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"The Unholy Wife" is not quite as sensational as a plot summary might make it sound. The femme fatale lead character does perpetrate a nasty little scheme, but it does not add up to a great deal. John Farrow's matter-of-fact directing style is partly responsible. A larger problem is in the impersonation by Diana Dors. Not a bad actress, really, sex goddess Dors just never seems as selfishly malevolent as her character is supposed to be. Things seem to happen around her, and she gets ideas from others as well.There is definite camp appeal in watching Dors swivel down the ludicrously shadowy hallways of her husband's mansion, her impossibly complicated hairdo cascading around a Monroe-esquire facial expression. This is the kind of picture in which the viewer cannot wait for the heroine to do something evil. But, as indicated, Dors never really delivers. Considering her one violent act, she is probably merely stupid.Rod Steiger does an early one of his 'nearly crazy' types here, mercurial but volatile. Beulah Bondi is non-stop hysterical. And the unfortunate Tom Tryon serves little purpose than to look good.Yet, the whole thing has a luridly Technicolor, tabloid quality that is not without a certain appeal. It's interesting as the kind of B movie that--in a rather mild way--reflects an era (1957) of whispered sexuality and sensationalized scandal.
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