- An artist forms an attachment with a woman on holiday in the country. As the relationship develops, his behavior and information about his past cause her increasing concern.
- Sally Morton and Geoffrey Carroll, the latter a struggling artist, get married following the passing of Geoffrey's invalid first wife. Despite quickly falling in love with him, Sally never thought she would marry him when she discovered that he was already married - regardless of his vow to get a divorce - the first Mrs. Carroll's passing which changed the situation. The period of the first Mrs. Carroll's illness arguably resulted in Geoffrey's greatest works, including a portrait of her as the Angel of Death. While Sally brings a house in small town Ashton and a rough-around-the-edges housekeeper named Christine, Geoffrey brings a preteen daughter Bea into the marriage, Bea who openly welcomes Sally into the Carroll family. Their happiness begins to change when Cecily Latham commissions Geoffrey to paint her portrait, Cecily and her mother introduced to the Carrolls by London lawyer, Charles Pennington, Sally's former fiancé, who, while still in love with her, is happy that she is happy in her married life. Their meeting was not solely for the purpose of the commission as Cecily had fallen in love with Geoffrey in previously having seen him in town, he who eventually falls in love with her. In his insanity, Geoffrey starts to plot for Sally to befall the same "true" fate of the first Mrs. Carroll in both wanting to be with another woman and setting up a situation for his artistic genius to come to light.—Huggo
- Struggling artist Geoffrey Carroll meets Sally whilst on holiday in the country. A romance develops but he doesn't tell her he's already married. Suffering from mental illness, Geoffrey returns home where he paints an impression of his wife as the angel of death and then promptly poisons her. He marries Sally but after a while he finds a strange urge to paint her as the angel of death too and history seems about to repeat itself.—Col Needham <col@imdb.com>
- Gerry Carroll (Humphrey Bogart) is an artist on a fishing trip. He meets Sally (Barbara Stanwyck) and is taken with her beauty. While they are out fishing, he spends more time sketching her than fishing. She is swayed by his attention and soon they are in love. When a rainstorm drives them under a tree, Gerry removes his jacket and hands it to Sally so that he can retrieve his gear. An envelope falls from the jacket's pocket and, as Sally picks it up, she sees it is addressed to Gerry's wife. When she confronts him, Gerry admits he is married but quickly explains that his is a marriage in name only. His wife is an invalid and has been since the birth of their child. The letter is to ask his wife for a divorce, so that he and Sally can pursue their romance unburdened by his marriage. Sally storms off and Gerry returns home.
Gerry returns home, troubled by headaches, which are treated by a doctor. Soon, his wife dies and he is free to marry Sally. He begins work on a portrait of Sally, his new wife, but does not want her to see the portrait until it is finished.
One evening, Gerry's daughter is packing to go away to school. As Sally helps her pack, they begin to talk about her mother, Gerry's former wife. The daughter tells Sally how much her mother loved sports. She was even able to beat her father at tennis. Sally probes about her mother's illness and learns that Gerry's wife was not an invalid at all. Gerry has lied to her. The daughter tells her that Gerry's first wife died suddenly, shortly after Gerry had finished a portrait of her painted as the angel of death. Her death occurred shortly after Gerry returned from a fishing holiday, the same holiday where he met Sally. Sally and the daughter use Gerry's key to enter his locked studio. There they find the portrait of Sally, who has also been painted as the angel of death.
Meanwhile Gerry has been visiting a chemist, paying cash and purchasing a substance under an assumed name, Mr. Fleming. He returns home that evening to find Sally a bit distant and suspicious. He cannot get her to tell him what is wrong, though he is suspicious that someone has told her something to upset her. She claims to be tired and heads for bed. First, Gerry insists on bringing her a glass of milk, as is his habit every evening.
While Gerry is distracted by the phone, Sally dumps the milk out the window, fearing it contains poison. She retires to her bedroom and locks the door. Downstairs, Gerry sees where some of the milk has been spilled by the window. He realizes Sally has not drunk the tainted milk; she must know his plan. Trying to decide what to do, he glimpses a headline about a murderer who breaks in homes and strangles his victims. Gerry becomes frantic, stages a break in, trashes the room, and goes to the bedroom to find that Sally has locked him out. He cannot convince her to open the door.
Sally is able to make a quick phone call just before Gerry pulls the telephone wire. He enters the bedroom from the window and, during their confrontation, his intention is plain. He must kill Sally; he is driven by madness. The police arrive in the nick of time and take Gerry off to jail, but not before he offers them a glass of milk.
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