Unhappily married Richard Mason concocts a meticulous scheme to kill his shrewish wife so that he'll be free to marry her sister.
Acting
Bogart's most unlikable role—he's sweating desperation, not cool.
Direction
Bernhardt's shadows know Richard's guilt before he admits it.
Cinematography
That mountain road dissolve—dream logic made literal.
Director
Curtis Bernhardt
Humphrey Bogart
Richard Mason
Alexis Smith
Evelyn Turner
Sydney Greenstreet
Mark Hamilton
Rose Hobart
Kathryn Mason
Charles Drake
Norman Holsworth
Grant Mitchell
Dr. Grant
Patrick O'Moore
Egan
Ann Shoemaker
Nora Grant
Edwin Stanley
Phillips (uncredited)
Frank Wilcox
Freston (uncredited)
Bess Flowers
Guest at Rainbow Lodge (uncredited)
Oliver Blake
Pawnbroker #1 (uncredited)
Harlan Briggs
Pawnbroker #2 (uncredited)
John Harmon
Pickpocket (uncredited)
Mary Servoss
Apartment Owner (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Bogart fought hard against this role, fearing audiences wouldn't accept him as a cowardly villain; Warner Bros. loaned him out briefly to teach him a lesson.
Released as WWII ended, the film channels returning soldiers' anxiety about domestic entrapment and women who 'kept the home fires burning'—uncomfortably.
US
