"Woman in the Dark" is based on a Dashiell Hammett novella of the same name, serialized in "Liberty" Magazine in 1933. Despite the fairly distinguished cast (Ralph Bellamy as an ex-con just trying to mind his own business, Fay Wray as the imperiled woman of the title, and Melvyn Douglas as the rich, vindictive louse whose affection for Wray is not mutual), there are no standout performances; the film is interesting mainly for its fidelity to the source material. Subtitled 'A Novel of Dangerous Romance' when it was first published, "Woman in the Dark" marked a turning point for Hammett as he moved away from the tough pulp minimalism of his earlier work towards a more suave, mainstream style, and this is reflected in the film. It *is* a hard-boiled crime story, of course, but a pretty anemic one compared to "The Maltese Falcon" or "The Glass Key." (And it looks cheap: not quite as cheap as a Poverty Row production from the same era, but nearly so.)
Not boring, but utterly average. As always, read the book first if possible; you'll see how difficult it was for filmmakers to capture the magic of Hammett's writing, even when the work they were adapting was not his most ambitious.
Not boring, but utterly average. As always, read the book first if possible; you'll see how difficult it was for filmmakers to capture the magic of Hammett's writing, even when the work they were adapting was not his most ambitious.