Director William Dieterle and cinematographer Leo Tover give a film noir edge and an undertone of L.A. atmosphere & design to this melodramatic psychological thriller about a pair of orphaned sisters, sacrificing Lizabeth Scott and selfish Diana Lynn, with Robert Cummings playing man in the middle. As mother hen to a younger/needy sis, Scott pushes Cummings, who’s both a pal and her boss, Lynn’s way, making excuses for the kid’s bad behavior even when Lynn grows disturbingly possessive after marriage & a baby girl. (Lynn perhaps relishing her role as evil temptress a bit too much.) But even at its most psychologically obvious, the film pulls you into its downward spiral with uncompromising plot twists, neatly setup from an opening flashback that has pregnant Scott barely reaching the hospital for a problematic, possibly deadly delivery. Effective & compelling up & down the line, with even the always lightweight Cummings finding good use for his typically shallow demeanor. Plus some really nice side delights, starting with Scott’s workmate Eve Arden, in the mix for a bit of grownup sass; and Frank McHugh running a cosy steak house that features producer Hal Wallis’s latest discovery Dean Martin on the jukebox.
DOUBLE-BILL: More co-dependent sisters, and another deathbed flashback, in THE HARD WAY/’43, with outstanding work from Ida Lupino, Joan Leslie, Dennis Morgan, Jack Carson & director Vincent Sherman.
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