Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

romanorum1 The opening narrative tells us that our story occurs in southern California, but that it may happen anywhere. From a street generously lined with palm trees, a late model auto pulls into the driveway of an attractive house in an upper middle class neighborhood. Thus begins the tale. Chris Hunter (Ann Sheridan) is excited because her husband Bob (Zachary Scott) is returning home from his latest business trip (of ten days). As it will come to pass, Bob and Chris have not been together much. They married only after knowing each other for a short time. Just two weeks later, he was shipped away to the Pacific for two years to fight the Japanese in World War II, not returning home until after the war (1945). So there is a hidden message here: loneliness.The night before Bob's arrival Chris is attacked by a man whom we do not see as she enters her house. After a difficult struggle she is able to reach for a knife and kill her assailant in obvious self-defense. The police are shortly on the scene of the crime. While the account appears to be one of an assault and self-defense issue, it is much more. The fact of the matter is that while Bob was away, the dutiful Chris succumbed to temptation: another man's advances. She tries to hide her adultery. The problem is that the man whom she killed (Mike Tanner) was the one with whom she had the affair. No one would be the wiser except that a sleazy second-hand art dealer, Martin Barrow (Steven Geray) – he of the strange accent for a guy named Barrow – happens to own a bust, a sculptured head. Not only is it a likeness of Chris Hunter, but it has been "signed" by M. Tanner, the name of the dead man! Over time, Chris' lies will get her into trouble with both the law and her husband. Her life will implode.Defending Chris is adviser-lawyer and family friend Larry Hannaford (Lew Ayres), steadfast to the end. But when everything comes out into the open, there will be a sensational shattering public trial. Lew Ayres is more than adequate in court, and he later has the soothing words for Bob and Chris when they need them. So does gossipy Paula (Eve Arden), who turns decent at the end. Jerome Conway is the prosecuting attorney, a pit bull, in court. By the way, if he looks familiar as a court lawyer, he had the same role (district attorney) during the same year (1947) in "Miracle on 34th Street." Los Angeles locales are used to good advantage. But although the leads (Ann Sheridan, Lew Ayres, Zachary Scott) are fine, there are two weaknesses: Roger (Douglas Kennedy), a bit of a heavy, wanders in and out very early on, and we never see him again. Also the movie length is at ten or fifteen minutes too long. Nevertheless it is entertaining, satisfying, and recommended.

calvinnme but close enough that within 20 minutes or so you'll recognize the basic outline of "The Letter". 1940's version was a production code version of the story that was as close to the original story as the censors would allow. To see what they wouldn't allow watch the 1929 version.This version is different enough that you'll not be sure how it ends even if you've already seen "The Letter". The main change - the topical subject in 1947 of people who met and married in haste during WWII before the man shipped out with the armed forces and how difficult it was for the women to cope with the loneliness. Zachary Scott plays a good if self-righteous guy (Bob Hunter) for a change and plays it convincingly and Anne Sheridan plays his adoring wife, Chris. They were such a couple who over a three week period during WW2 met, courted, and married before Bob had to ship out. Chris was more fortunate than many army wives - Bob's family has money so all she has to do is wait. This spare time turns out to be a curse as well as a blessing though. The two seem to have the ideal marriage though post-war until one night when Bob is away from home Chris is attacked by a man and kills him in self defense. We never see the man and the attack is shown only in silhouette. Chris claims to have never seen the man before, but soon her story is falling apart. Eve Arden is in top form here as a recent rather catty divorcée who, in a scene that could have gone one of several ways when a depressed Zachary Scott shows up at her bachelorette apartment alone and seeking comfort, turns out to be a gal with heart after all and more so, wisdom.Definitely worth your time even if you've seen either or both of the other previous filmed versions of the same basic story.

blanche-2 Ann Sheridan and Zachary Scott star in "The Unfaithful" in this 1947 Warner Brothers film directed by Vincent Sherman. The likable Sheridan plays Chris Hunter, a woman whose husband (Zachary Scott) has been away on a business trip. She's excited about his return the next morning; after a party held by her husband's cousin Paula (Eve Arden), we see her being attacked. The attacker gets into her home, and the assault continues there.The next day, we find out there's been a murder, and Chris tells the police and her husband that a man tried to rob her of her jewelry and she killed him defending herself. Right away you know her story is no good.This is a fairly interesting update of "The Letter" with some modern marital problems coming into the mix - a hasty marriage followed by a long wartime separation and the resulting loneliness. It doesn't have the bite of the Somerset Maugham story, but it's pretty good.Zachary Scott for once plays a nice guy, and Ann Sheridan gives a good performance as his wife. Eve Arden has the best role as the gossipy cousin who is more sympathetic to Chris than she immediately lets on.Good Warners film, good Warners cast.

MartinHafer The film begins with Ann Sheridan coming home from a party and being attacked by an unknown person. The next morning, her husband (Zachary Scott) returns home from a business trip to find the police at his home. It seems that Ann killed the attacker and the story seems pretty open and shut--some guy broke into her home and she justifiably killed him.However, just a bit later, you find that there's a lot more to the story. Ann actually lied and what exactly is the truth is something you are never certain of--even by the end of the film. What Zachary Scott and the police do know, though, is that at one point Ann and her attacker had actually been lovers! Now so far, I liked the film and its twists and turns--especially when you find out Sheridan isn't so sweet after all. However, what bothered me and made this film less interesting is that despite her being a liar (and possibly a cold-blooded murderess), other story elements are thrown in which muddle the whole thing. They actually tried to make the viewer feel sorry for her and understand why she might have been justified in lying--and this lost me. I would have MUCH preferred the story not taking this detour and being much more a story about an evil and conniving woman (such as Bette Davis'character in THE LETTER). The sympathy angle weakened the narrative--making this movie more of an interesting time-pass than anything else.