The story, which is told in flashback, begins as Larry Balantine (Robert Young) takes the stand at his own murder trial. Mr. Balantine reveals a story which clearly portrays him as a philandering husband...but does that necessarily equate to being a cold-blooded murderer?
A married man, Larry has been seeing Janice (Jane Greer) for several months. Janice, however, realizing that she's not "a Saturday afternoon girl," nor a home-wrecker, breaks things off with him and leaves town. Although Larry would like to run off with Janice, the fact is, he's quite attached to his wife Greta's money; therefore, leaving her is not an option.
Despite Larry's unfaithfulness, Greta (Rita Johnson) wants to save their marriage and suggests that a change of scenery would be good for them, so they move off to California, where Greta's influence buys Larry a job at an investment brokerage.
A young lady named Verna Carlson (Susan Hayward) works in Larry's firm, and in short order, the two of them begin seeing one another. When Greta discovers that Larry is, once again, being unfaithful to her, she sells his investment in the firm and then gives him an ultimatum---go with her to the mountain ranch she has bought or stay in the city with his girlfriend. Since he has no intention of living without Greta's money, Larry has no choice in the matter...he breaks things off with Verna and heads out to the isolation of the mountains.
When, a short while later, a building project on the ranch leads Larry back to Los Angeles, he re-connects with Verna; in love with her, he determines that he will leave Greta---no matter how hard it will be, his and Verna's love will see them through. After slipping a cheap drugstore ring on Verna's finger, the two lovebirds happily head off to Reno, where Larry intends to obtain a divorce and then marry Verna. Things don't go as planned, however, and ultimately, Larry finds himself charged with the murder of the woman he loves. (I can't reveal anymore without giving away too many of the surprise twists.)
Now on the witness stand for his life, Larry has revealed the whole ugly, sordid story...but will the jury believe him? Will the jury really believe that while he is certainly a cheating husband, he is not a murderer? Or will they deem Larry's story a complete fabrication and convict him? These are the questions which will play out in the balance of the film.
They Won't Believe Me is definitely an interesting, exciting film. However, to be honest, I have to say that it occurred to me several times, that the role of Larry was exceedingly out of character for Robert Young. I have never seen him portray anything but an honorable, upright man, and in fact, in his own life, he was decent and honorable, having been married (apparently faithfully) to one woman for over 60 years. It just seemed so odd to see him as a lying philanderer. He played the part well and was very credible---it just didn't seem like his kind of role. Jane Greer's part in the film is fairly small, but she does a great job with it. Susan Hayward is a fantastic femme fatale---I always love seeing her in meaty roles like this. The film's ending is rather shocking. While I kind of expected one aspect of it, I definitely never saw the other aspect happening.
All in all, They Won't Believe Me is a solid, enjoyable, 3-star viewing experience, and it's very close to being 4 stars. Although not out on DVD, it is on the TCM schedule for next Tuesday, June 12th, at 10:00 p.m. (ET), so perhaps you can catch it then.
