Suspicion (1941) is based on a 1932 novel, called ‘Before the Fact’ by Anthony Berkeley Cox (under the pseudonym Francis Iles)
As often happens when adapting a book into a movie, there were several major changes. I watched Suspicion first in 2019, and read the book a couple of months ago. If you want to read the book some time, or just do not want any spoilers, I wouldn't recommend reading beyond this.
The book was a very interesting take on the thinking and behaviour of Lina McLaidlaw, the victim (character played by Joan) and the story unfolds from her perspective.
Johnnie Aysgarth's character (Cary Grant) was heavily watered down, to say the least. I could go on & on about it, but I'll summarise:
Johnnie Aysgarth is a good-for-nothing playboy and gambler to begin with. After marriage, he cheats on his wife with the housemaid (and has a son); he further has an affair with Lina's closest friend. He is in tremendous debt, and is an embezzler. He even plans the murder of Lina's father so that she inherits the family wealth; and kills his rich childhood pal (Nigel Bruce's character in the film). At the end, Lina is sure that she's going to be killed by Johnnie and just accepts her fate without a fight.
On why the ending was changed, Alfred Hitchcock said:
“The consensus was that audiences would not want to be told in the last few frames of the film that as popular a personality as Cary Grant was a murderer, doomed to exposure.”
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