Watched: 03/20/2026
Format: TCM Noir Alley on DVR
Viewing: First
Director: Gerd Oswald
I was a bit shocked to learn I'd never seen or heard of a movie co-starring Barbara Stanwyck and Sterling Hayden, with Raymond Burr. And a noir, nonetheless.
Look, over the years I've really come to think of Stanwyck as *the best at what she does*, something Eddie Muller discusses in his pre-amble to the movie. She's just incredible in versatility, range, and believability in everything she does. And this movie is no exception. I love Hayden, but Sterling Hayden shows up and is Sterling Hayden in everything he does. Raymond Burr has three modes I've seen - big brute with a brain, Perry Mason and yelling about Godzilla. And that's okay. But Stanwyck is the focus here, and she's fantastic.
She plays a career-gal reporter - no longer a young woman - stuck doing a sob sister column and asked to get "the woman's angle" on stories. During a murder investigation she first gets her big break and national attention, and meets a detective played by Sterling Hayden.
There's a powerfully strong undercurrent of sex throughout this movie, and despite a life given over to career, Stanwyck is clearly powerfully drawn to Hayden. But even as they meet, she's trying to help him game to get credit for the arrest, which he refuses to do, bringing back his Captain (Royal Dano).
After her big story/ break where she lures a female murderer in to confess with an article appealing to her, woman-to-woman, Stanwyck is supposed to go to New York for a big opportunity, but gets waylaid, going to Los Angeles and deciding to stay with Sterling Hayden, marrying him. The banter as they head into his house is... deeply charged.
This being 1956, she's supposed to quit working if she's married, and so she *tries* to settle in and be a happy housewife, and... this is where you can read the movie a few ways. The modern take would be a post-Mad Men condemnation of the gender norms of the 1950's, and how it drives a career-driven gal to the brink. The parallax view likely sold at the time was that the same impulses that make her regret her decision to marry and play housewife (embodied in her breakdown at the party, which is cinematic gold) are what lead to the titular murder of the film's title.
With a cunning mind and nowhere to use it, Stanwyck begins to plot her husband's ascent in the LAPD, by ingratiating herself to the head of his division, Burr, and getting social with he and his wife. In addition, she maybe starts flirt a tad with Burr.
SPOILERS
Between her attraction to Burr and scheming for her husband, she sleeps with Burr, who then decides he really can't promote Hayden up to his own position, which he feels he needs to vacate for his wife.
Stanwyck shoots Burr *in the head* with a gun stolen from her own husband's homicide division. And, Hayden being a cop first and foremost, sorts it out an dhas to bring her in. The End.
It's a bit thin on story as far as A to B to C, but when it comes to thematic resonance and the work of Stanwyck and crew, everyone delivers a top notch performance. Hayden plays a tough guy, but one who actually cares - about his wife, about the right way to do things. Even if those things won't get him ahead. Burr isn't just playing the heavy - he's a guy in a complex position.
It's arguable that the movie is about scheming wives who f' up everything because they stick their noses into their husbands jobs (see: the entire run of I Love Lucy). But it makes more sense as a woman fighting in all directions against the cage into which she's placed herself. Which is a bit kooky, as it *seems* like Hayden might be game for her to work. At least it's never discussed, but it's not like he always had a wife at home and would expect dinner on the table... Man, 1950's gender politics in media sometimes are wild, and I assume they reflect the custom of the time or they wouldn't be treated with such shorthand.
Anyway, one to check out some time.
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