This is one of those classic Hollywood films whose title everyone has heard of but probably rather fewer have actually watched. It’s based on a crime novel that was very popular in its day and thus was a popular subject for film adaptations. In fact, there are so many that I was confused about which one was supposed to be the famous one and picked this from the Golden Age of Hollywood. While it’s true that this certainly is the most famous of the adaptations, I’m not sure that it’s the best one.

Frank Chambers is a wandering worker who happens on a diner owned by the portly and middle-aged Nick Smith. Smith eagerly hires Frank while the latter is surprised to note that the wife Cora Smith is a significantly younger and very beautiful woman. As weeks pass, the sexual tension between Frank and Cora increases as both are obviously attracted to each other while Nick remains affably oblivious. They discuss running away together but Cora realizes that she cannot live a penniless life on the road. After witnessing Nick narrowly escape an accident, they realize that they can murder Nick so that Cora will inherit everything and the two of them can be together. They nervously plan and carry out the plan but Nick survives without knowing anything and the local District Attorney becomes suspicious of them. When Nick decides to sell the diner and move to Canada, bringing Cora with him, the pair decide to try again.

The atmosphere and setup here is vaguely reminiscent of Hitchcock as my wife notes, as the threat of murder is constantly in the air. Unfortunately director Tay Garnett who seems to otherwise have had an unremarkable career possesses none of Hitchcock’s brilliance as the dark hints never lead to anything interesting. In fact, and this may be an artefact of watching this through modern eyes, the film constantly frustrates the audience by teasing twists that then turn out to amount to nothing. For example, Nick is so willfully blind and accommodating to Frank and Cora’s liaisons that I thought he is the one with a nefarious plan but, no, it’s played straight and he really is a bumbling fool. Another is when Cora suddenly leaves to care for her sick mother and you think this is when she carries out a plan to betray Frank in turn but then nothing comes out of it. The film is so bereft of twists then it feels weird to someone like me who have come to expect them.

Compound this with how on the nose the film is, such as the way that the Attorney-General is on to them right from the start and the fact that John Garfield is only a mediocre male lead as Frank Chambers and this is a difficult film to like. Lana Turner is considered one of the great beauties of Golden Age Hollywood and I don’t believe I’ve ever watched any of her films before this. She is beautiful of course and her performance here is good but that’s not exactly enough to redeem the film as a whole. I’d chalk this up as one of those classics that was good in its heyday but has long since been superseded by better works. I find it only average today.