"The Unholy Wife" must have seemed like a golden opportunity for Diana Dors, the British blonde bombshell. After all, she had just signed a three picture deal with RKO and would have the opportunity to show folks she really could act. Unfortunately, RKO soon ceased production...and only two of these films ended up getting made. That combined with her husband's outburst at a pool party AND the poor box office to this film and Dors opportunity slipped away. It is sad, as she was very good as the femme fatale in "The Unholy Wife"...and perhaps the public stayed away due to her hubby's behaviors, as she was quite good and the film very good.
The story is told by Phyllis (Dors). You can assume she is in jail telling someone about her 'perfect crime' because her peroxided hair isn't present in these scenes...her hair has gone to its original dark brown. I appreciated this, as DOrs had been billed for years because of her looks...and here she allowed herself to look less than gorgeous in these few flashback scenes.
Phyllis, we learn, is a very bad girl. Despite having a young son, she appears to have little in the way of maternal instincts and she likes catting around with a ne'er-do-well, San Sanders (Tom Tryon). But when a rich but not particularly pretty guy, Paul Hochen (Rod Steiger) falls for her, she hides her boyfriend....marries Paul...and continues with the affair. Eventually, she tires of this arrangement and decides to kill Paul and make it look like an accident...and then things get REALLY wild and unpredictable!
I liked the film...the public didn't. It's possible I am wrong...perhaps some disliked how Phyllis came clean at the end and did the right thing. But that didn't bother me in the least....she had nothing to lose by finally telling the truth. I also liked how well she adopted an American accent for this movie. See the film and see what I mean.
By the way, it is interesting that Dors completely upstaged Steiger...something that almost NEVER happened, as Steiger was known to be a much larger than life personality in most of his films.
By the way, although I don't see mention of this, the story in many ways seems like a reworking of the story "Thérèse Raquin" by the French writer, Émile Zola.
The story is told by Phyllis (Dors). You can assume she is in jail telling someone about her 'perfect crime' because her peroxided hair isn't present in these scenes...her hair has gone to its original dark brown. I appreciated this, as DOrs had been billed for years because of her looks...and here she allowed herself to look less than gorgeous in these few flashback scenes.
Phyllis, we learn, is a very bad girl. Despite having a young son, she appears to have little in the way of maternal instincts and she likes catting around with a ne'er-do-well, San Sanders (Tom Tryon). But when a rich but not particularly pretty guy, Paul Hochen (Rod Steiger) falls for her, she hides her boyfriend....marries Paul...and continues with the affair. Eventually, she tires of this arrangement and decides to kill Paul and make it look like an accident...and then things get REALLY wild and unpredictable!
I liked the film...the public didn't. It's possible I am wrong...perhaps some disliked how Phyllis came clean at the end and did the right thing. But that didn't bother me in the least....she had nothing to lose by finally telling the truth. I also liked how well she adopted an American accent for this movie. See the film and see what I mean.
By the way, it is interesting that Dors completely upstaged Steiger...something that almost NEVER happened, as Steiger was known to be a much larger than life personality in most of his films.
By the way, although I don't see mention of this, the story in many ways seems like a reworking of the story "Thérèse Raquin" by the French writer, Émile Zola.