This has little of the insinuating nature of the best film noir, as Lana Turner and John Garfield go from 0 to 60 in their first scene together. She plays a simmering housewife; he plays the handyman hired by her husband (Cecil Kellaway). They hardly wait until he leaves the room to plan his murder. Still, the second half, which follows the guilt-ridden fallout, has a surprising amount of vindictive treachery, while director Tay Garnett makes the most of a deadly scene set on a mountain pass. The haunting echoes of the characters’ voices stand in nicely for their consciences.
