Before I start, I'd like to call out 'melvelvit-1' - obviously a male - who refers in his review to Anne Baxter as "no spring chicken." She was 32. Get a life.
"The Come On" is a low-budget noir starring Baxter, Sterling Hayden, John Hoyt, and Jesse White. Baxter plays Rita, who meets Dave (Hayden) on the beach. There's immediate electricity, but meeting her in a nightclub later on, he finds out the man she's with, Harold (Hoyt) is her husband. He loses interest. Later she explains her situation - she grew up poor and is not married to Harold. They work cons together for big money, and she stays in the best hotels, wears the most beautiful clothes, travels first class - and she likes it that way.
Rita doesn't fool around - she's in love with Dave and tells him that to keep him on a string, Hoyt is keeping money he owes her. Of course, should he die...well, we've all seen that before.
The whole thing becomes convoluted with blackmail, lies, and betrayal.
Routine stuff, with Bancroft effective as a femme fatale. Hayden just never does it for me, he always comes off as stiff and monotonal, though he does have a certain presence. Jesse White is great as a sleazy detective, and Hoyt gives a good performance as the controlling and vicious Harold.
Entertaining if not exceptional.
