A fascinating movie, sort of Faust goes film noir, which gives a rare lead role to Thomas Mitchell as an honest DA tempted by devilish Ray Milland. You'd normally expect the roles to be played the other way around but this gives the film an air of real difference. Mitchell oozes age and experience and you can understand why someone like him would be tempted into a dalliance with a trashy blonde thing sent to him by Milland. And Milland is a perfect devil.
Director John Farrow was famous for this Catholicism - I wonder if he helped initiate this, with it's issues of guilt, torment, conscience, temptation, adultery, a long-suffering and forgiving wife, etc. There's a friendly man of God who helps Mitchell (likeable priests were always popping up in Farrow movies), in part by telling him that a confession has wiped out all his sins.
Mitchell and Milland are very good. Audrey Trotter isn't that great as the femme fetale, not very pretty - but this is at least different. The guy who plays the priest is creepy and the woman who plays Mitchell's wife is very bland.
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