Themes: Mental Breakdown, Woman In Jeopardy, Treacherous Spouses
Main Cast: Claudette Colbert, Robert Cummings, Don Ameche, Hazel Brooks, Rita Johnson, George Coulouris
Release Year: 1948
Country: US
Run Time: 97 minutes
Plot
This noir mystery thriller was produced by Mary Pickford and her husband Buddy Rogers, and directed by Douglas Sirk. Claudette Colbert stars as Alison Courtland, a wealthy New York socialite who awakens on a Boston-bound train with no memory of how she got there. A kindly older woman, Mrs. Tomlinson (Queenie Smith) helps Alison call her husband Richard (Don Ameche), who informs her that she disappeared after threatening his life. While traveling back to New York, Alison meets Bruce Elcott (Robert Cummings), who is immediately smitten with her. Upon her return, Richard urges Alison to consult a psychiatrist, Charles Vernay (George Coulouris), but the man's bizarre, abusive manner nearly drives Alison mad. Alison's condition, Vernay, and even the helpful Mrs. Tomlinson are all part of an elaborate scheme on the part of Richard and his mistress, Daphne (Hazel Brooks) to get drive Alison to suicide and collect her fortune. A concerned Bruce visits Vernay, who is really a photographer, and begins piecing the scheme together. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
William Ferrari - Art Director, Harold R. Greene - Associate Producer, Margaret Jenning - Costume Designer, Sophie - Costume Designer, Clarence Eurist - First Assistant Director, Douglas Sirk - Director, Lynn Harrison - Editor, Rudy Schrager - Composer (Music Score), David Chudnow - Musical Direction/Supervision, Rudy Schrager - Musical Direction/Supervision, Burris Grimwood - Makeup, Joseph A. Valentine - Cinematographer, Mary Pickford - Producer, Ralph Cohn - Producer, Charles R. Rogers - Producer, Howard Bristol - Set Designer, William Randall - Sound/Sound Designer, Leo Rosten - Screenwriter, Cy Raker Endfield - Screenwriter, Decla Dunning - Screenwriter, St. Clair McKelway - Screenwriter, Leo Rosten - Book Author
