When I first saw this years ago on AMC it knocked my socks off. It still does as it's one of my Top 10 film noir movies. The film opens with a man named Larry telling his story to a jury in a courtroom trial.
Robert Young stars as Larry Ballentine who is involved in a failing marriage, but he and his wife Greta (Rita Johnson) never seem to get a divorce. Greta has hopes and Larry just wants out.
He meets a lovely woman named Janice Bell (Jane Greer) and they begin meeting every Saturday afternoon. Janice begins to fall in love with Larry and vice-a-versa. Greta gets Larry a new job with a 25 percent stake in the company to keep him away from Janice.
This seems to work until Larry meets the sexy Verna Carlson (Susan Hayward), and again the trouble starts. They begin a volatile relationship and we soon find out that Verna is even worse than Larry when it comes to scheming.
Soon the web of lies Larry has told has him implicated in the death of his wife Greta and the mysterious disappearance of Verna. This is a very tight knit film full of twists and turns that I will not give away here.
This is a movie you need to see if your a film noir fan. Actor Irving Pichel directed this thrilling 40's noir. All of the performances are very well done, and Greer and Hayward are both gorgeous as usual. Hayward steals the show with her beauty and coolness of soul.
The rest of the cast includes Tom Powers, George Tyne, Don Beddoe, Frank Ferguson, Harry Harvey and Nina Borget.
No comments:
Post a Comment