

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
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.