BLACK WIDOW (1954)

BLACK WIDOW (1954). Writer/director: Nunnally Johnson.

Broadway producer Peter Denver (Van Heflin), who is married to actress Iris Denver (Gene Tierney), befriends a struggling young writer named Nanny (Peggy Ann Garner) and eventually wishes he hadn't. Ginger Rogers (Dreamboat) plays his star Carlotta Marin and Reginald Gardiner is her husband, Brian. Possibly attempting to approximate the success of All About Eve, Nunnally Johnson took a story by mystery writer Patrick Quentin (actually Hugh Wheeler) with a Broadway background and concocted another story of an aging affected actress and opportunistic young'n. There the resemblance to All About Eve ends as, to be fair, Black Widow goes in its own direction, but while the first quarter is unpredictable the rest is sadly familiar. Also, Black Widow is vastly inferior to All About Eve and Ginger Rogers is pretty inadequate doing a lower-case Bette Davis. Heflin is as good as ever, but the material is far beneath him, and Gardiner, usually at his best in comedies, is comically miscast in this. Gene Tierney is also good, but she, too, is pretty much wasted. Virginia Leith, Otto Kruger and an unrecognizable Cathleen Nesbitt are excellent in supporting parts. George Raft is simply an embarrassment as a police detective, but Peggy Ann Garner scores as Nanny. The main trouble with Johnson's script is that he hasn't created characters, only trotted out an assortment of types.

Verdict: Watch out for movies in which Reginald Gardiner plays a romantic figure. **.

DRAGONWYCK

Gene Tierney and Vincent Price

DRAGONWYCK (1946). Written for the screen and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Colorized. 

In the mid-19th century Miranda Wells (Gene Tierney) is sent for by her sort-of cousin, Nicholas Van Ryn (Vincent Price), who invites her to live at his Catskills estate Dragonwyck with his wife, Johanna (Vivienne Osborne) and daughter, Katrine (Connie Marshall of Wake Up and Dream). Katrin's parents hardly pay attention to the lonely child, but there's an attractive doctor named Jeff Turner (Glenn Langan) who is kind to both the girl and her companion, Miranda. Unfortunately Miranda falls not for the doctor but for Nicholas, and it isn't too long before Mrs. Van Ryn falls ill ...  Miranda discovers it is all too true to "be careful what you wish for." 

Vincent Price and Glenn Langan

Based on an old-fashioned gothic novel by Anya Seton, Dragonwyck is an earnest if sometimes silly melodrama that is bolstered by some very good acting and, especially, an outstanding score by Alfred Newman that richly embellishes every sequence (although some may fell the film is over-scored). As the haughty patroon who lords it over the resentful tenant farmers (including Harry Morgan in a good turn) Price gives a good if theatrical performance that is full of dramatic flavor but isn't always convincing. Tierney is excellent throughout, and Glenn Langan make his mark as the good doctor. Langan was talented enough that he shouldn't have wound up in The Amazing Colossal Man (although it mut be said that he gave a strong performance in that). Walter Huston and Anne Revere score as Miranda's simple Connecticut parents, and Spring Byington has an unusual role as a somewhat sinister and gossipy maid named Magda. Jessica Tandy [A Woman's Vengeance] is fine as Miranda's crippled maid, Peggy, who comes in for Nicholas' cruel scorn. The picture is beautifully colorized. 

Verdict: Well-acted, entertaining, and with a great score. ***.

NIGHT AND THE CITY

Richard Widmark

NIGHT AND THE CITY (1950). Director: Jules Dassin.

In London Harry Fabian (Richard Widmark of Don't Bother to Knock) is a hustler for a night club and is always coming up with one get-rich-quick scheme after another. His loving girlfriend, Mary (Gene Tierney), sings at the same club and tries her best to keep Harry's flights of fancy from careening out of control. He meets the son, Nikolas (Ken Richmond), of a famous retired wrestler. Gregorius (Stanislaus Sbyszko), and decides to become the younger man's manager. But this doesn't sit well with Gregorius' other son, Kristo (Herbert Lom), who has the fight racket in London sewn up. Besides, Harry needs money to stage a match, and if he can't get it from the corpulent club owner, Philip Nosseross (Francis L. Sullivan of Hell's Island), he'll get it from the man's wife, Helen (Googie Withers), who has a thing for him. But  Harry may find he's bitten off more than he can chew as he attempts to balance all these factions and emerge a winner ...

