Part of that sub genre of melodrama about middle-aged women who fall for hot younger spunks and are worried they are just after their cash and possibly want to kill them. Washington Square (without the murder), Gaslight, Suspicion, etc. Hollywood in the 50s seemed particularly fascinated by beach bum studs - Tennessee Williams and William Inge often wrote about them, and Jeff Chandler's character, perennially walking around in tight shorts, fights into that world, as does Joan Crawford's overheated widow.
She was a showgirl who married a Vegas guy who died. She is attracted to Chandler but resists him - then gives in but is worried he's a killer. There's lots of campy subtext here, whether it's Chandler in his tight shorts saying he doesn't like women, talk of forbidden desire from repressed middle aged spinsters who all pant over a beach bum, and quite sexually explicit dialogue. In hindsight you can feel the influence of producer Al Zugmsith, with its black and white photography, jazzy soundtrack and small town salaciousness.
Mrs Howell from Gilligan's Island and Cecil Kellaway are fun as con artists, Charles Drake feels a little wasted as a cop, Jan Sterling tries to out act Joan Crawford but can't match her (it's the eyes), and Chandler makes a good match for Crawford - he doesn't seem too young or anything.
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