A calculating divorcée risks her chances at wealth and security with a man she doesn't love by getting involved with a hotheaded murderer.
Acting
Lawrence Tierney's dead-eyed sociopath energy—terrifyingly sexless.
Direction
Wise's shadow work makes San Francisco a moral wasteland.
Writing
Helen chooses killer over mark—script doesn't flinch.
Director
Robert Wise
Claire Trevor
Helen Brent
Lawrence Tierney
Sam Wild
Walter Slezak
Matthew Arnett
Phillip Terry
Fred Grover
Audrey Long
Georgia Staples
Elisha Cook Jr.
Marty
Isabel Jewell
Laury Palmer
Esther Howard
Mrs. Kraft
Kathryn Card
Grace
Tony Barrett
Danny
Grandon Rhodes
Inspector Wilson
Symona Boniface
Gambler at Roulette Table (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Tierney was so convincingly unhinged that studio execs typecast him as killers—then blacklisted him for actual bar brawls.
Wise made this between 'The Body Snatcher' and 'The Set-Up'—his noir trilogy of bodies commodified: medical, sporting, marital.
US