Tierney and Widmark

Although he does over-act at times (although this also gives a hint of Harry's essentially neurotic and desperate nature), Widmark gives an excellent performance in this, and he's able to make the man sympathetic, despite his flaws, as well. Gene Tierny has such a small role, and is off-screen for so much time, that you wonder why she even bothered to take the part, but she is nevertheless effective. Sbyszko and Richmond were professional wrestlers in real life and are pretty good, especially the former, considering they weren't really actors. Herbert Lom gives another sharp and dynamic performance as Kristo. Sullivan, who had a lengthy career, adds some nuances to his portrayal of Philip, and Googie Withers, who also had a long career, is quite effective as his unhappy wife, Helen. Mike Mazurki scores as the wrestler known as "The Strangler" and Hugh Marlowe, although his acting is solid, is kind of lost in this crowd as an upstairs neighbor who is carrying a torch for Mary. One must also note the contributions of cinematographer Max Greene, and composer Benjamin Frankel.

The Connecticut-born Jules Dassin also directed Rififi. Night and the City was remade in 1992 with Robert De Niro in the Harry Fabian role but the film was not well-received.

Verdict: Unusual drama with a rich and interesting cast. ***. 

ON THE RIVIERA

Gene Tierney and Danny Kaye 

ON THE RIVIERA (1951). Director: Walter Lang.

Entertainer Jack Martin (Danny Kaye) works on the Riviera with his girlfriend, Colette (Corinne Calvet), but he is told by club manager Gapeaux (Sig Ruman) that he is through unless he comes up with a catchier act. Jack decides to do his impression of married playboy and famous pilot Henri Duran (also Kaye) who looks just like him. To keep a business deal from collapsing along with their careers, associates of Duran importune Jack to pretend to be Duran while he is out of town, causing complications involving Colette and Duran's wife, Lili (Gene Tierney). This is a remake of That Night in Rio (itself a remake of a French film), and it has one insurmountable problem. Why do a remake unless it is an improvement over, or distinctly different from, the original? This version adds Technicolor and a few weak songs by Sylvia Fine (Kaye's wife) that you forget even as you're listening to them. Another problem is that On the Riviera casts competent but essentially unknown French actors in smaller roles instead of the flavorful and more familiar character actors that usually pepper and add enjoyment to these films. Kaye is okay, but has been seen to better advantage in other vehicles. Corinne Calvet [So This is Paris] is gorgeous and capable, as is Gene Tierney [The Pleasure Seekers]. Clinton Sundberg [The Kissing Bandit] plays the taciturn butler, Antoine, in his usual effective style. Jean Murat is Felix Periton, with whom Duran wants desperately to do business. Kaye does so-so impressions of Maurice Chevalier and Carmen Miranda, both of whom starred in previous versions.

Verdict: One dip in the well too many. **.

THE PLEASURE SEEKERS

Gardner McKay and Carol Lynley

THE PLEASURE SEEKERS (1964). Director: Jean Negulesco.

"Boy is he confused. He gave his wife the mink coat and me the refrigerator!" -- party guest

Three young ladies living and working in Madrid encounter romantic difficulties: entertainer Fran (Ann-Margret) can't seem to get together with handsome doctor Andres (Andre Lawrence); Susie (Pamela Tiffin) becomes betrothed to a heel, Emilio (Anthony Franciosa), who has no intention of actually marrying her; and Maggie (Carol Lynley) is torn between married editor Paul (Brian Keith) and young reporter Pete (Gardner McKay). Jean Negulesco returns to the foreign soap opera genre he examined ten years earlier in the superior Three Coins in the Fountain, with another trio of mostly unconvincing romances set in Spain instead of Italy. The deceptively titled Pleasure Seekers may have some location shots of Madrid, as well as shots of the masterpieces in the Prado, but other than that it never leaves Hollywood. The acting is good enough, with a very attractive Gene Tierney [Whirlpool] getting a grand total of one good scene as Paul's wife as she tells off infatuated Maggie in a ladies room. Isobel Elsom [Ladies in Retirement] also gets one good scene as Emilio's mother. The movie might be called a semi-musical as there are several numbers for Ann-Margret as she sings during "Fran's" performances, but she also warbles a tune at a picnic; you can miss these. With Ann-Margret's singing, everything is subordinate to sex, and she vocalizes as if she's savagely tearing at a big chunk of lobster. TV star Gardner McKay's character is virtually undeveloped -- to his credit he doesn't just come off like "Adam Troy," the character he played on Adventures in Paradise -- and he made one more movie before becoming a playwright, Little is known about Andre Lawrence, who made his debut in this film and appeared in some Canadian and other productions afterward.

