A film noir in colour would almost seem to be a contradiction in terms, but, despite Leon Shamroy's rich Technicolor suffused with oranges and golds, this is a very dark movie, strengthened by the perfect casting of Gene Tierney in the central role. Her glacial, masklike beauty is perfectly suited to a woman whose mind is in turmoil while her outward appearance, notably while allowing someone to die a few feet away from her, is impassive. And she used it to such effect as to win an Oscar nomination. Co-stars Cornel Wilde and Jeanne Crain are (too) subdued by comparison, so placid and pleasant that you long to throw something at them. But Vincent Price brings some bite to later scenes as a vicious prosecutor who will stop at nothing to win his case. Tierney and Hedy Lamarr were probably Hollywood's two loveliest actresses in the Forties. Texas oilman Howard Lee obviously agreed: he married both of them.

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