bob-959 Reviews

Crime of Passion (1956)

A pre-feminist tantrum? No, "Witness to Murder" reveals the hysteria behind the cardboard image of the '50s happy housewife. - Spoilers

[30 January 2004]

What Eric Chapman doesn't seem to realize when he dismisses "Crime of Passion" as a "pre-feminist tantrum" is that in its day, the movie was subversive and shocking (it still packs something of a punch). It's the story of a career woman (Barbara Stanwyck) who, tn middle age, marries a cop (Sterling Hayden) who forbids her to work, condemning her to a life of luncheons and card games. The triviality and emptiness of this life is so soul-destroying, the Stanwyck character essentially goes crazy, and the movie ends with Hayden arresting his wife for murder. The budget is more than modest, even by 1957 standards, and it's hardly the most cinematic movie in the world, yet it would have worked beautifully on a double bill with socially critical melodramas of the day like Douglas Sirk's "All That Heaven Allows." It's only fair to see "Crime of Passion" in that context.

Witness to Murder (1954)

In this effective, pre-feminist potboiler, the Barbara Stanwyck character is considered an unreliable witness because she's a middle-aged, single, career woman.

[29 January 2004]

In addition to its solid performances, tight storytelling and John Alton's superior cinematography, what makes "Witness to Murder" particularly powerful today is the movie's pre-feminist view of its leading character's dilemma. "But I saw the murder, I SAW the murder," the Stanwyck character insists. Yet no one believes her because 1) she's a woman; 2) she's unmarried; 3) she's menopausal. Nobody even blinks an eye when she's dumped in a mental hospital, which gets viewers really riled because they share her point of view. The audience sees the murder along with Stanwyck and can feel her humiliation, anger and frustration. That's why the movie works.