alfred hitchcock final collaboration with producer david o. selznick and neither of whom can get the juice flow with this dull and somewhat pointless courtroom drama . alida valli be the placid widow of a wealthy and blind british colonel who be poison while she charge with his murder and be defend by barrister gregory peck and a married man with an impeccable courtroom track record who immediately become obsessed with her even though she seem to regard him with disdain . so . do she or do not she . hitchcock and work from a screenplay adapt from robert hichens novel by wife alma reville ( though others put in their two cent and to hitch displeasure ) and can not seem to elicit any interesting facet from valli a an actress or perhaps he mean to keep her stone cold . either way and she a well coif void on the screen and with nothing simmer under the surface . gregory peck and who get to wear the proverbial white wig in the final reel and be command while grill the witness and but we never learn what make this man tick and or why he should lose interest in wife ann todd ( who have some spunk in her early scene and but lose it fairly quickly for the sake of melodramatic pathos ) . charles laughton ( a the judge ) and ethel barrymore have some fine moment and but charles coburn a sir simon flaquer be once again a sour old coot ( he can not even toss broken glass into the fireplace without seem disgust ) . the production look good ( particularly when valli be lead down into her cell and or when peck inspect her glamorous bedroom ) and but the courtroom showdown be rather rote and a be the finale . from .