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The French location. The actors, and the music are all beautiful. The real reason to see the film is to appreciate the complexity of a poly relationship that lasts for awhile but eventually ends due to one partner being unable to share the other. This is unfortunately the fate of many poly relationships.

I am fortunate to be in a successful happy poly relationship lasting almost 28 years so I know that they can work but most people just can't handle the intensity and cannot accept the boundaries. This is a good film to see if you are contemplating getting involved in a poly relationship.

I had to see this film three times to figure out the plot. I still feel confused by the three different women. They all looked too similar. I thought Jane Greer and Rhonda Fleming were the same woman wearing slightly different clothes and hair!

The first time I saw it, the only good thing I noticed was the cinematography. Excellent lighting and shadows.

The second time I saw it, I was impressed by Robert Mitchum's great style and many good one-liners.

Now the third time, I finally noticed Kirk Douglas.

I still think this film is not one of best noirs, but I see that people who like femme fatale characters would like this one.

I personally think the film needed some editing and tightening and better distinction between the women characters. I would have cut out the Rhonda Fleming character completely. She was unnecessary. Jane Greer could have been given the assignment of being the lawyer's secretary for the simple task she had to do.

The film distorts the book by overemphasizing certain things, leaving out others, and changing certain key points. However, it's still a powerful film because the distortions don't change the important basic point which is the loneliness of all the characters and their attempts to connect with someone.

Alan Arkin is perfect as John Singer, he remains true to the spirit of the character in the book, no distortion there. He's the reason I rate the film so highly.

The book was published in 1940, 20 years before To Kill A Mockingbird, published in 1960. The classic film versions of both films came out in the 1960's so many people think they were contemporary books, especially because the film Lonely Hunter was in color. The film version of Mockingbird was in black and white and seems truer to the earlier time period. What's interesting is how little changed in the 20 years between the time of the two books published.