Janet Frobisher is a successful writer of mystery novels who lives in a remote house on the Yorkshire Moors. She is estranged from her husband, a man with criminal tendencies, and is having an affair with the fiancé of her secretary. One day she returns home to find a strange man, He identifies himself as a criminal associate of her husband. At first she tells him that her husband is not there but eventually admits that he is... but he is dead! She poisoned him. The interloper offers to help her get rid of the body and then starts impersonating the dead man who none of the locals appear to have met. He quickly makes life very difficult for her. Tensions rise but he may not be as easy to get rid of as her husband. Things are only complicated by the curious local vet.
If you enjoy melodrama then this is the film for you. Protagonist Janet is clearly not a good person but, largely thanks to Bette Davis's delightful performance, is likeable in the way one can only really like somebody if they are fictional. Gary Merrill, Bette Davis's real life husband, is equally solid as the antagonist... a character who is deliberately unlikeable. The rest of the cast is solid if distinctly secondary. While most of the action takes place within the house the occasional outdoor scene gives a sense of the isolated moorland setting. The rules of the genre mean most viewers will know what to expect in the end but seeing how we'll get there and the exact details are a lot of fun. Overall a solid melodrama that fans of the genre will want to see.
If you enjoy melodrama then this is the film for you. Protagonist Janet is clearly not a good person but, largely thanks to Bette Davis's delightful performance, is likeable in the way one can only really like somebody if they are fictional. Gary Merrill, Bette Davis's real life husband, is equally solid as the antagonist... a character who is deliberately unlikeable. The rest of the cast is solid if distinctly secondary. While most of the action takes place within the house the occasional outdoor scene gives a sense of the isolated moorland setting. The rules of the genre mean most viewers will know what to expect in the end but seeing how we'll get there and the exact details are a lot of fun. Overall a solid melodrama that fans of the genre will want to see.