The Strange Mrs. Crane

Marjorie Lord ("The Danny Thomas Show") is a beautiful woman with a shady past who is married to an older, wealthy man (Pierre Watkin) who has just won his party's nomination for Governor. One day she runs into her former lover, with whom she had once operated a blackmail operation--which resulted in both of them being on the run from the law. When he threatens to expose her past to her husband unless he's paid off, she takes matters into her own hands to protect her new social status.

This is a tidy little "B" thriller, directed (as "Sherman Scott") by the incredibly prolific Sam Newfield. Newfield's work was, for the most part, wholly undistinguished--he ground out films like sausages over a career that spanned more than 30 years--but this one is a cut above his usual product. Marjory Lord is surprisingly effective as a former floozy who is now on her way to being the most powerful and respected woman in the state, and she'll let nothing get in her way. Robert Shayne ("The Adventures of Superman"), as her former partner in crime who threatens to expose her past to her husband, doesn't quite pull off his part as the oily villain, but he gives it a good try. Watkin, a reliable character actor who had a long career plying characters just like the one here, has a larger part than he usually got, and does a good job with it. The film moves briskly for the most part, and longtime Newfield cameraman Jack Greenhalgh gives the film a very atmospheric, njoirish feel.

Overall this is one of Newfield's better efforts, with a nice job by Lord.