One of the very best, totally flawless. Barbara Stanwyck sizzles as a late 1930s version of Lady Macbeth, Fred McMurray is scheming and ruthless but still the vulnerable nice guy, the seductive dialogue flows like a machine gun, Edward G Robinson gets so near to and is yet so far from the real truth, and even the minor characters are memorable – perhaps its repeated mentions in this film are the only thing that Medford, Oregon is really famous for!

I love film noir, and I’m always suprised this is chosen as one of the best. I find it clunky and often boring. Neither Fred MacMurray or Barbara Stanwyck is particularly fantastic and there is virtually no tension. When I read the book, I thought it might make a good movie, but it’s far far surpassed by other noir films like The Postman Always Rings Twice. It’s great as one of the earlier trendsetting films but personally, I think it’s monotonous.

Edward G Robinson is great, though!

This is probably the best example of Film Noir, it’s wonderfully constructed with a good sense of humour mixed in with the tale of murder. It also has a great performance from Edward G. Robinson, in addition to Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck. It’s great from start to finish.

I highly recommend this film for all the reasons dkp lists in her review. The dialogue alone will have you rewinding to catch every delectable rapid exchange.

…are intertwined in this great, classic film noir. Forget anything you’ve thought about Fred MacMurray if your primary association with him My Three Sons or Disney. In this movie we get to see him go toe-to-toe with Barbara Stanwyck and win…and lose.

If you haven’t seen this Billy Wilder film because they’ve been lax about releasing it to DVD (there was a short release in the late 1990s, but they’re hard to come by…even Netflix doesn’t carry it), you’re missing out. Go ahead, rent it on VHS. It’s classic noir and worth every grainy image.