The mid to late 40s marked the golden age of film noir, a genre that doesn't always get a lot of respect. Cynicism, cigarette smoke, and female characters that are as tempting as they are mischievous. With Barbara Stanwyck as the lead character, she has a strained relationship with her very rich but manipulative aunt, whom she hates. When she starts beating Martha's cat with a cane one day, she stops her and kills her with an iron poker. Walter's father says he knows Martha is responsible for killing her aunt, but agrees to keep quiet. Many years later, Walter (Kirk Douglas) is now a powerful district attorney and married to Martha. The marriage is complicated by the fact that Martha does not truly love Walter, and Walter is essentially a weakling who can't face problems head on, so he resorts to alcohol. In and of itself, it's strange to see Kirk Douglas cast in such a wimpy role, but this was actually his first movie. Stanwyck is the one who single-handedly carries most of the movie, and she has the ability to both entrance and alienate viewers with her icy presence. It has become a common cliche for movies like this to feature women characters that have a tendency to bring harm to anyone who gets involved with them, and this is no different. After Sam, a former soldier, comes into town and has to get his car fixed after slamming into a tree, the movie continues to unravel in typical film noir style. He meets a girl named Marachek who has just been released from prison on probation, but she violates it and is returned to the jail. Sam then tries to become a bad influence on Walter by trying to convince him to use his power as district attorney to secure her release. Near the end of the movie, Walter plans to meet Sam to clear things up, but being an alcoholic, he gets drunk and falls down the stairs, almost killing himself. Stanwyck's ruthlessness is shown to great effect here, as she tells Sam to kill her unconscious lover. Instead, Walter comes to and holds Martha as he points a gun near her stomach and pulls the trigger. As she dies, Walter commits suicide too. Sam, now leaving the house, hears the gunshots and knows exactly what took place. A dark and macabre ending to a movie full of dangerous characters.