Verdict: Fairly terrible. **.

THE EGYPTIAN

Edmund Purdom

THE EGYPTIAN (1954). Director: Michael Curtiz.

"You are mad, sire, but your madness is more beautiful than the visions of other men."

Sinuhe (Edmund Purdom) is a doctor to the poor who gets an appointment as royal physician when he saves the life of Pharaoh Akhnaton (Michael Wilding), whose mother Taia (Judith Evelyn) knows much more about the orphaned doctor's true history than she's letting on. Sinuhe comes under the spell of the Babylonian bitch Nefer (Bella Darvi), who essentially steals everything away from Sinuhe, including his adoptive parents' home and burial tomb [for this Sinuhe bears as much responsibility as Nefer, if not more]. Apparently not learning his lesson, Sinuhe becomes a physician only for the rich, but eventually comes into conflict with his old friend, Horemheb (Victor Mature), when the Hittites threaten an attack. Pharaoh is against violence, but doesn't understand that Egypt still must be defended. When both Horemheb and Akhnaton's cold sister, Baketemon (Gene Tierney) importune Sinuhe to poison Pharaoh, will he comply, especially after he learns the truth about his heritage ...? The Egyptian tells a good story, and mostly tells it well, even if the drawn-out ending, and Sinuhe himself, become oppressively and tediously pious. In the lead role, Edmund Purdom [The Strange Intruder] has a commanding presence, and is not a bad actor, even if there are times you wished he showed just a little more passion. Jean Simmons [Angel Face] is excellent as the woman who loves him throughout good times and bad, and Bella Darvi offers a sophisticated and mesmerizing portrait of a woman who could easily be called the "whore of Babylon." Wilding and Tierney are fine as the brother and sister, as are Victor Mature [Kiss of Death]; Peter Ustinov as the slave Kaptah; little Tommy Rettig as Sinuhe's son; and Judith Evelyn, who nearly walks off with the movie in her one scene with Purdom. The picture has impressive sets and also boasts a wonderful score composed by both Alfred Newman and Bernard Herrmann (and yes, you can tell who composed which section).

Verdict: Flawed but highly interesting look at ancient Egyptian culture -- with a little Hollywood soap opera thrown in. ***.

WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS

Dana Andrews confronts Gary Merrill

WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS (1950). Producer/director: Otto Preminger.

Detective Mark Dixon (Dana Andrews) is a tough cop who has been warned once too often to use less force when "interviewing" suspects, but he goes too far and inadvertently kills a war hero with a plate in his head (Craig Stevens of Peter Gunn), then covers it up. As part of his investigation he meets the dead man's estranged wife, Morgan (Gene Tierney), whose father (Tom Tully) is arrested for the crime. Mark's guilt increases as he and the lovely Morgan are drawn to one another, and she worries terribly about a man whom Mark knows is innocent. Will he do the right thing? Where the Sidewalk Ends reunites the director and leads of Laura and is good enough that you don't even miss Clifton Webb. Andrews, Tierney, Gary Merrill (as a crook Mark has been trying to ensnare), and even Craig Stevens all give adept performances, and there is good support from Tully, Karl Malden and Bert Freed as cops, Eda Reiss Merin as Freed's wife, and Ruth Donnelly as a restaurant owner and friend of Mark's. More proof that Dana Andrews was an under-rated actor.

Verdict: Smooth romance-suspenser with some fine performances. ***.

THE SHANGHAI GESTURE

Ona Munson and Gene Tierney

THE SHANGHAI GESTURE (1941). Director: Josef von Sternberg.

In this very odd movie, a young lady looking for thrills in Shanghai, who calls herself Poppy (Gene Tierney), enters the establishment of one "Mother Gin Sling" (Ona Munson), becomes smitten with the shady character, Omar (Victor Mature), and develops too much of a taste for gambling. Mother invites several people to celebrate Chinese New Year's with her, including Sir Guy Charteris (Walter Huston), whom she knew years ago under another name and wishes vengeance upon; she is unaware of any connection Poppy may have to Charteris. There's the basis of a good story in Shanghai Gesture, but the movie isn't well written or well put together, with most of the imagination going into some elaborate settings. The performances are good for the most part, although Ona Munson lacks the vigor and fire that an actress like, say, Barbara Stanwyck or Anna May Wong (who should have been cast) could have brought to the role. Eric Blore, Mike Mazurki (as a rickshaw!), and Maria Ouspenskaya all have supporting parts, although Ouspenskaya has no dialogue. Phyllis Brooks makes an impression as the stranded chorus girl, Dixie, but her part in all this is never clearly defined. The whole production is inherently racist and badly dated. Josef von Sternberg also directed The Devil is a Woman, which is vastly superior to this.

