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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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

Mark Bellis: Scruples again?
Olivia Harwood: No. I'm beyond that now.

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Crazy Credits

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

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Soundtracks

Prelude
(uncredited)
Music by Frédéric Chopin
Arranged by Victor Young

User Reviews

The Sources of film and story

Joseph Shearing (a pseudonym) was a woman novelist specializing in tales based on actual murder cases. Her novel AIRING IN A CLOSED CARRIAGE is based on the murder of James Maybrick, presumably by his wife Florence in 1889. SO EVIL MY LOVE is based on an earlier poisoning case, the death (in 1876) of Charles Delauney Turner Bravo, a wealthy barrister, at his home "The Priory" in Balham, England. It is a murder that was never really settled. Although doubts remain as to James Maybrick being a victim of murder or accident, Florence was convicted after a controversial trial, and then got her sentence reduced. In the Bravo case, suspicion fell on his wife, on the wife's close friend, and on an elderly doctor who had an earlier affair with the wife. Nothing was really determined. Ms Shearing has opted for the close friend (in real life her name was Jane Cox)to be the killer, although driven to it here by her devotion to a cad (not historically true). The conclusion of the film, where Ann Todd discovers how Ray Milland used her and turns on him in a closed Hansom Cab seems based on a 1904 New York City murder, the Nan Patterson-Ceasar Young case.