Shopgirl Barbara Bel Geddes marries disturbed millionaire Robert Ryan, then flees to a relationship with down-to-earth doctor James Mason. However, her sadistic husband will not even allow her adultery to separate them, even refusing her access to her child (with Mason). Increasingly desperate, our heroine begins to consider more violent ways out of her intolerable situation.
Max Ophuls turns out an unsung masterpiece, with Ryan outstanding as a pinball-playing, neurotic Howard Hughes type. It is an effective and rare film noir dealing not with crime but romance, but still finds a uniquely American darkness in its mansions and rooming houses.