Matrixston
Wow! Such a good movie.
Chirphymium
It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional
Zandra
The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
dougdoepke
Feisty newspaper columnist Kathy falls for LA cop Doyle and marries him. Trouble is she bridles at dull suburban life and his complaisant attitude. Thus she begins scheming to raise his place in the detective bureau, leading to unforeseen consequences.As a crime drama the movie never really gels. There's no tension, while the only suspense comes at the end. As a vehicle for aging diva Stanwyck, she's a bit over-age for the irresistible wife and other-woman parts. The romantic scenes try hard but are none too persuasive.Where the movie succeeds is in its iconoclastic view of 1950's middle-class conformity. At a time when movies and TV were saturated with images of suburban bliss, a sub-plot here dares suggesting gender role-playing in the suburbs can be emptying. The housewives silly conversations (everything's "wonderful") are spread on pretty thick, still we get the idea. At this point, it becomes a stretch to see the dynamic Kathy (Stanwyck) stay with a boring marriage since we know she has a real independent streak.Fortunately, director Oswald manages the erratic material in smooth fashion. He's definitely an underrated helmsman from that period, as his half-masterpiece A Kiss Before Dying (1956) demonstrates. Catch some of his good touches such as the lit candle fadeout punctuating Kathy and Doyle's kindled attraction. Hayden too, is coming off an iconic role as the gang leader in Kubrick's breakthrough caper film The Killing (1956). As a cop here, the towering Hayden's excellent, but as Stanwyck's devoted husband and lover, he strikes me as miscast.Overall, the film's too erratic to register as anything more than a time-passer. But it is good to note that Stanwyck soon adjusted to more appropriate matriarchal roles than that of a middle-age temptress.
LeonLouisRicci
Mistitled, the Crime here is not one of Passion but of other Things. Frustration Mostly, an Inability to Escape the Confines of Conservatism and a Predetermined Place that Society has Set Up for a Woman in Postwar America. Barbara Stanwyck is a Thoroughbred asked to drive a Buggy. It is this Predicament that the Film Exploits but while it is an Edgy and Topical Story for the Late Fifties, the Execution and Exposition is None too Smooth. A Good Cast tries Nobly to make it all Say Something Worthy, it is just too Thin a Story and Most of it is Forced into its Many Turns as Stanwyck comes Unglued.The Abruptions that the Movie takes from the Beginning are Stark and Strain Credulity. There are some Unintentionally Funny Moments (darning socks) and some of the Melodrama is Murky and the Result is a Somewhat Haphazard Film with a Good Story to Tell and some Sociological Comments to Make, but it isn't Told Very Well and the Statements are more Thrown Out There than Realized.Overall it is a Mediocre Attempt at a Very Interesting Take on a Situation that Needed some Exploration and Examining. The Housewife's Plight and a Women's Place in the Man's World of the 1950's was a Target Worth Shooting Towards. This One Came Close to the Mark but Missed.
Spikeopath
Crime of Passion is directed by Gerd Oswald and written by Jo Eisinger. It stars Barbara Stanwyck, Sterling Hayden, Raymond Burr and Fay Wray. Music is by Paul Dunlap and cinematography by Joseph LaShelle.It's a strange one in many ways, in that it's a film of considerable intelligence and wry social critique. It even folds inwards the role of the film noir femme fatale, marking it out as fascinating. Yet it never fully delivers for dramatic purpose, leaving it as a modest entry in the last throes of the classic era film noir cycle.Plot sees Stanwyck as Kathy Ferguson, a strong and intelligent newspaper columnist who really doesn't suffer fools gladly. However, when she helps the police with a crime she meets and falls in love with Lt. Bill Doyle (Hayden), and after a whirlwind romance she marries him and finds herself in a picket fence suburban hell. Tiring of Bill standing still, happy with his place in society, Kathy takes drastic action to elevate their life to greater heights...Such is the quality of lead cast members doing what they did best, film manages to hold the attention from a narrative perspective, and with LaShelle's photography firmly dealing in the 50s noir realm of darkness in daylight, there's a claustrophobic atmosphere wrung out to accentuate Kathy's suburban Suzy Homemamker suffocation. The wry observations of social standings and the woman's role in the 50s home is given skilled direction by Oswald (A Kiss Before Dying), the feminist viewpoints standing tall at the front of the play.Unfortunately all the brains and technical attributes involved in production can't hide the fact that it's very rarely exciting or suspenseful, practically crawling to a sedate resolution that isn't exactly satisfying. There's a lot of good here, making it worth a watch for fans of the stars or for those that like some brains in their noir diet. But you may end up as frustrated as I was come the end... 6/10
Michael O'Keefe
Interesting crime drama directed by Gerd Oswald. Kathy Ferguson(Barbara Stanwyck)is a newspaper columnist unhappy with her job. She has brains and talent...and very easy on the eyes. She is blindsided by love. "Fergie" falls in love with Los Angeles Police Lt. Bill Doyle(Sterling Hayden). She is determined and self assured, while her new husband seems to lack ambition. Kathy does her best to help Bill climb the ladder in rank; she even satisfies Police Inspector Tony Pope(Raymond Burr)in the process. No longer an ace columnist, but an unhappy suburban housewife, Mrs. Doyle blames Bill's job for her loneliness. And when Pope refuses to keep his promise to promote Bill, Kathy becomes a desperate woman scorned. When Pope is found dead with one shot to the head, who do you think is a prime suspect? This movie was filmed entirely at RKO-Pathe Studios in Culver City, California. CRIME of PASSION proves what drives an intelligent, and otherwise, normal person to commit murder. Supporting cast includes: Royal Dano, Fay Wray, Robert Griffin and Virginia Grey.