Verdict: Too weird for its own good. **.

LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN

Gene Tierney

LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN (1945). Director: John M. Stahl.

"Nothing ever happens to Ellen."

Author Richard Harland (Cornel Wilde) meets a beautiful woman on a train, Ellen (Gene Tierney), who's reading one of his novels but doesn't recognize him despite his book jacket picture. (That should have been his first clue.) The two turn out to have the same destination, the home of a mutual friend named Glen (Ray Collins). Ray is also hosting Ellen's adopted sister [actually her cousin], Ruth (Jeanne Crain), and their mother, Mrs. Berent (Mary Philips). Although Ellen is engaged to Russell Quinton (Vincent Price), she and Richard quickly fall in love, and get married. At first Ellen does everything she can to ingratiate herself with Richard's crippled younger brother, Danny (Darryl Hickman), but when she decides that she wants to be alone with Richard, her actions become much darker, to put it mildly ... Wilde is fine, Tierney just short of excellent, Price is okay, and Crain isn't always up to her more dramatic moments, but Leave Her to Heaven is quite absorbing. If there's any problem with the movie it's that the final courtroom segments drag and are a little too unrealistic [Price, the rejected fiance, is the prosecutor, and keeps badgering witness after witness without anyone objecting], but there's a very well-done drowning murder sequence halfway through the movie. Another memorable sequence has Ellen scattering her father's ashes in the mountains on horseback. Alfred Newman has contributed a strong score as well. Stahl also directed the 1932 Back Street and many others.

Verdict: The Bad Seed's older sister [although it was made earlier]. ***.

ADVISE AND CONSENT

Anderson (Murray) walks out on Ray (Granger)

ADVISE AND CONSENT (1962). Director/producer: Otto Preminger.

"Us old buzzards can spot a dying mouse from 10,000 feet up. Us old buzzards have the sharpest eyes in creation. Right now I'm studying the terrain ..." -- Senator Seabright Cooley

The President (Franchot Tone) has selected Robert Leffingwell (Henry Fonda) to be the new Secretary of State, but first the senate has to "advise and consent" to his nomination in a special hearing. The person primarily opposed to Leffingwell is a senior southern senator named Seab Cooley (Charles Laughton), who is concerned about Leffingwell's possible communist ties, and also has a personal dislike of the man after he once showed him up in public. Presiding over the hearing is young Senator Brigham Anderson (Don Murray), who is very concerned when he discovers that Leffingwell lied under oath about his personal ties to his chief witness against him, Herbert Gelman (Burgess Meredith). But then Senator Van Ackerman (George Grizzard), who wants Leffingwell to get in, institutes a blackmail plot against Anderson, having to do with the Senator's relationship with a Ray Shaff (John Granger) while stationed in Hawaii, leading to tragedy. This business is a major plot point of Advise and Consent, with a scene in a gay bar [full mostly of gay caricatures] when the self-loathing, closeted Anderson goes to confront Shaff, who told of their former relationship because he was desperate for money. Advise and Consent is an interesting, if talky political film, with the "villains" coming from both sides of the political spectrum. Fonda is fine in what really amounts to a supporting role, but Charles Laughton, who is superb in his final movie, would have walked off with the picture were it not for Murray's strong [if imperfect] portrayal of Brigham Anderson. Inga Swenson is also quite good as Anderson's wife and Edward Andrews is excellent as Senator Orrin Knox. Gene Tierny has a small role as a wealthy Washington hostess who is the secret lover of the Senate Majority Leader (Walter Pidgeon, who gives one of his better performances). Grizzard, Lew Ayres as the vice president, and Tone, are all notable, as is Betty White in a brief turn as the only female in the senate. Peter Lawford is okay as another senator but he is a little lightweight in this company. John Granger, who played Ray, did not appear in another film for 19 years! Allan Drury, who wrote the novel that this film was based upon, apparently based the Anderson business on a real-life incident. One wonders what Frank Sinatra thought of one of his records playing in the background in the gay bar. Sam Leavitt's black and white photography is outstanding, with one beautifully-composed widescreen shot after another. One of Preminger's better directorial efforts.

