The film begins with a shooting. While Maureen O'Hara tells the police she shot her protégé, Gloria Graham, her boyfriend (Melvin Douglas) is sure she couldn't have done such a thing. Both tell their side of the story from their perspective and the police wait until Graham recovers from surgery to get at the truth.
This is an okay idea for a film--not great, but it sure could have been a lot better. The main problem is that although this was meant to be a serious suspense/mystery film, there were some characters who were poorly written--mostly the women in the cast. The worst, of course, was the detective's nosy wife. I assume someone thought it would be cute to include her in the story, but frankly she seemed all wrong for the overall mood of the film. On one hand, it was supposed to be a mystery and was rather interesting but on the other, they stuck this obnoxious ditz into the film for comic relief! Comic relief in a film like this just made very little sense. Having this obnoxious lady blundering about was akin to putting Pee Wee Herman in an opera. The other problem is that it simply made little sense to have O'Hara taking responsibility for the shooting--especially once you learn the truth. It just made no sense at all. The final problem, though not as serious, was that the character Graham played was frankly too dumb and flighty. Had they made her more ruthless or just less stupid, the film would have clicked much better. It all seemed as if the writers just couldn't write women's parts well.
Had they worked out these problems, the film might have been very watchable. However, because of these factors, it's only a minor time-passer and not a film to rush to see.
This is an okay idea for a film--not great, but it sure could have been a lot better. The main problem is that although this was meant to be a serious suspense/mystery film, there were some characters who were poorly written--mostly the women in the cast. The worst, of course, was the detective's nosy wife. I assume someone thought it would be cute to include her in the story, but frankly she seemed all wrong for the overall mood of the film. On one hand, it was supposed to be a mystery and was rather interesting but on the other, they stuck this obnoxious ditz into the film for comic relief! Comic relief in a film like this just made very little sense. Having this obnoxious lady blundering about was akin to putting Pee Wee Herman in an opera. The other problem is that it simply made little sense to have O'Hara taking responsibility for the shooting--especially once you learn the truth. It just made no sense at all. The final problem, though not as serious, was that the character Graham played was frankly too dumb and flighty. Had they made her more ruthless or just less stupid, the film would have clicked much better. It all seemed as if the writers just couldn't write women's parts well.
Had they worked out these problems, the film might have been very watchable. However, because of these factors, it's only a minor time-passer and not a film to rush to see.