Ah, the life of Dr. Richard Talbot...fine medical practice, wife and two kids, nice house in San Francisco, cabin in the mountains...then one day he meets--Nora Prentiss.
Talbot (Kent Smith) treats nightclub singer Nora Prentiss (Ann Sheridan) after a minor accident and then falls madly in love with her. His stuck-in-a-rut lifestyle, as well as his fussy, petulant wife (Rosemary DeCamp) send him over the edge, and the viewer can't blame him much. Talbot desperately wants to be with Prentiss, but can't bring himself to ask for a divorce, then in desperation fakes his death using the body of a patient who has dropped dead in his office.
Talbot and Prentiss then move to New York, where Talbot can't practice (he's supposedly dead) and doesn't tell Prentiss about his faked death. Eventually he confesses, steals Prentiss' boss' (Robert Alda's) car and crashes it, horribly disfiguring himself. Talbot is arrested, hauled back to San Francisco, and because everyone thinks he's someone else, is tried for his own murder! The final scene with Talbot going to the electric chair is good but unrelentingly downbeat.
I liked "Nora Prentiss" because of its attractive cast, good story, and interesting plot. Vincent Sherman directs in sure if not spectacular style. The presence of such actors as Bruce Bennett and an unbilled Roy Gordon add much to the movie. My big objection--and it's common among 1940s films--are the smart-mouthed, sarcastic, know-it-all cops who arrest Talbot. If the movie police were so smart, why didn't they figure out the real story?
Talbot (Kent Smith) treats nightclub singer Nora Prentiss (Ann Sheridan) after a minor accident and then falls madly in love with her. His stuck-in-a-rut lifestyle, as well as his fussy, petulant wife (Rosemary DeCamp) send him over the edge, and the viewer can't blame him much. Talbot desperately wants to be with Prentiss, but can't bring himself to ask for a divorce, then in desperation fakes his death using the body of a patient who has dropped dead in his office.
Talbot and Prentiss then move to New York, where Talbot can't practice (he's supposedly dead) and doesn't tell Prentiss about his faked death. Eventually he confesses, steals Prentiss' boss' (Robert Alda's) car and crashes it, horribly disfiguring himself. Talbot is arrested, hauled back to San Francisco, and because everyone thinks he's someone else, is tried for his own murder! The final scene with Talbot going to the electric chair is good but unrelentingly downbeat.
I liked "Nora Prentiss" because of its attractive cast, good story, and interesting plot. Vincent Sherman directs in sure if not spectacular style. The presence of such actors as Bruce Bennett and an unbilled Roy Gordon add much to the movie. My big objection--and it's common among 1940s films--are the smart-mouthed, sarcastic, know-it-all cops who arrest Talbot. If the movie police were so smart, why didn't they figure out the real story?