E.V. Marshall sells plots of land for a Real Estate Tycoon, but his obsession leads him towards the only plot that matters...the six-feet-under kind! Legendary Director Michael Curtiz winds this story up and lets it go in style, as the taught pacing builds suspense and allows the characters to grow and change as people in a believable fashion. DP Lionel Lindon’s competent photography frames the story in close-ups that drip with sexuality, while utilizing low-key lighting and deep shadow to great effect.
E.V. Marshall or Marsh (Tom Tryon) is embedded in an affair with his boss’ wife Pauline Nevins (Carol Ohmart). His employer Ralph Nevins (James Gregory) is a successful businessman who suspects his wife is involved in an affair but not sure with whom. Pauline is significantly younger than her husband and her demand for a divorce has been pugilistically denied. But she and Marsh need money to run away together and start a new life, so undivine intervention in the form of an overheard robbery plan gives them hope for a big payday. The plan: steal the stolen jewels from a trio of felons! You know this just isn’t going to end well.
We get classic noir elements with the violent and jealous husband, the good-looking obsessive paramour, the beautiful and vivacious gold-digging wife, the naive “other girl”, a group of desperate thugs, shootouts, cold-blooded murder and a suggested suicide with a few surprising plot twists to keep things interesting. We also get two intelligent police detectives and their use of a forensic firearm examination. Curtiz sets the tone in the first few scenes as the first close-up, in a rear-view mirror, is of a beautiful woman applying lipstick, her expression one of sly sensuality. Thus, we meet Pauline and Marsh, their extramarital excursion on a lonely road full of anxiety and hormones, afraid that approaching headlights belong to her husband. Unfortunately, the car is full of a gaggle of gangsters who chose this desolate place to discuss their plan! As the story unfolds, we see the changes in Marsh and Pauline, and both Tom Tryon and Carol Ohmart play their parts wonderfully. Marsh is a man of good intentions who makes bad decisions, and he gradually attempts to make amends and suffer his consequences. Pauline has our compassion in the first act, suffering bruises and black eyes from her husband’s fisticuffs, but her true personality begins to appear, crystalline and sharp like broken glass. She may have grown up poor but it’s her moral poverty that damns her.
Final Grade: (B+)
