One of my all time favorites.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Very good acting. Very good story. Great attention to detail, and those details are carefully thought out and intelligent and actually well plausible. Interesting characters, quite a few of them, and each one developed judiciously to fulfill a role in the grander scheme of the movie.Fontaine is beautiful as always but though very much her usual self here in a more haunting, dark role.As the audience, we are captivated by the story, satisfied by its development; never a dull moment and each scene meaningful to the plot.Finally, this is an interesting take on the human mind, infatuation and stubborn obsession and the depths in which those may take us.

Joan Fontaine is at the peak of her talent and beauty, when she starred in this outstanding Victorian era film noir. Fontaine plays the patrician, tremulous poisoner with a courteous, polite manner, and she adds the right amount of imbalance, that helps to make the sinister ambitions of Ivy, most convincing. The first scene is gripping and sets the mood perfectly, through-out the entire film. Ivy visits a fortune teller, and is very delighted when the woman predicts that "an abundance of money" and "another man" will soon come her way. When she encounters Miles Rushworth, ( Herbert Marshall ) that afternoon, it seems the predication has come. But first she must get rid of her sweet, but happy-go-lucky, layabout husband Jervis Lexton, ( Richard Ney ). Ivy also has an ex-lover, Roger Gretorex, ( Patric Knowles ) who can't get the alluring beauty out of his system. Ivy weaves her way through this duplicitous tangled web, but she has made some fatal mistakes along the way. Cedric Hardwicke plays the suspecting Inspector Orpington, who won't give up until he settles the mysterious case of death. I especially enjoyed the surprise ending for the wicked Ivy. Joan Fontaine is absolutely stunning in her Orry Kelly wardrobe and lovely wide-brimmed hats with tantalizing veils. The Victorian decor sets are extremely realistic, and the atmosphere perfectly presents the impending doom. All the actors give fine performances in this forgotten, extraordinary suspenseful film. It is gripping from beginning to end, and is good enough to stand with other classics of it's time. A thrilling movie that is well worth a look.

Warning: contains a spoiler. Corny plot and in many cases terrible acting. Fontaine is great, but some others, particularly Richard Ney, Ivy's husband, are exceedingly wooden. Ney lies in bed, dying of arsenical poisoning, with every hair in place. Yet the movie is so juicy and so suspenseful. More faithful to the book than most movies of its era. Casting Joan Fontaine as a poisoner (and an adulteress, which was just as shocking then - I'm not kidding, kids) was a masterful stroke. She's just her usual Joan Fontainey self. As murderers were supposed to, she dies by falling "feet foremost through the floor into an empty space."

Loved Joan. Great performance. What isn't she good in. I watched this film and then Jane Eyre right after... she just keeps getting better. My heart was racing. Great old movie drama. Just what i want from a classic movie. Facial expressions are worth the whole film. I'm glad i have it on video. Don't know what more you need in a film. Beautiful woman....wealth..... greed.....murder....detectives......a trial.....The costumes are very nice. Makes me wonder what the budget was for this movie? Wish they still made films like this. Whenever they try they just seem to make a cheesy movie. Films in black and white still hold a certain mystery.