The well-heeled wife of an architect kills a burglar in her home and declares it self-defense...however, there's more to her story than she's letting on. Tatty, uncredited updating of the W. Somerset Maugham/Bette Davis chestnut "The Letter" foolishly replaces the infamous smoking gun with a knife--which lessens the dramatic impact of the crime right there! There's also a bust of Ann Sheridan used as a red herring (it gets schlepped from address to address, and then vanishes completely), not to mention a grieving widow who can't wait to get into court and tell all of Los Angeles that her husband cheated on her. Sheridan performs the central role in near catatonia, her sad mouth always down-turned, while screenwriters David Goodis and James Gunn give all the brightest lines to society girlfriend Eve Arden (as a goosey, gossiping relative). Lew Ayres plays a bachelor friend--a divorce lawyer who suddenly turns criminal trial lawyer!--while wide-eyed, incredulous-looking Zachary Scott is miscast as Sheridan's husband. Long at 109 minutes, the film is not well-paced nor well-written, but does have moments of intriguing, masochistic melodrama. ** from ****
Review of The Unfaithful
