Joseph Cotten and Jean Peters perform admirably in this little B-film programmer that would have been perfect for a radio program like SUSPENSE.
The slender yarn concerns a man (Cotten) who suspects that a widow (Peters) has committed two murders in order to collect her husband's insurance--and now his nephew is in danger of becoming the next victim.
But their performances can't disguise the fact that Fox has settled for a tale which is really a detective yarn that expects the audience to solve the dilemma facing Joseph Cotten without giving any real clues or facts to bring about a solution. We never know until the final scene whether or not Peters is a murderess. Add to this the fact that the final confrontation between Cotten and Peters has no real payoff once the truth is revealed, thus ending the film on a weak and unsatisfying note.
One gets the "could have been so much better" feeling after watching this, wondering whether a better director or a tighter script could have salvaged the whole thing to give it a sharper edge of suspense and a satisfying climax. Certainly the script could have been improved with regard to the final outcome.
The performances of Cotten, Peters and Gary Merrill are top notch but Catherine McLeod gives a not too subtle display of actressy over-emoting that grates on the nerves. She stands out like a sore thumb among a cast of pros. Furthermore, director Andrew Stone should have had a better control over his material.
The shipboard scenes seem to take place on sets used for Barbara Stanwyck's TITANIC. Passes the time as a mystery but not quite good enough to recommend. Second rate.
The slender yarn concerns a man (Cotten) who suspects that a widow (Peters) has committed two murders in order to collect her husband's insurance--and now his nephew is in danger of becoming the next victim.
But their performances can't disguise the fact that Fox has settled for a tale which is really a detective yarn that expects the audience to solve the dilemma facing Joseph Cotten without giving any real clues or facts to bring about a solution. We never know until the final scene whether or not Peters is a murderess. Add to this the fact that the final confrontation between Cotten and Peters has no real payoff once the truth is revealed, thus ending the film on a weak and unsatisfying note.
One gets the "could have been so much better" feeling after watching this, wondering whether a better director or a tighter script could have salvaged the whole thing to give it a sharper edge of suspense and a satisfying climax. Certainly the script could have been improved with regard to the final outcome.
The performances of Cotten, Peters and Gary Merrill are top notch but Catherine McLeod gives a not too subtle display of actressy over-emoting that grates on the nerves. She stands out like a sore thumb among a cast of pros. Furthermore, director Andrew Stone should have had a better control over his material.
The shipboard scenes seem to take place on sets used for Barbara Stanwyck's TITANIC. Passes the time as a mystery but not quite good enough to recommend. Second rate.