Unlike the classic film noir Double Indemnity where a scheming couple does in the woman's husband, here Humphrey Bogart plays engineer Richard Mason who decides to murder his wife after falling in love with his wife's sister without finding out first whether she is interested in him. Hardly a believable or credible scenario!
Richard indeed goes ahead and murders wife Kathryn (Rose Hobart) on a deserted mountain road only to be rejected by the sister Evelyn (Alexis Smith) soon afterward. Not a very smart guy nor likeable in the least. Maybe this is why initially Bogart rejected the script when it was offered to him (the studio forced him to take on the project threatening not to promote another picture of his being released around the same time).
So nothing happens between Richard and Evelyn, who eventually seems to end up with College Professor Norman Holsworth (Charles Drake), an irrelevant subplot.
Conflict becomes something of a mystery when items belonging to Kathryn suddenly turn up and Richard believes he saw his dead wife walking on the street. Are these occurrences simply hallucinations and reflective of a breakdown Richard is now experiencing?
The answer is negative. It's a complicated ruse concocted by Richard's psychoanalyst friend Dr. Mark Hamilton (Sydney Greenstreet) who realizes early on that Richard is guilty. So, working with the police, they pull off an elaborate scheme involving several people to draw Richard back to the crime scene where he will incriminate himself.
That's what happens-end of story. The ruse or scheme or whatever you want to call it is a payoff which is a little too hard to believe.
While the acting is decent enough, the main character is too unlikable and plot too far-fetched for anyone to take much interest in it.
Richard indeed goes ahead and murders wife Kathryn (Rose Hobart) on a deserted mountain road only to be rejected by the sister Evelyn (Alexis Smith) soon afterward. Not a very smart guy nor likeable in the least. Maybe this is why initially Bogart rejected the script when it was offered to him (the studio forced him to take on the project threatening not to promote another picture of his being released around the same time).
So nothing happens between Richard and Evelyn, who eventually seems to end up with College Professor Norman Holsworth (Charles Drake), an irrelevant subplot.
Conflict becomes something of a mystery when items belonging to Kathryn suddenly turn up and Richard believes he saw his dead wife walking on the street. Are these occurrences simply hallucinations and reflective of a breakdown Richard is now experiencing?
The answer is negative. It's a complicated ruse concocted by Richard's psychoanalyst friend Dr. Mark Hamilton (Sydney Greenstreet) who realizes early on that Richard is guilty. So, working with the police, they pull off an elaborate scheme involving several people to draw Richard back to the crime scene where he will incriminate himself.
That's what happens-end of story. The ruse or scheme or whatever you want to call it is a payoff which is a little too hard to believe.
While the acting is decent enough, the main character is too unlikable and plot too far-fetched for anyone to take much interest in it.