That's what happens for psychology professor Loretta Young when she tries to hide the fact that she accidentally killed one of her students. Of course, The killing was justified considering that the student (Douglas Dick) was possibly about to rape her. She had confronted him during a test and made arrangements for him to be transferred to another class but when he convinced her to allow him to drive her home, they ended up on the cliffs overlooking the ocean in Malibu and in attempting to get away from him, smashed him over the head and arranged for his body to be found in the ocean. His guardian (Robert Cummings) shows up before the body is discovered out of concern for where he's gotten from the dean, and young begins to spend time with him in order to clear her conscience and hide what happened. But with detective Wendell Corey certain that it was homicide, young begins to panic more and more.
"In my next life, I'm going to be a minister. The only one I'll have to pick on is the devil", Corey says, wishing that he had two personalities so he could deal with suspects in a less aggressive manner. it's one of his more interesting characterizations, having played emotionally dead males in a variety of Paramount film noir. Young, having appeared in mostly romantic dramas and like comedies, joins the like of Paramount's Barbara Stanwyck, Veronica Lake and Lizabeth Scott, although her character is far from the vixen that those three ladies play.
It's a bit surprising to see the lady like young handling rats as part of a school experiment, and in the scene where Dick attempts to seduce her, it is very apparent that even if briefly, Young's staid character is erotically excited, even though the majority of her personality is scared of those feelings. much of the film psychoanalyze has her character, especially with the deceased and in voice overs that he has when Young reads his exam. The great detail that is put into the script is surprisingly bright, with Young able to fool a potential witness by eliminating her sexually frustrated attitude with just the addition of a touch of blush and quickly able to turn it back.
Considering the other films that Young had released in 1949 ("Mother is a Freshman", "Come to the Stable"), this is a far cry from those light-hearted performances although it was her performance as the nun in "Come to the Stable" which got her an Oscar nomination. There's a bit of comedy provided by veteran actress Sara Allgood as the overly concerned landlady (one of her last films) so smart girl the movie doesn't drown itself in its psychological banter. I had seen this film years ago in my early twenties and couldn't get into it, so fortunately maturity has made it a lot better.
"In my next life, I'm going to be a minister. The only one I'll have to pick on is the devil", Corey says, wishing that he had two personalities so he could deal with suspects in a less aggressive manner. it's one of his more interesting characterizations, having played emotionally dead males in a variety of Paramount film noir. Young, having appeared in mostly romantic dramas and like comedies, joins the like of Paramount's Barbara Stanwyck, Veronica Lake and Lizabeth Scott, although her character is far from the vixen that those three ladies play.
It's a bit surprising to see the lady like young handling rats as part of a school experiment, and in the scene where Dick attempts to seduce her, it is very apparent that even if briefly, Young's staid character is erotically excited, even though the majority of her personality is scared of those feelings. much of the film psychoanalyze has her character, especially with the deceased and in voice overs that he has when Young reads his exam. The great detail that is put into the script is surprisingly bright, with Young able to fool a potential witness by eliminating her sexually frustrated attitude with just the addition of a touch of blush and quickly able to turn it back.
Considering the other films that Young had released in 1949 ("Mother is a Freshman", "Come to the Stable"), this is a far cry from those light-hearted performances although it was her performance as the nun in "Come to the Stable" which got her an Oscar nomination. There's a bit of comedy provided by veteran actress Sara Allgood as the overly concerned landlady (one of her last films) so smart girl the movie doesn't drown itself in its psychological banter. I had seen this film years ago in my early twenties and couldn't get into it, so fortunately maturity has made it a lot better.