The character played by Mary Beth Hughes has to be one of the biggest tramps in a classic movie, leading on at least two men as far as the audience knows while her husband (Dan Duryea) remains unapologetically drunk. Not only is there the handsome and noble Stephen Barclay, but moody specialty performer Erich von Stroheim who utilizes both Hughes and Duryea in his gun act. How does Hughes sucker von Stroheim into her web? By throwing herself at him without shame and then topping it off with every insult that a femme fatale can think of. Why von Stroheim didn't strangle her there is never explained, but for Hughes, the game has just begun.
This intriguing film noir has Hughes and von Stroheim exchanging conspiracies secretly on a park bench, pretending to be total strangers, much like Stanwyck and MacMurray did in the same year's "Double Indemnity". Pretty lavish coming from Republic, this opens with a mysterious gunshot going off in a supposed burlesque house, and after pandemonium is calmed down, Von Stroheim is found unconscious on the backstage floor comes to in order to explain his story. He's that suspicious creature known as a loner who admittedly hates all mankind, yet is willing to be pulled into Hughes' den of destruction.
The bombastic von Stroheim really is mesmerizing, even though he appears to have been born without smiling muscles. Duryea, one of the great sleazy guys of film noir, is just pathetic here, but as an actor, simply delightful. Esther Howard gets a few good moments as an old dame who is in denial that she's an old dame. But thus is von Stroheim's film all the way, directed in a unique style by film noir and dark western veteran Anthony Mann.
This intriguing film noir has Hughes and von Stroheim exchanging conspiracies secretly on a park bench, pretending to be total strangers, much like Stanwyck and MacMurray did in the same year's "Double Indemnity". Pretty lavish coming from Republic, this opens with a mysterious gunshot going off in a supposed burlesque house, and after pandemonium is calmed down, Von Stroheim is found unconscious on the backstage floor comes to in order to explain his story. He's that suspicious creature known as a loner who admittedly hates all mankind, yet is willing to be pulled into Hughes' den of destruction.
The bombastic von Stroheim really is mesmerizing, even though he appears to have been born without smiling muscles. Duryea, one of the great sleazy guys of film noir, is just pathetic here, but as an actor, simply delightful. Esther Howard gets a few good moments as an old dame who is in denial that she's an old dame. But thus is von Stroheim's film all the way, directed in a unique style by film noir and dark western veteran Anthony Mann.