Cop Van Heflin falls for housewife Evelyn Keyes and decides to get rid of her husband. Directed by Joseph Losey.
Not lousy at all, ha ha. (Sorry!) Actually a great, little film noir, commenting on the post WW2 material wealth. Keyes has it, living in a big house, but is unhappy and doesn't want it. Heflin lives in a crummy apartment and desperately wants it, even going to the step of killing someone. And he's a cop! But compared to the couple in Double Indemnity, this couple is strangely sympathetic. Maybe it's the actors. Because of the Hays code, saying that crime must be punished, you know it's not going to end well, but the third act is still quite exciting and pretty dark. Keyes gets pregnant by Heflin before she marries him, I didn't know that was allowed on film at the time. Strangely, she has a baby, but we never see her in a pregnant state, so showing her stomach would not have been allowed by the Hays code?
That would be the case. No bellies in classic Hollywood movies. The first time I saw Stagecoach I was puzzled why everybody knew instantly the lady was pregnant, when she didn't show it at all. And she is due!
ReplyDeleteWhy a pregnant woman on screen was unacceptable beats me. Hays was a very complicated man.
Leave Her To Heaven with Gene Tierney is another one. At some point she says something like "I don't want my husband to see me looking like this.", meaning looking pregnant, but actually she looks nothing of the sort.
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