There's something wrong with this film.
I've read several professional reviews of this film, and several try to liken it to Hitchcock's "Suspicion". This is a faulty comparison, in my view. Several reviews also pointed out that this was the only film noir film Katherine Hepburn ever appeared in. Well, although it was a very different plot, it somehow reminded me of the Hepburn/Tracy film "Keep Of The Flame" (an oddball favorite of mine).
The film starts out innocently enough, with Katherine Hepburn living with her scientist-father (Edmund Gwenn), and then being swept off her feet by the suave businessman (Robert Taylor) who is buying her father's scientific discovery. They marry, she is pushed into the world of Washington and big business, becomes rather sophisticated, but sense something wrong with the story of her husband's strained relationship with his brother (Robert Mitchum, who you don't see in the film until about halfway through). Hepburn becomes more and more suspicious of her husband, coming to the conclusion that perhaps he did murder his brother. Desperate to hold his marriage together, Taylor becomes (too) suddenly threatening, and attempts to kill his wife. This seems a little implausible, since although he was moody about his brother, he never appeared to be mentally ill. There's a great scene in the film where Taylor attempts to force his wife -- on horseback -- off a mountain cliff (and there are no mountains in Middleburg, Virginia where this portion of the film supposedly takes place...they might better have placed it in Winchester, further to the west). And who comes to Hepburn's rescue? No, not whom you expect! :-) In the end the bad guy dies...you'll have to watch the film to see who the bad brother really is -- Mitchum or Taylor.
But as I said, there is still something not quite right with this film, yet I can't put my finger on it. I'm not saying it's a bad film. It's worth watching...once...for the performance of Hepburn, which is quite good. Taylor does well here, also, despite his sudden onset on mental illness. And Mitchum is cast in a different light than we often expect. Yes, watch it, but you may not want to put this on your DVD shelf.
Postscript: 9 years later and I just watched this film again...quite by accident. It's worse than I remember. The first two-thirds of the film are quite intriguing. But the climax of the film just plain bizarre. Vincente Minelli, the director, should have stuck with musicals.
I've read several professional reviews of this film, and several try to liken it to Hitchcock's "Suspicion". This is a faulty comparison, in my view. Several reviews also pointed out that this was the only film noir film Katherine Hepburn ever appeared in. Well, although it was a very different plot, it somehow reminded me of the Hepburn/Tracy film "Keep Of The Flame" (an oddball favorite of mine).
The film starts out innocently enough, with Katherine Hepburn living with her scientist-father (Edmund Gwenn), and then being swept off her feet by the suave businessman (Robert Taylor) who is buying her father's scientific discovery. They marry, she is pushed into the world of Washington and big business, becomes rather sophisticated, but sense something wrong with the story of her husband's strained relationship with his brother (Robert Mitchum, who you don't see in the film until about halfway through). Hepburn becomes more and more suspicious of her husband, coming to the conclusion that perhaps he did murder his brother. Desperate to hold his marriage together, Taylor becomes (too) suddenly threatening, and attempts to kill his wife. This seems a little implausible, since although he was moody about his brother, he never appeared to be mentally ill. There's a great scene in the film where Taylor attempts to force his wife -- on horseback -- off a mountain cliff (and there are no mountains in Middleburg, Virginia where this portion of the film supposedly takes place...they might better have placed it in Winchester, further to the west). And who comes to Hepburn's rescue? No, not whom you expect! :-) In the end the bad guy dies...you'll have to watch the film to see who the bad brother really is -- Mitchum or Taylor.
But as I said, there is still something not quite right with this film, yet I can't put my finger on it. I'm not saying it's a bad film. It's worth watching...once...for the performance of Hepburn, which is quite good. Taylor does well here, also, despite his sudden onset on mental illness. And Mitchum is cast in a different light than we often expect. Yes, watch it, but you may not want to put this on your DVD shelf.
Postscript: 9 years later and I just watched this film again...quite by accident. It's worse than I remember. The first two-thirds of the film are quite intriguing. But the climax of the film just plain bizarre. Vincente Minelli, the director, should have stuck with musicals.