Anthony Mann directs this movie with the most convoluted and unbelievable plot...but it's still quite entertaining. The secret to watching it is to just ignore the impossibility of everything you see...just enjoy! The film starts with Brenda Marshall as an obsessed research scientist. Her character is very one-dimensional and all she thinks about is her work. Oddly, despite this, her boyfriend adores her (William Gargan) and constantly is pressing her to marry him. Out of the blue, Marshall's female assistant tries to kill her while Marshall is unconscious. She tries to burn Marshall alive but at least succeeds in sending her to the hospital with a disfigured face from the fire. Then, the assistant does everything she can to destroy the relationship between her boss and her fiancé--and she is truly a snake! After getting out of the hospital, Marshall has (thanks to the manipulative 'friend') lost her boyfriend and is alone. Out of the blue, a nasty lady from early in the film returns and tries to rob the Doctor at gunpoint. In an ensuing struggle, the robber is knocked off the apartment balcony to her death MANY stories below. Considering she's wearing the Doctor's ring she just stole and her face was crushed in the fall, people assume it was Marshall. Marshall takes this opportunity to assume the dead woman's life. Then, after getting plastic surgery to look EXACTLY like the dead woman (????), she returns to exact revenge against the assist and the ex-boyfriend she assumed was faithless towards her.
The film is so full of impossible and ridiculous story elements. Attempted murders and a convenient robbery are just the tip of the iceberg of impossibilities. Having Marshall become this other woman due to plastic surgery is silly--especially with 1940s technology. And, in fact, she did NOT look like this other woman--just Marshall with a new hair color and style--yet the people from her past did NOT recognize her!!! None of it makes any sense at all....yet the film is still pretty entertaining and juicy throughout. Unfortunately, the ending is terrible....and pretty much undoes most of the film!! Too bad....this could have been a lot better! By the way, isn't Marshall's nurse the most detestable lady?! I wanted to throttle her as she CONSTANTLY spoke in the third person!
The film is so full of impossible and ridiculous story elements. Attempted murders and a convenient robbery are just the tip of the iceberg of impossibilities. Having Marshall become this other woman due to plastic surgery is silly--especially with 1940s technology. And, in fact, she did NOT look like this other woman--just Marshall with a new hair color and style--yet the people from her past did NOT recognize her!!! None of it makes any sense at all....yet the film is still pretty entertaining and juicy throughout. Unfortunately, the ending is terrible....and pretty much undoes most of the film!! Too bad....this could have been a lot better! By the way, isn't Marshall's nurse the most detestable lady?! I wanted to throttle her as she CONSTANTLY spoke in the third person!