Fantastic film noir!
James Ellroy, author of L.A. Confidential and noir connoisseur, describes this film as “a masterpiece of sexual creepiness, institutional corruption and suffocating, ugly passion“.
The film produced by Sam Spiegel and John Huston and written by black-listed Dalton Trumbo, adds something new to the game: the homme fatale. Or how else would you call a nefarious cop (played by Van Heflin) who stalks a lonely, repressed Los Angeles housewife (played by Evelyn Keyes, the then wife of John Huston) and decides to win her in the traditional noir trademark, by murdering her husband?
For years a film which was almost impossible to watch, due to the fact that it was not produced by a major studio, it has been since its restoration the receiver of much deserved praise from critics and fans alike.
Not to be missed