Døden er et kjærtegn

Reportedly Norway's first film noir, and also the directorial debut of Edith Carlmar who was the first notable female director working in that country, "Death Is A Caress" (1949) is as technically proficient as any Hollywood film of that era in that genre, but decidedly more frank and suggestive; it shows and talks about things that Hollywood would not touch until at least one more decade. There are some superb scene transitions too; Carlmar really was a talented director. One irony is that the "fiancè" Eva Bergh is drop-dead gorgeous and considerably more attractive than the Joan Crawford-esque "femme fatale" Bjørg Riiser-Larsen, though a scene of the latter in her beachwear almost made me change my mind. *** out of 4.