Other reviewers here have done a good job describing the plot and praising Montgomery's delightful performance as a scoundrel.
The other lead actors are cast unconventionally. Payne handles a realistic dramatic part very capably and believably. Hayward is very surprisingly convincing as a gentle, soft spoken wife -- showing only briefly, when appropriate, a bit of her usual strong, firey, agressive screen presence. Totter gives a fairly capable performance, though she seems miscast; her sometimes strange facial expressions and mannered body language better suited a character more edgy and dark than the one she's playing here.
I wonder how this cast ended up in this Universal International film. Payne, Hayward, Harry Morgan were all Fox contractees. Totter an MGM player. (Montgomery was freelancing by this time, and made several films released through Universal.)
The other lead actors are cast unconventionally. Payne handles a realistic dramatic part very capably and believably. Hayward is very surprisingly convincing as a gentle, soft spoken wife -- showing only briefly, when appropriate, a bit of her usual strong, firey, agressive screen presence. Totter gives a fairly capable performance, though she seems miscast; her sometimes strange facial expressions and mannered body language better suited a character more edgy and dark than the one she's playing here.
I wonder how this cast ended up in this Universal International film. Payne, Hayward, Harry Morgan were all Fox contractees. Totter an MGM player. (Montgomery was freelancing by this time, and made several films released through Universal.)