After discovering the dead body of her teenage daughter's lover, a housewife takes desperate measures to protect her family from scandal.
Direction
Ophüls' camera glides like a predator circling prey.
Acting
Joan Bennett's controlled panic should be studied.
Cinematography
Shadows eat the American dream alive.
Director
Max Ophüls
James Mason
Martin Donnelly
Joan Bennett
Lucia Harper
Geraldine Brooks
Bea Harper
Henry O'Neill
Tom Harper
Shepperd Strudwick
Ted Darby
Roy Roberts
Nagel
Jessie Arnold
Old Lady (uncredited)
Al Bain
Man (uncredited)
Gail Bonney
Woman (uncredited)
Chet Brandenburg
Department Store Customer (uncredited)
Peter Brocco
Pete the Bartender (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Ophüls famously said this was his only 'American' film because it's about money—specifically, the $5,000 blackmail that drives every desperate choice.
The studio chopped 12 minutes and a different ending; Ophüls disowned the release version. What survives is still devastating.
US
