How sad is this?

Boring

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Pity about a promising and talented young girl who gets out of purpose by falling in love with the wrong person, since he is married to the wrong woman. Van Heflin makes the best out of a hopelessly incriminating mess, as a hanged girl is found in his apartment whom he has been shielding and helping. He is also married, and his wife is not happy about it. Ginger Rodgers stands aloof and freely abuses everyone, as she is entitled to it as the leading diva and primadonna, but she is actually the real victim of the plot, and she can't help it. The real tragedy is not the girl's, who proves a major disappointment as she actually seems to get what she deserves, an ambitious blue-stocking with some certain talent but no sense to cultivate it, the real tragedy is not Van Heflin's either, although he has every reason to feel paranoically persecuted, which he is, but by sheer accident of circumstances and by nobody's fault, while the real tragedy is Ginger Rodgers', who isn't even aware of it, but her downfall is so monumental that it can't even be shown. It happens after the film is finished, and Van Heflin actually starts suggesting her efficient defense. It's a lush thriller of wonderful salon architecture with all New York at your feet from the balcony, where the talented young authoress is wasting her talent on doting on the wrong guy, and Nunnally Johnson as both author, producer and director has made an interesting enough entertainment, but something is seriously lacking. It's too polished to be natural and therefore not very convincing. The music helps the production with some extra charm, especially Richard Strauss, who has been helpful with some musical loans, but the tragedy is not tragic, and the romance is not romantic. Van Heflin in his righteous fury as the unintended victim carries most part of the drama on his shoulders and does it well, while Gene Tierney doesn't help him much. You lack the solid sense of realism, it's all too artificial, but then the characters are all established and rich celebrities of the New York jet set, and perhaps such people act and live that way. Intriguing, to say the least, but you will soon forget the whole incident, until after some years you run across the film again and recognize that you've seen it before and has to admit you've forgotten the whole thing and will probably do it again...

This glossy murder mystery features a group of sophisticated characters who live in luxurious apartments in Manhattan and are associated in various ways with the Broadway theatre business. Their affluence is emphasised visually by the movie being filmed in CinemaScope and Technicolor and using some stunning cinematography to highlight the attractiveness of their upmarket surroundings. Its plot about an innocent man, whose ill-judged actions lead to him becoming the prime suspect in a murder case, also contains enough twists and surprises to ensure that the action never loses pace and remains engaging right through to its conclusion.At his wife's insistence, successful Broadway producer Peter Denver (Van Heflin) attends a cocktail party being held by his upstairs neighbour Carlotta "Lottie" Marin (Ginger Rogers) who happens to be the star of his latest Broadway show. As he doesn't really like these types of parties (or his hostess) very much and his wife is out of town visiting her ailing mother, he aims to spend as little time as possible fulfilling his social obligation. In a quiet spot at the party, however, he meets a rather lost-looking young lady called Nancy "Nanny" Ordway (Peggy Ann Garner) who tells him she's a writer who hasn't, so far, had any of her work published. At Peter's suggestion, they leave early and have a meal together before going their separate ways.When Peter telephones Iris later that night, he gives her a full account of what had transpired and Iris predicts that he'll be hearing from Nanny again and that she'll ask him to use his influence, in some way, to help her to advance her career. Peter thinks this is unlikely because Nanny appears to be so sweet and naïve but he knows nothing of how ruthless and ambitious she actually is.Shortly after their first meeting (and at her request), Nanny again has dinner with Peter and skilfully gets him to offer her the use of his apartment to do her writing in when he's out at work. This arrangement is due to end when his wife returns home but when Peter and Iris arrive at their front door after he'd met her at the airport, the music that they hear coming from inside leads them to believe that Nanny must still be there. When they enter, however, it initially seems that there's no-one present, but shortly after, when Iris goes into the bathroom, she discovers Nanny's dead body hanging from a rope and a note found close-by makes it appear that Nanny had, in fact, taken her own life.A little while later, when it becomes clear that Nanny was murdered and was pregnant, other circumstantial evidence also points to Peter being culpable and so he quickly decides to carry out his own investigation to track down the real killer.Stangely, for a movie that wasn't adapted from a stage play, "Black Widow" looks very stagy because a high proportion of the action takes place in two identical apartments and the style of acting is frequently rather mannered. Van Heflin is an exception to this as he seems completely natural and believable as a mild-mannered, nice guy who, because of his gullibility, sleepwalks into a nightmare. Ginger Rogers, on the other hand, overacts outrageously as Lottie, a domineering gossip who ultimately reveals some vulnerabilities that aren't evident throughout most of the action. The cast also benefits from producer/director Nunnally Johnson's high-quality dialogue which helps to compensate a little for the movie's lack of realism and the rather unnatural way in which some of the developments unfold.

Van Heflin plays a Broadway producer named "Peter Denver" who tries to help a young writer named "Nancy Ordway" (Peggy Ann Garner) by allowing her to use his apartment while his wife, "Iris Denver" (Gene Tierney) is away for several weeks. This is complicated by the fact that a Broadway actress by the name of "Carlotta Marin" (Ginger Rogers) lives in the apartment right above Peter Denver and is a prolific gossip. Now, since the entire effect of the film depends on not knowing "who did what" I won't go any further. But I will say that all of the performers did a very good job and that I especially liked the performance of Reginald Gardiner as the submissive husband (of Carlotta Marin) named "Brian Mullen". While this wasn't exactly the type of movie I was expecting it was a splendid little film all the same and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

"Black Widow" is well worth seeing simply because it stars Van Heflin. While Heflin is not at all famous today, I love seeing him in films because he was a great 'everyman' character--not beautiful by Hollywood standards, but a terrific actor nonetheless. It also didn't hurt that he had the likes of Gene Tierney and Ginger Rogers in support, nor did it hurt that the film was genuinely entertaining. My only reservation is that the plot is VERY difficult to believe.The film begins with Helfin's wife (Tierney) going on a trip and Heflin reluctantly going to a party held by an annoying celebrity (Rogers). There at the party, Heflin meets a shy aspiring writer--and he feels obliged to take her under his wing and help her in her career. What he doesn't realize is that this cute, naive woman is anything but---she's a calculating and completely amoral woman (hence the title of the film). Now I sure thought it was going to look like a variation on "All About Eve"--and it sure looked that way for a while. But the film also takes some amazing twists--and kept me in suspense throughout when the film became a murder mystery! The biggest strength of the film is Helfin's gritty and likable performance. But the film also had a highly entertaining plot--provided you don't wind that it's VERY fanciful and hard to believe if you really think about it. Still, I was able to suspend disbelief and enjoyed it--as will most lovers of classic Hollywood films.