopsis

Dr Crippen (1962) is sincere historical reconstruction about the infamous Edwardian murderer blending courtroom and melodrama. The direction from tv helmer Robert Lynn is satisfactory and is brightly captured by in atmospheric black-and-white by cinematographer Nicolas Roeg. Writer Leigh Vance’s set out to prove that Crippen inadvertently killed his wife, and takes liberties with the facts of the 1910 court case. Donald Pleasence and Coral Browne are both compelling and perfectly cast as the murderer and his overbearing wife, but the biggest impression is left by the young Samantha Eggar as Crippen’s ardent mistress.

Told in flashback, Dr. Crippen (Donald Pleasence) no longer loves his coarse but pitifully love-starved wife, Belle (Coral Browne), and has commenced an affair with his sensitive young typist Ethel (Samantha Eggar). Belle then issues an ultimatum that her husband ends his affair and return to the marital bed – or she’ll ruin him. Crippen responds by making his wife a cup of tea, during which he adds an overdose of sedative. Belle subsequently disappears and the police investigation draws a blank; allowing Ethel to move in with Crippen.

Dr. Crippen declares to Ethel that Belle has run away with one of her lovers and will attempt to implicate him in the police investigation into her disappearance, so together they flee to Canada. Back home, the police continue to investigate and discover the wife’s body in the cellar, where Crippen had buried her. Caught and extradited to London for trial, he is sentenced to death, still protesting his wife’s “accidental” death, while Ethel is acquitted.