A couple is getting married; but a guy comes forward to say that the bride is already someone's wife. What's the deal? Well, David (Robert Ryan) and Ellen (Claudet Colbert) are going to find out.
Ominously, no one in the house staff seems to know David when he arrives at the wedding mansion. Ellen's aunt Claire (Jane Cowl) jokes a bit with her that she was supposed to have married Eric (Paul Kelly). Then we meet Ellen's guardian, Gregory (Philip Ober). Time for the ceremony.
She was married to Lucien (Dave Barbour) says the interloper. It checks out. She wasn't where she was supposed to have been that day; in fact she was in the town where the previous ceremony took place. But she claims to not even know Lucien. Now we get the backstory from Claire that Ellen had been close to a breakdown.
Sure enough, It's her signature on the marriage documents with Lucien. When they go to see the officiant at the Lucien/Ellen wedding, everyone recognizes her. Now even Claire and Eric start to doubt her. The consensus is they've got to find this Lucien to find out what's going on.
We find Ellen alone, thinking back: a flashback. Her on the beach, by a swanky house, with a guy. When she gets away from the memory, Ellen immediately phones David. She claims that she's cleared up the whole mess. The hotel maid recalls her honeymoon though, with Lucien, that is. "Nice seeing you again." The maid pops back in just as David arrives.
Her memory that ends with her holding a seashell doesn't mean much; she was with a guy. Later, they go to see Lucien, who's with a bunch of musicians. Lucien approaches her, calls her his wife. She is taken aback: how does he know her? It becomes stranger when a shot is heard from the closed room. He's been shot dead.
Of course she's the one and only suspect. She insists that not only did she not kill Lucien, she'd never met him before. No prints on the gun, anyway. It was Claire's gun. Actually, Eric, who's the D.A., had been Ellen's jilted boyfriend (also the loudmouth at the wedding). David is so upset he slugs the D.A.
Later, David comes to Gregory's office with maybe some good news. It seems that Lucien was a blackmailer; that's no good, though, as that gives Ellen more of a motive. A former lover of Lucien's related that he thought that Ellen was dangerous. With Ellen on the stand, Eric implies that she'd been blackmailing Lucien.
Gregory objects in that Eric is not only defaming her, but his personal interest in the case means his intrinsically biased. She starts to lose it; Gregory changes her plea to "guilty by reason of insanity." She's being evaluated at an institution for diagnostic purposes; no "unconscious aggression" detected.
David talks to Claire--she pretty much thinks that Ellen's lost. Nonetheless, he goes to the institution; the doctor says Ellen's living in an "opaque" world. He goes through her things, and finds the tell-tale seashell. Maybe more clues at the beach? Hmm, back to the county records office to check up on the clerk's memory of Ellen.
That guy remembers a scar on her hand. Next stop is the hotel where Ellen stayed recently. Now the maid doesn't remember "the Randall's". He plans to meet her at her room later; looks like a set-up. Very noirish atmosphere: sure enough, amid shadows and lights, she gets strangled before David gets there. So, he finds the body, and the murder weapon.
Wisely, he leaves. Some creepy possibilities; like a guy lurking in his backseat set to strangle him. It's the interloper from the wedding, a friend of Lucien's. Screeching to a halt, David runs away from the car--pretty soon they're fighting. David wins. Yeah, the guy framed Ellen. The judge and make were paid to act their parts in this plot. He killed the maid--but Lucien?
Leave that problem for the cops. On the way there, though, Eric manages to hurl himself out of the car. Is he dead too? Back at the institution, Ellen's playing away at the piano. David and Gregory come by to fill her in. She seems catatonic. "We have proof that you never married (Lucien) Randle." And she could have killed him either.
She comes to life, but then freaks out. What's going on with her now? At her family home, she, David, Claire, Eric and Gregory get together-"she's not insane, she never was" says David. Really? She pulls a gun on Claire and Gregory." To Gregory: "You had me locked up like an animal!" Aha! It's Gregory who's the bad guy; he'd likewise been put-away by her father years before.
It's literally kill or be killed. She has the gun. She knows, that, given her history, she'll never see the light of day if she pulls the trigger. Fortunately, David intervenes: but she looks like the nut, ranting and raving, holding a gun on Gregory. Pleading with David, Eric shows his hand, so to speak, by wielding an ax. David manages to push him back; a falling hunk of debris finishes him off. The end.
The last half hour or so is very good noir; the rest is a decent mystery. That's ok, but there's a substantial change in tone and atmosphere. It's like half a Hitchcock movie. The ending leaves some loose ends, but the revelation that the trusted Gregory is the bad guy is enough to let things fall into place.
The main problem is Eric's unseemly presence in the courtroom. There's just no way that he would've been an appropriate choice as prosecutor. I see that it was Gregory's strategy to allow this, dingbat Ellen wouldn't walk away. And, again in half-Hitchcock style, the nutty, ax-wielding Gregory is sort of conjured out of thin air from his previous avuncular role. It's an interesting subplot, but it's just too much of a switch, too abruptly.
Almost as contrived is Ellen's "sickness." I understand that mental states can be episodic, but she seems to lose it as if on cue. A breakdown in a courtroom doesn't equate to a total breakdown, it's a reaction to stress.
