This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Killer Zachary Scott (Ronnie) romances women, kills them and takes their money. So watch out Faye Emerson (Hilda) and sister Mona Freeman (Anne) because he's just moved in to the spare room of your house. And you are both in his sights.Scott is excellent as the psychopath who has no empathy or feelings towards his victims. He is charming and totally evil. All the cast do well but Mona Freeman's personality changes are a bit unbelievable and the shy, indecisiveness of doctor Bruce Bennett (Andrew) is pretty annoying.The film keeps going without any lulls up until its sudden ending which could have better. Up to that point, though, it's good and Scott seems to be in complete control of his scheme……until Emerson fights back with some psychological torture of her own.

Tepid noir too slack for its own good, despite smooth work from both an amoral Scott and a de-glamorized Emerson. Of course, movie buffs will spot a plot line from Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt and actors from Mildred Pierce. In fact, the film as a whole appears cobbled together from each of these betters. However, the main trouble is that director Florey and/or the screenplay fail to generate the kind of suspense the movie depends upon. Thus we get a slack series of developments instead of a driven series once Emerson knows Scott's planning to kill her. As a result, the movie's dark psychological core is dissipated instead of concentrated. Also, the climax is dissipated by having Scott stand around talking instead of more plausibly (and suspensefully) menacing Emerson for poisoning him. Even the final chase scene is drained by an unexpected abruptness, as other reviewers have noted.Too bad, because Scott's Ronnie Mason is one of the most cold-blooded schemers in noir annals. His duel of wits with psychologist DeCamp is, I think, the movie's best scene—both unusually well written and expertly performed. But whose idea was it to cast the handsome ex-Tarzan Bruce Bennett as a timid-soul chemist. Not only are those shrinking traits beyond his range as an actor, but his sheer athletic presence shouts miscasting even louder. My guess is producers wanted someone impressive for leading lady Emerson to fall back on. Still the movie does have Scott, an interesting actor whose early movie career was fascinating, before apparently being diverted into TV by a rafting accident. He certainly had a different look for the time. With sharp features and dagger-like moustache, he's perfect as a certified scoundrel. On the other hand, his sympathetic sharecropper in Renoir's The Southerner (1945) and hapless whipping boy in Flamingo Road (1949) demonstrate a surprising versatility. Anyway, it's too bad that this movie fails to live up to its many promising elements, despite the generous comments from other reviewers.

This film was full of suspense and was well directed, the black and white effect made it a great mystery. Fay Emerson,(Hilda Fenchurch) who was married twice to the famous musician Skitch Henderson and also the son of Elliott Roosevelt, (FDR's Son) fell madly in love with Zachary Scott( Ronnie Mason/Marsh). Ronnie wins the hearts of all the ladies in the picture, even Mona Freeman(Anne Fenchurch) and proposes marriage whenever he can. Rosemary DeCamp (Dr. Jane Silla)(famous radio and tv actress in the 30's and 40's played mostly small town MOM'S) warned the ladies about Ronnie Mason's sick mind, and the abusive childhood he had when growing up, which caused his love/hate relationship with women. Fay Emerson and Zachary Scott would have been greater stars with more rewarding roles, but their lives were short lived in real life. This film is beyond critizing, it is a trully great 1945 film classic for many generations to view and enjoy!

Not the best of the genre, but a well-acted B-flick by a cast of great character actors.The storyline is typical. -- It's the performances that make this fun to watch. Zachary Scott is type-cast as the slimy, shady, kill-for-profit "lady's man" type, played almost exactly as in the A-Films: "Mask of Demetrios" and "Mildred Pierce".Faye Emerson, who often played bad girls in her lead-roles in B-Films, plays the good-girl here. - One who's first fooled by, then catches on-to, Scott's bad-boy character. She's lovely in a hard way, and handles her part like the pro that she was.I enjoyed the supporting role played by Rosemary DeCamp, as a doctor with a slight European accent. After seeing this film, I've since read that doing foreign accents was a specialty of hers. Bruce Bennett (also playing a doctor) does nicely, as well.The film's ending is expected, and slightly disappointing, but the talented cast, the film's tight script, and it's noirish atmosphere more than make up for that.It's short, moves quick, and it's an enjoyable watch. I rated it 6.