Verdict: It's the acting and the look of the film that puts it over. ***.

THE MIRROR CRACK'D

Novak, Hudson and Taylor

THE MIRROR CRACK'D (1980).  Director: Guy Hamilton.  Based on "The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side" by Agatha Christie.

"Chin up, darling -- both of them!"

Move star Marina Gregg (Elizabeth Taylor) and her director husband Jason Rudd (Rock Hudson) have taken over a British country estate while in England to film Marina's comeback film when during a party a young fan (Maureen Bennett) talking to Marina is given a poisoned drink and dies. It isn't long before it is determined that Marina was the true target of the poison -- or was she?  Miss Marple (Angela Lansbury) asks questions while her nephew, an Inspector (Edward Fox), investigates, but it's sure bet who'll solve the case first. Agatha Christie got the germ of her idea from an actual tragic incident that happened to actress Gene Tierney, although Marina does not seem otherwise based on that particular movie star. Taylor is perfect casting as the difficult, whiny, needy fading actress going to fat, but that is not to say her performance is any more than passable. Kim Novak is better and much more fun as a movie rival of Marina's who trades bitchy remarks with her. Hudson is okay, if a bit dour and superficial, and Tony Curtis is fun enough as a vulgar producer.  Geraldine Chaplin is Rudd's suspicious secretary, and Charles Gray is his butler. This is better than another adaptation done on Masterpiece Mystery in 2010. Lansbury looks more like Miss Marple than Margaret Rutherford did, but she's not as funny nor meant to be.

Verdict: At least it has an interesting cast and Novak looks sensational. ***.

THE RAZOR'S EDGE (1946)

Tyrone Power at the height of his good looks

THE RAZOR'S EDGE (1946). Director: Edmund Goulding.

Larry Darrell (Tyrone Power) is engaged to wealthy Isabel Bradley (Gene Tierney), who wants Larry to get a good job and make money. But Larry is seeking something other than mere materialism in his life, so instead of marrying Isabel he goes off to find himself in India. Observing, commenting and interacting with the others is Somerset Maugham himself (Herbert Marshall), who wrote the novel upon which the film is based. Other major characters include Isabel's uncle, Elliot Templeton (Clifton Webb) -- of Larry he says, "my feeling is he's living in the Latin Quarter with some 'bint' who's no better than she ought to be" -- and Sophie MacDonald (Anne Baxter), whose life becomes embroiled in tragedy upon tragedy. As a fairly obvious Christ figure (although in some ways Larry comes off more like an unambitious schmo), Power is adequate, but his insufficiency shows up in such scenes as when he reacts [or doesn't] to sad news about Sophie; he's hardly ever looked more handsome, however. The best performances come from a poignant Anne Baxter and from an especially superb Webb, who etches a fascinating portrait in his personification of the snobbish but likable Templeton, but Tierney and Marshall are also effective, along with Lucile Watson [Templeton's sister] and Elsa Lanchester in smaller roles. John  Payne has a fairly good part and is fine, although out-classed by the rest of the cast. At one point Maugham remarks that Templeton is "sitting pretty" -- Webb would appear in the famous film of that title two years later -- to which Templeton replies: "that is an American colloquialism, which you British seem to use, but which describes my state accurately." In addition to its over-length, The Razor's Edge has underdeveloped supporting characters whose fates never have the impact they're supposed to, and the movie never seems to get anywhere. Still, Webb and Baxter make it worth watching.

Verdict: Entertaining, in spite of itself. ***.

LAURA

Clifton Webb and Gene Tierney

LAURA (1944). Producer/director: Otto Preminger.

"For a charming, intelligent girl you've certainly surrounded yourself with a collection of dopes." -- Waldo Lydecker.

"I write with a goose quill dipped in venom." -- ditto.

"This is beginning to assume fabulous aspects!" -- ditto.

Detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) is put on the case when a lady advertising executive, Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney), has her face blown off by a shotgun blast from an unknown killer. The suspects include her alleged fiance, Shelby (Vincent Price), her Aunt Ann (Judith Anderson), who is in love with Shelby, and Laura's patron Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb), who was not so much in love with Laura as he wanted to possess her because he feels she owes him everything. (A very important flashback sequence that was stupidly deleted but can now be seen on the DVD shows the early evolving relationship of Lydecker and Laura.) Preminger's direction is strictly routine, but the movie works because of the dialogue and acting; everyone (including Dorothy Adams as the rather neurotic maid, Bessie) is at their best and Webb, in his first major screen role, is magnificent; his trading bitchy barbs with Vincent Price is, eh, priceless. One especially stupid moment occurs when a certain character, knowing that a killer is on the loose who shoots people in the face point blank and that she might be next on his list, opens a door without even asking who it is. For all its flaws the picture is quite entertaining, and if nothing else, it turned the wonderful Webb into a major star.

Verdict: At least it doesn't have Lee Radziwill, who played Laura in a 1968 telefilm. ***.

PERSONAL AFFAIR

PERSONAL AFFAIR (1953). Director: Anthony Pelissier.

"I loved her the way one loves a child that is lost."

School teacher Stephen Barlow (Leo Genn) is beginning to tutor student Barbara Vining (Glynis Johns), when his wife Kay (Gene Tierney) tells him that the girl is clearly in love with him -- and confronts the young lady about it as well. Shortly afterward Barbara disappears. The problem is that without telling anyone Stephen made arrangements to meet with her. Did he murder the girl? Did she throw herself into the river? Has Kay Barlow got something to do with the disappearance? And what about Barbara's rather weird spinster aunt Evelyn (Pamela Brown)? Stephen tries to assure her parents that there was nothing going on between him and Barbara -- but is he telling the truth? This is not an Agatha Christie-type mystery but rather a character study showing various reactions to a disappearance and the concerns and accusations it causes. Tierney gives a stand-out performance as Kay. It's hard to imagine Leo Genn exciting schoolgirl fantasies, but there's no accounting for taste. Certain suggestions -- unspoken but tacit -- are made about Aunt Evelyn that seem psychlogically dubious.

Verdict: Interesting for what it is. **1/2.

SON OF FURY

SON OF FURY (1942) Director: John Cronwell.

Tyrone Power gives a highly effective "star" performance as Benjamin Blake who is born in England during the reign of George III. His evil Uncle Arthur (George Sanders) takes him away from his poor but loving grandfather (Harry Davenport) only to turn him into a servant on the huge estate that by rights should belong to him! Wanted by the authorities for the attempted slaying of Arthur, Benjamin sails to the south seas and swims to an island which a buddy Caleb (John Carradine) has told him is full of a fortune in pearls. There he meets an island beauty he christens Eve (Gene Tierney) while back home his cousin Isabel (Frances Farmer), whom he loves, wonders if he's alive or dead. Back in England the now-rich Benjamin still finds he has to fight duplicity and betrayal to finally claim his birthright. This is a rousing, handsomely produced, entertaining adventure story with fine performances, solid direction from Cromwell, and an evocative, excellent score from Alfred Newman. Elsa Lanchester has a nice bit as a prostitute who hides Ben out while he's on the run. George Sanders is at his oily, sinister best. But Tyrone Power's presence and authority add immeasurably to the picture's dramatic veracity.

Verdict: Great fun! ***.

WHIRLPOOL

WHIRLPOOL (1949). Director: Otto Preminger. NOTE: Plot points are mentioned in this critique.

Gene Tierney, the wife of a prominent psychiatrist (Richard Conte) is caught shoplifting when the ne'erdowell Jose Ferrer comes to her rescue. After using his influence to stifle the incident, Ferrer uses hypnotism to cure Tierney of her insomnia, but his real purpose is to frame her for a murder he plans to commit. His previous girlfriend (Barbara O'Neil) is threatening to go to the D.A. because he helped her embezzle money from her daughter's trust. Tierney is arrested for the crime, but her husband insists that Ferrer is the true murderer – the trouble is that Ferrer was in the hospital after an operation at the time of the murder. This is a very predictable suspense story that runs out of gas long before it's over. Every time Preminger tried one of these thrillers and mysteries (and that includes Laura) he would only show that he lacks the skill of an Alfred Hitchcock when it comes to handling this kind of material. Gene Tierney's performance will hold your attention, but it's also very affected and “actressy” and never real. Jose Ferrer isn't bad in a role that both George Sanders and Vincent Price could have made more of [the least attractive of this trio, it's hard to imagine Ferrer as some kind of lover boy with the ladies]. Richard Conte barely registers as the husband, but Charles Bickford is a bit better as the detective assigned to the case.

Verdict: Not very memorable. **.