| The Unfaithful | |
|---|---|
Theatrical poster |
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| Directed by | Vincent Sherman |
| Produced by | Jerry Wald |
| Written by | Novel: W. Somerset Maugham Screenplay: David Goodis James Gunn |
| Starring | Ann Sheridan Lew Ayres Zachary Scott |
| Music by | Max Steiner |
| Cinematography | Ernest Haller |
| Editing by | Alan Crosland Jr. |
| Studio | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | June 5, 1947 |
| Running time | 109 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Unfaithful is a 1947 film noir based on the W. Somerset Maugham-penned 1940 Bette Davis movie The Letter. The film was directed by Vincent Sherman.[1][2]
Contents |
Chris Hunter stabs a man in her home one night while her husband Bob is out of town. The dead man's name is Tanner and she claims not to know him.
A blackmailer, Martin Barrow, shows up with a bust of Chris Hunter's head signed by Tanner, who was a sculptor. Larry Hannaford, her lawyer and a good friend, realizes that Chris is lying about not knowing the man she killed.
Barrow double-crosses her by taking the artwork to Tanner's wife, who is now convinced Chris had an affair with her husband. She relays this information to Bob Hunter, who demands a divorce after Chris admits having an affair with Tanner while her husband was away during the war.
Chris is charged with murder and tried. Hannaford persuades the jury that while Chris was indeed guilty of adultery, she stabbed Tanner in self-defense.
The New York Times gave the film a mixed review, "The Warner Brothers have turned out a better than average murder mystery in The Unfaithful, but they have badly over-weighted with melodramatics the things they obviously wanted to say about a pressing social problem. The new picture at the Strand stabs and jabs like a hit-and-run prizefighter at the subject of hasty divorces and the dangerous consequences to society of this ill conceived cure all for marital difficulties, but it never gets across a telling dramatic punch. However, through some uncommonly persuasive acting and skillful direction the patently artificial plot stands up surprisingly well."[3]