It's not the kind of film I usually enjoy -- Victorian England is okay, but these dark dramas with all sorts of moral and psychological twists tend to be rather dull. There are exceptions. "Rebecca" has humor and perversion. "Gaslight" is neatly schematized. And "So Evil My Love", while not up to the best of them, bewitches the viewer after the first boring moments by exploring the depths of human depravity.
Ann Todd is a missionary's widow, seduced and thoroughly corrupted by Ray Milland, a penniless and perhaps talentless artist who seems capable of any measure of betrayal until finally, in the last scene, he has a road-to-Damascus experience and it turns out to be too late for him and for his paramour. The agent of this collapse, in a teeny part, is Leo G. Carroll, groomed like a refugee from a barbershop quartet.
The script is interesting. Once Todd falls for the blandishments of Milland, there is hardly any stopping her unscrupulous behavior. A school friend of Todd's youth -- the vulnerable and desolate Geraldine Fitzgerald -- is not only bilked of whatever small allowance she's permitted by her stuffy husband, Raymond Huntley, but unwittingly framed for Huntley's death as well. Milland and the distressed Todd are prepared to let Fitzgerald hang for a murder that Todd was responsible for. All of the characters, even Milland, are multi-dimensional. Milland may steal painting but he will not paint a fake Rembrandt because of his respect for real art.
Todd is efficient and that's about all. Milland is good as a villain -- but much better at being a suave and calculating villain, as he is here and in "Dial M For Murder", than as a pathetic villain, as he is in "The Lost Weekend" and "The Thief." He's really shifty here. When pressed, his eyes dart to the side and the sound track is almost overwhelmed by the sound of brass wheels turning and clacking inside his head. Fitzgerald gives a fine and sympathetic performance as the weak friend. "Women know what they want, but what they want is not always good for them," intones her airless and unventilated husband.
The screenplay has some clever touches by Leonard Spiegelgas, who wrote a heartfelt biography of his friend, Edward G. Robinson. As Milland is leaving one of his poor but accommodating lady friends behind, he accepts all her money, though she complains that modeling gigs are getting harder to find. "They say the June has gone out of my Juno." "Get a little fatter and you can be Venus."
One thing I found irritating. Fitzgerald makes a point of mentioning that her husband is about to be given a title. That's not such a big deal. I've been given lots of titles. I can't print most of them here but my high school yearbook captioned me, "Three Years, Minimum Security." The principal had me wear a sign around my neck, "Honi soi qui mal y pense, et il pense beaucoup." I ask you, is that a title, or what? I never figured out what it meant but I'm sure it was deeply profound otherwise it wouldn't be in Urdu. And my four ex spouses were even more ornamental in their attributions.
Ann Todd is a missionary's widow, seduced and thoroughly corrupted by Ray Milland, a penniless and perhaps talentless artist who seems capable of any measure of betrayal until finally, in the last scene, he has a road-to-Damascus experience and it turns out to be too late for him and for his paramour. The agent of this collapse, in a teeny part, is Leo G. Carroll, groomed like a refugee from a barbershop quartet.
The script is interesting. Once Todd falls for the blandishments of Milland, there is hardly any stopping her unscrupulous behavior. A school friend of Todd's youth -- the vulnerable and desolate Geraldine Fitzgerald -- is not only bilked of whatever small allowance she's permitted by her stuffy husband, Raymond Huntley, but unwittingly framed for Huntley's death as well. Milland and the distressed Todd are prepared to let Fitzgerald hang for a murder that Todd was responsible for. All of the characters, even Milland, are multi-dimensional. Milland may steal painting but he will not paint a fake Rembrandt because of his respect for real art.
Todd is efficient and that's about all. Milland is good as a villain -- but much better at being a suave and calculating villain, as he is here and in "Dial M For Murder", than as a pathetic villain, as he is in "The Lost Weekend" and "The Thief." He's really shifty here. When pressed, his eyes dart to the side and the sound track is almost overwhelmed by the sound of brass wheels turning and clacking inside his head. Fitzgerald gives a fine and sympathetic performance as the weak friend. "Women know what they want, but what they want is not always good for them," intones her airless and unventilated husband.
The screenplay has some clever touches by Leonard Spiegelgas, who wrote a heartfelt biography of his friend, Edward G. Robinson. As Milland is leaving one of his poor but accommodating lady friends behind, he accepts all her money, though she complains that modeling gigs are getting harder to find. "They say the June has gone out of my Juno." "Get a little fatter and you can be Venus."
One thing I found irritating. Fitzgerald makes a point of mentioning that her husband is about to be given a title. That's not such a big deal. I've been given lots of titles. I can't print most of them here but my high school yearbook captioned me, "Three Years, Minimum Security." The principal had me wear a sign around my neck, "Honi soi qui mal y pense, et il pense beaucoup." I ask you, is that a title, or what? I never figured out what it meant but I'm sure it was deeply profound otherwise it wouldn't be in Urdu. And my four ex spouses were even more ornamental in their attributions.