A unfaithful wife plots with her lover to kill her husband, but the lover is accidentally killed instead. The husband stays in hiding and lets his wife be charged with conspiracy.A unfaithful wife plots with her lover to kill her husband, but the lover is accidentally killed instead. The husband stays in hiding and lets his wife be charged with conspiracy.A unfaithful wife plots with her lover to kill her husband, but the lover is accidentally killed instead. The husband stays in hiding and lets his wife be charged with conspiracy.
Glen Vernon
- Ed
- (as Glenn Vernon)
Linda Leighton
- Telephone Operator
- (as Linda Johnson)
Jason Robards Sr.
- Judge
- (as Jason Robards)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe building that served as the exterior of Sue Lin's apartment is 834 Washington St., San Francisco, CA. It still stands as of this writing (04/2019) almost completely intact. There is a business on the ground floor, but the three floors above it remain, and nearly all the adornments remain. (It can be viewed on Google maps, street view.)
- GoofsThe end credits list the name of the character played by Mae Marsh as "Mrs. Peters"; Marsh played the mother of the gas station owner. The only time the mother's name is mentioned in the film is when Walter Williams first comes to the house for supper, and he calls her "Mrs. King". Marsha Peters (the gas station owner) and her mother would not have had the same last name, since Marsha explains when she first meets Walter that her husband was killed in World War II.
When this movie was made, and in the small town where this character lived, a woman would not have kept her maiden name when marrying or returned to it after being widowed. She would have remained Mrs. Peters unless she remarried.
- Quotes
Lt. Tom Quincy: Are you Ah Sing? Understand? You understandee English?
Ah Sing: [nodding and speaking in perfect English] Also French, Italian, and Hebrew.
- ConnectionsEdited into The Green Fog (2017)
Featured review
Successful businessman Walter Williams (Brian Donlevy) loves his pretty wife Irene (Helen Walker) more than anything. Little does he know she's plotting with her lover to kill him. During the murder attempt, Walter is hit hard on the head but lives. The other guy, however, is killed in a car crash and burned beyond recognition. Believed to have been the man killed in the crash, Walter decides not to come forward. Instead he goes to work as a mechanic in the garage of Marsha Peters (Ella Raines). When Irene is tried for his murder, Walter must decide whether or not to reveal he's still alive.
Brian Donlevy is pretty good. He's at his best when his character is angry or edgy. The sappy romantic stuff doesn't fit him well. Helen Walker is a particularly hissable villainess. Lovely Ella Raines is the good girl. There's no meat to the part but she does well with what she's given. Charles Coburn plays the detective out to get to the bottom of things. He's always fun. Arthur Lubin's direction in the first half is great film noir. I loved the scene where the lover tries to kill the husband. The whole thing was brilliantly executed. Then something happens and it's like a separate movie. The second half is much less like noir and more like a standard crime melodrama where a girl has to prove her guy is innocent of murder. If the entire picture had been like the first half, I'd say it was one of film noir's best. But it isn't. It's still an enjoyable movie with some good twists and turns.
Brian Donlevy is pretty good. He's at his best when his character is angry or edgy. The sappy romantic stuff doesn't fit him well. Helen Walker is a particularly hissable villainess. Lovely Ella Raines is the good girl. There's no meat to the part but she does well with what she's given. Charles Coburn plays the detective out to get to the bottom of things. He's always fun. Arthur Lubin's direction in the first half is great film noir. I loved the scene where the lover tries to kill the husband. The whole thing was brilliantly executed. Then something happens and it's like a separate movie. The second half is much less like noir and more like a standard crime melodrama where a girl has to prove her guy is innocent of murder. If the entire picture had been like the first half, I'd say it was one of film noir's best. But it isn't. It's still an enjoyable movie with some good twists and turns.
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $900,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 51 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.33 : 1
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