Crime of Passion

Some good moments showing the sexism and banality of middle-class married life and how it drives an ambitious woman like our Babs completely nuts. but it soon sinks into melodrama and loses whatever edge it ever had.

A cop's wife gets fed up with his lack of ambition and takes matters into her own hands... and when social manipulation isn't enough, more desperate measures are called for. More melodrama than noir, and not that great at either one. A bit slow-moving as well. But there is an interesting Sirkian comment on suburban malaise underlying the action. Neither Stanwyck nor Hayden are at their best, but they're okay.

The appealing cast cannot, sadly, redeem the sub-par writing--the progression of events is not the least bit believable. Stanwyck goes from ambitious career girl to homemaker in what must be record time--she takes a detour to L.A. on her way to New York to have dinner with Sterling Hayden, and somehow New York is never mentioned again! A few good moments, like the horrors of suburban dinner parties. No wonder she goes for Raymond Burr--he's the only person she meets with an actual personality.

Liked the cast. Unfortunately though it all seemed a bit herky-jerky--a lot of the stuff happened rather abruptly.

How can a film with Sterling Hayden, Barbara Stanwyck and Raymond Burr be so dull? The're not bad and have their moments, but they don't have the energy they do at their best. And who can blame them with such a tedious script. The climax isn't too bad, but is botched by being rushed and for all the tedious setup I can't say the motivations ever really felt real. The real problem is how badly the film is shot and edited, with all sorts of bad angles and lingering close-ups that serve no purpose.

Barbara Stanwyck does all she could with this thin script that hastily rushes through plot points without enough in between. She rushes into marriage. She ends up into various schemes and rivalries that are just explained after the fact. Husband is rather dull. Nice outside shots of LA. I like the underlying commentary about ambitious women stuck as housewives. Fav scene: just married driving up to their suburban home with kids playing in the road.

A primeira hora é realmente instigante, mas a meia hora final perde o sentido da coisa. Moral da história? Mulher só se fode ao seguir macho chato do caralho. DVD Versátil Filme Noir Volume 10 - porque chegou hoje e não me contenho para ver La Stanwyck.