At the end of World War Two, the British film industry had brief dreams of world domination - things went so well for them during the war, with a whole host of new stars, and the emergence of tycoons like Korda and Rank. Rank in particular made a stab at US glory only to come a cropper, although he had his moments (Caesar and Cleopatra, Henry V, The Red Shoes).
Rank would have been particularly disappointed with the reception to this one, which would have seemed it had the elements to break through - it was distributed by Eagle Lion, a company in which he had money, had Margaret Lockwood coming off The Wicked Lady, featured a Hollywood "name"-ish co star, Ian Hunter, and was based on a novel by Vera Caspary who just had a big hit with Laura.
Caspary's story is great - it's about a man who marries a woman and discovers she has a tendency to knock off her husbands. That's solid, with elements of Rebecca (there's even a bitchy housekeeper), Bluebeard, Suspicion and Leave Her to Heaven. There was no reason this couldn't have made a terrific thriller like Laura with the right casting and handling but it misses the mark.
The cast aren't quite right- Lockwood is okay and probably would have been fine in a better film but can't transcend her material (she does some decent hysterical acting). Ian Hunter is alright, although he played this ignorant husband role far too often in Hollywood (the Herbert Marshall part), and a really gifted actor could have made something of this. Barry Barnes is terrible in a role that cried out for a Stewart Granger or James Mason, someone with balls not this wet drip. Anne Crawford is underwhelming in what could have been a neat support role, the girl with a yen for Hunter.
The script also has a lot of problems. There's no emotional undercurrent - we never really feel that Hunter loves Lockwood and aren't sure what she feels about him. Barnes has no emotional connection to the story (why not personalise it? Have him avenging a dead friend/relative and also fall for Lockwood?). Key moments aren't dramatised - we never get the sense that Hunter's life is in danger, Crawford/Barnes are never threatened. The only one you're worried about is Lockwood.
Occasionally there's some effective moments like when Lockwood cracks it or the wind machine cranks up and things get a little spooky. But in generally they stuffed it. Someone should give thought to remaking this.
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