So Evil My Love (1948)

Olivia Harwood, missionary's widow, meets charming Mark Bellis, artist and rogue, on the ship taking them both back to 1890s London. When Olivia opens a lodging house Mark becomes her ... See full summary »

Director:

Lewis Allen

Writers:

Ronald Millar (screenplay), Joseph Shearing (novel)

Stars:

Ray Milland, Ann Todd, Geraldine Fitzgerald

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ray Milland	...	Mark Bellis
Ann Todd	...	Olivia Harwood
Geraldine Fitzgerald	...	Susan Courtney
Leo G. Carroll	...	Jarvis
Raymond Huntley	...	Henry Courtney
Raymond Lovell	...	Edgar Bellamy
Martita Hunt	...	Mrs. Courtney
Moira Lister	...	Kitty Feathers
Roderick Lovell	...	Sir John Curle
Muriel Aked	...	Miss Shoebridge
Finlay Currie	...	Dr. Krylie
Maureen Delaney	...	Curtis
Ivor Barnard	...	Mr. Watson
Ernest Jay	...	Smathers
Hugh Griffith	...	Coroner

Storyline

Olivia Harwood, missionary's widow, meets charming Mark Bellis, artist and rogue, on the ship taking them both back to 1890s London. When Olivia opens a lodging house Mark becomes her lodger, then her lover. Olivia falls so completely under amoral Mark's spell that he's able to overcome her scruples, and soon she's his willing tool in an ambitious scheme of theft and blackmail...maybe too ambitious.

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Plot Keywords:

lodging house | artist | british noir | love letter | period piece | 

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Taglines:

"I've Never Known Real Love Before! Now Nothing Will Take You From Me...NOTHING!"

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 August 1948 (USA)

Also Known As:

Agora... Que Deus Me Castigue

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hal Wallis Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"The Screen Guild Theater" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on January 13, 1949 with Ray Milland reprising his film role.

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Goofs

When Mark is painting Olivia's portrait, her necklace beads are not all twisted together; there are two strands that are hanging separately. When they move away from the portrait, the necklace strings are all uniformly twisted together with no strands hanging loose.

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Quotes

Kitty Feathers: Oh, Mark! You say things so prettily. But I never quite know what's going on inside your head.
Mark Bellis: One day I'll tell you. You may not like it.

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Crazy Credits

Ann Todd appears by courtesy of the J. Arthur Rank Organisation.

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Soundtracks

The British Grenadiers
(uncredited)
Traditional
Arranged by Victor Young

User Reviews

Hard to tell who the title refers to ...

... since it could refer to both or either main characters Olivia Harwood (Ann Todd) and Mark Bellis (Ray Milland). The two outwardly seem as different as possible. They meet on a ship voyage from Jamaica to Britain when Olivia nurses Mark through a bout of malaria. She is penniless other than for a small property she owns in London and has been recently widowed. Her late husband, a missionary, died of malaria himself after the two had served in Jamaica for several years. Mark is a con man on the run, and out of funds he reluctantly has headed back to London - where he is also wanted by the law - to find those funds and get out of British controlled territory altogether.

At first Mark sees Olivia as just another mark for his cons and uses her attraction to him as a means of control. His actual girlfriend is a rather talkative floozy - Kitty - that he can only take in small doses. He does seem to prefer the quiet demeanor of Olivia, at least when he's got his thinking - or should I say plotting - cap on. However, Olivia begins to really enjoy the art of the con as taught to her by Mark and becomes an apt and inventive pupil. Their joint mark - an old school girl friend of Olivia's, the foolishly trusting Susan, played by Geraldine Fitzgerald, who is married to an adviser to the Queen. Olivia seems somewhat bitter that her life has turned out so impoverished when she was the brightest girl at school while the dim-witted Susan has the world at her feet through the accident of marriage. She uses this perceived inequitable outcome as justification for her actions.

Mark's feelings then become somewhat confused. He begins to have actual feelings for Olivia as he begins to realize that she is as cunning and lethal as he - she just needed a push to get her to have the courage of her lack of convictions.

This one has many interesting twists and turns, however do remember that this is a British production and is therefore probably going to seem somewhat understated for American fans of 40's noir. If you can understand that I think you'll like this one a great deal. I know I did.