From the moment you see her naked leg while her hands roll a stocking up her leg, you know that she's truly bad to the bone. The camera finally shows the face, not unattractive, but certainly no Marilyn either. Married to a much older boxing trainer, she at first ignores his protégé Tony Wright but when she sees him fight, her juices begin to flow as her sexuality takes over her scheming mind. Even telling Wright off in a later scene and lying about her lust, you know she's got seduction on her mind, and ultimately murder.
Barbara Payton is rumored to have been equally a femme fatal as much off screen as she was on, and that adds an intriguing twist to her wicked women. Obviously a rip-off of other similar film noir, this is more camp and a guilty pleasure than a classic. When Payton gets kissed by her obese slob of a husband (Frederick Valk), her disgust oozes off the screen with pure venom. The camp explodes when Valk's suspicious family arrives after the comically filmed "tragedy". His aging stereotypical mama, looking like something out of ancient Greek tragedy, and his equally severe looking sister adds to the over-top melodrama.
This is B bad movie making at its most delightful with one dimensional performances and clichéd dialog that is laughably bad. Yet, the camera work is really good, so you can see this as being pretty influential with the new wave directors getting to make their mark on film.
Barbara Payton is rumored to have been equally a femme fatal as much off screen as she was on, and that adds an intriguing twist to her wicked women. Obviously a rip-off of other similar film noir, this is more camp and a guilty pleasure than a classic. When Payton gets kissed by her obese slob of a husband (Frederick Valk), her disgust oozes off the screen with pure venom. The camp explodes when Valk's suspicious family arrives after the comically filmed "tragedy". His aging stereotypical mama, looking like something out of ancient Greek tragedy, and his equally severe looking sister adds to the over-top melodrama.
This is B bad movie making at its most delightful with one dimensional performances and clichéd dialog that is laughably bad. Yet, the camera work is really good, so you can see this as being pretty influential with the new wave directors getting to make their mark on film.