The greatest movie ever made..!

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Best movie ever!

In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

Great beautiful actress Barbara Stanwyck, always very credible and convincing in her roles. In this one too, not an easy part to play. Wendell Corey convincing too in the role of Cleve Marshall. Same Joan Tetzel in the role of the wife. All the cast is very good. Again, Robert Siodmak doing a very good job. He made also "The Killers" with Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner, "Pyramid of the Sun God"(which enjoyed my childhood) and many others good films.

A gripping film-noir, directed by genre specialist Robert Siodmak. Stanwyck apart, the cast is mainly B-movie grade, but as I so often find to be the case with noir movies of this era, that doesn't matter partly because the actors concerned are so good and partly because their relative anonymity just adds to the veracity of these stories of out if the ordinary events happening to ordinary people.Stanwyck plays the femme fatale Thelma Jordon, out to hook unhappily married Assistant D.A. Wendell Corey's Cleave Marshall in her web of theft, adultery and of course, murder. Watching the movie, of course one is reminded of her star turn years before in Billy Wilder's all-time classic "Double Indemnity" and while she's perhaps a little old this time to play the scheming siren, she still convinces with a performance which covers a lot of bases as the role demands.In support, Wendell Corey perhaps lacks a little of the personality of that earlier self-deceiving patsy Fred MacMurray plus the rather heartless way he treats his loving wife and kids stops the viewer sympathising with him too much as he loses everything by the end. I did like Barry Kelley as his enthusiastic principled superior/mentor D.A. and especially Paul Kelly as his suspecting, pursuing colleague Miles Scott while Richard Rober, wearing about the most vulgar tie you'll ever see, makes for Thelma's suitably cold, controlling paramour Tony to whom she wakens up just in time for one final act of sacrificial self-redemption.Atmospherically and intelligently directed throughout, Siodmak is at home either when setting the action in the gloomy Gothic dwelling of Jordon's doomed aunt, the external city locations and especially the taut court-room scenes. By the end, as in most of the best noirs, everybody loses, except the viewer of another gritty, twisting good-quality thriller like this.

If you like film-noirs this one is for you. This is one of the most entertaining film-noirs I have ever seen, and I am a big fan of this kind of movies. I am surprised this film is not very well known, this is an underrated one and it should have a higher score too.The performances of the leadings Barbara Stanwyck and Wendell Corey are very good. The plot is entertaining, smart and interesting, the supporting cast is good too. The film begins like a kind of entertaining drama & romantic-comedy movie to change at the middle to a very good film-noir. This movie will remind you a little bit "Double Indemnity (1944)" for some similarities in the plot. There is a great scene involving the already dead aunt that is a pleasure to watch for its suspense.Cleve Marshall is a married Assistant district attorney who is having problems with his wife and falls in love with the mysterious Thelma Jordon who is the niece of a rich old lady, when the aunt is murdered everything point that Thelma is guilty then Cleve will do everything to save her ........I recommend watching this movie. This is a must see for every film-noir fan8 stars = very good

The combination of an unhappy man with an ambitious woman is a formula for disaster, as we have seen in a lot of film noir offerings. In this story, Cleve Marshall, and assistant D.A., proves to be the perfect target for what a scheming lady like Thelma Jordon has in mind. From the start, Thelma is too happy to oblige the interest and the passion she incites in Cleve.Marshall is a married man whose wife, Pamela, a society girl, is deeply involved with her parents in social events that are deeply resented by the down to earth Cleve. He drowns his sorrows in drink, something that Thelma knows will help her bring him to her side, although she has other things in mind. When the affair begins in earnest, Thelma gets involved in the murder of her old aunt. Cleve, who has been indiscreet with his phone calls to the old woman's residence, is summoned to help Thelma who stands a good chance to get the maximum death sentence for all the evidence points in her direction. Cleve, who gets the assignment to prosecute Thelma, doesn't know what he is really getting into.This 1950 Paramount release has not been seen much lately. As someone else pointed out, it used to turn a lot in the days of early television. The film is worth a look because Robert Siodmak's direction. Mr. Siodmak, who had worked in his native Germany and in France, had a great eye for detail, as he shows in this story.Barbara Stanwyck was the perfect actress to portray Thelma. She had been successful in other films that involved ambitious women with no scruples. Ms. Stanwyck always gave impressive readings to the characters she played, which is the case of her Thelma. Wendell Corey, another excellent actor, has the sad task to play the man who throws everything away because he is blinded by the intensity of his feelings for an unworthy woman.The supporting cast does wonders to help the film. Best of all is Stanley Ridges who plays Thelma's attorney. Paul Kelly, another good character actor appears as Cleve's boss. Joan Tetzel and Richard Lober also appear in minor roles.The film will not disappoint fans of this genre.