Are You, Guilty by Suspicion?

Are You, Guilty by Suspicion?

(Movie Review)

The movie Guilty by Suspicion was not your average "action-packed" Matrix. In this movie, David Merrill (played by Robert DeNiro,) is a successful director. Everything seems to be fine, until his past starts catching up with him. Now he's wanted for possibly being a Communist. As boring as this would sound to the average teenager, I actually liked it. Take for example the scene where he first sees his son. He gave him a brand new toy car and you could clearly see he loved his little boy. I liked this scene because it showed Mr. Merrill was a considerate and caring person...not a cold, raging beast. In another part of the movie when his friend Red had a sort of "breakdown" in her trailer, David came through for her, showing her hope. He did this because he was a good friend, despite the fact that he was going through the same situation himself. This again showed how he cared for the ones whom he held close, even if they weren't there for him during his hard times. Another powerful scene that I liked was at the end of the movie during his hearing. Mr. Merrill came off as a strong man who would not back down on his word. He showed that doing things such as holding a meeting about how to end the atomic bomb, does not make one a Communist. He never ratted out any of his friends (despite the fact that at times they wanted to drag his name through the mud). Many peoples' lives were ruined because they were being blamed for things in which they were not guilty of. This lesson can also be seen in the book The Crucible. The search for Communists was much like that in the Salem Massachusetts during the time of the Salem Witch Trials. In this book, much like in Guilty by Suspicion, people were thrown in jail and lives were ruined when they really were NOT guilty. Also, during this time period, you could be accused of being a witch without hardcore evidence, just like in the movie. Another reason they are similar is the fact that "names" played a major role. The court wanted names of people who attended certain meetings or suspects that could be communists. The same goes for The Crucible. The people being accused of performing witchcraft were being harshly pressured to give names of other possible witches, or ones who might have been "seen with the Devil." As

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