

A police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he's investigating.
Acting
Clifton Webb's waspish Waldo—cruel, camp, devastating
Cinematography
That portrait lighting: she's always watching you
Writing
Dialogue so sharp it'll leave marks

Director
Otto Preminger
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
David Raksin's theme became a jazz standard; 20th Century Fox had to be begged to keep it in the film.
Preminger fought the Hays Code to keep Waldo's implied homosexuality and drug use—subtext that screams through Clifton Webb's performance.