There's enough good stuff here to entertain us; but it's a bit disappointing, nonetheless.
Ominously, no one in the house staff seems to know David when he arrives at the wedding mansion. Ellen's aunt Claire (Jane Cowl) jokes a bit with her that she was supposed to have married Eric (Paul Kelly). Then we meet Ellen's guardian, Gregory (Philip Ober). Time for the ceremony.
She was married to Lucien (Dave Barbour) says the interloper. It checks out. She wasn't where she was supposed to have been that day; in fact she was in the town where the previous ceremony took place. But she claims to not even know Lucien. Now we get the backstory from Claire that Ellen had been close to a breakdown.
Sure enough, It's her signature on the marriage documents with Lucien. When they go to see the officiant at the Lucien/Ellen wedding, everyone recognizes her. Now even Claire and Eric start to doubt her. The consensus is they've got to find this Lucien to find out what's going on.
We find Ellen alone, thinking back: a flashback. Her on the beach, by a swanky house, with a guy. When she gets away from the memory, Ellen immediately phones David. She claims that she's cleared up the whole mess. The hotel maid recalls her honeymoon though, with Lucien, that is. "Nice seeing you again." The maid pops back in just as David arrives.
Her memory that ends with her holding a seashell doesn't mean much; she was with a guy. Later, they go to see Lucien, who's with a bunch of musicians. Lucien approaches her, calls her his wife. She is taken aback: how does he know her? It becomes stranger when a shot is heard from the closed room. He's been shot dead.
Of course she's the one and only suspect. She insists that not only did she not kill Lucien, she'd never met him before. No prints on the gun, anyway. It was Claire's gun. Actually, Eric, who's the D.A., had been Ellen's jilted boyfriend (also the loudmouth at the wedding). David is so upset he slugs the D.A.
Later, David comes to Gregory's office with maybe some good news. It seems that Lucien was a blackmailer; that's no good, though, as that gives Ellen more of a motive. A former lover of Lucien's related that he thought that Ellen was dangerous. With Ellen on the stand, Eric implies that she'd been blackmailing Lucien.
Gregory objects in that Eric is not only defaming her, but his personal interest in the case means his intrinsically biased. She starts to lose it; Gregory changes her plea to "guilty by reason of insanity." She's being evaluated at an institution for diagnostic purposes; no "unconscious aggression" detected.
David talks to Claire--she pretty much thinks that Ellen's lost. Nonetheless, he goes to the institution; the doctor says Ellen's living in an "opaque" world. He goes through her things, and finds the tell-tale seashell. Maybe more clues at the beach? Hmm, back to the county records office to check up on the clerk's memory of Ellen.
That guy remembers a scar on her hand. Next stop is the hotel where Ellen stayed recently. Now the maid doesn't remember "the Randall's". He plans to meet her at her room later; looks like a set-up. Very noirish atmosphere: sure enough, amid shadows and lights, she gets strangled before David gets there. So, he finds the body, and the murder weapon.
Wisely, he leaves. Some creepy possibilities; like a guy lurking in his backseat set to strangle him. It's the interloper from the wedding, a friend of Lucien's. Screeching to a halt, David runs away from the car--pretty soon they're fighting. David wins. Yeah, the guy framed Ellen. The judge and make were paid to act their parts in this plot. He killed the maid--but Lucien?
Leave that problem for the cops. On the way there, though, Eric manages to hurl himself out of the car. Is he dead too? Back at the institution, Ellen's playing away at the piano. David and Gregory come by to fill her in. She seems catatonic. "We have proof that you never married (Lucien) Randle." And she could have killed him either.
She comes to life, but then freaks out. What's going on with her now? At her family home, she, David, Claire, Eric and Gregory get together-"she's not insane, she never was" says David. Really? She pulls a gun on Claire and Gregory." To Gregory: "You had me locked up like an animal!" Aha! It's Gregory who's the bad guy; he'd likewise been put-away by her father years before.
It's literally kill or be killed. She has the gun. She knows, that, given her history, she'll never see the light of day if she pulls the trigger. Fortunately, David intervenes: but she looks like the nut, ranting and raving, holding a gun on Gregory. Pleading with David, Eric shows his hand, so to speak, by wielding an ax. David manages to push him back; a falling hunk of debris finishes him off. The end.
The last half hour or so is very good noir; the rest is a decent mystery. That's ok, but there's a substantial change in tone and atmosphere. It's like half a Hitchcock movie. The ending leaves some loose ends, but the revelation that the trusted Gregory is the bad guy is enough to let things fall into place.
The main problem is Eric's unseemly presence in the courtroom. There's just no way that he would've been an appropriate choice as prosecutor. I see that it was Gregory's strategy to allow this, dingbat Ellen wouldn't walk away. And, again in half-Hitchcock style, the nutty, ax-wielding Gregory is sort of conjured out of thin air from his previous avuncular role. It's an interesting subplot, but it's just too much of a switch, too abruptly.
Almost as contrived is Ellen's "sickness." I understand that mental states can be episodic, but she seems to lose it as if on cue. A breakdown in a courtroom doesn't equate to a total breakdown, it's a reaction to stress.
There's enough good stuff here to entertain us; but it's a bit disappointing, nonetheless.