So Evil My Love

A not uninteresting offshoot from the noir cycle, made by Paramount in Britain and derived from a factually-based novel by Joseph Shearing, who specialised in Victorian Gothic (Moss Rose, Blanche Fury). Lots of loving period frills as Milland, a caddish charmer taking over the femme fatale role, lures a missionary's staid widow into (literally) letting her hair down, then wantonly sets her on the path to blackmail and murder. Allen's bleakly measured direction (he made the wonderfully atmospheric The Uninvited) is unfortunately tipped towards dullness by somewhat bland characterisations from Todd and Milland.