The Lady In Question (1940)

Set in Paris, while serving on a jury, a shopkeeper (Brian Aherne) persuades his fellow jurors to acquit a young woman (Rita Hayworth) accused of murdering her lover. After the trial, he attempts to help the girl by giving her a job in his store but complications threaten to destroy his family structure. Based on the 1937 French language film GRIBOUILLE and directed by Charles Vidor (GILDA). An odd comedy or perhaps dramedy would be a better description. The movie is thrown off kilter by the miscasting of Brian Aherne, not only too young for the role (he's only 14 years older than Glenn Ford who plays his son) but the film needed an older character actor in the part. To put it bluntly, Aherne's fussy performance is just awful as his older "mannerisms" ring false. This was the first of five films that Rita Hayworth and and Glenn Ford would do together and their weakest. By the time they did GILDA, the chemistry sizzled. Here, it's barely perking. As to the story itself, its uneven tone (is it a comedy? a romance? a drama?) is frustrating. With Evelyn Keyes, Irene Rich, George Coulouris and Lloyd Corrigan.