In this film noir Dick Powell is John Forbes, a married man who works as an adjuster for an insurance company.\u00a0 He lives in the suburbs with his pretty wife Sue, played by Jane Wyatt and his young son Tommy.\u00a0 Based on the domestic scenes, we see that Forbes is bored with his humdrum existence of work and tame suburban monotony.<\/p>\n
One day an insurance investigator, J.B. MacDonald (played by truly creepy Raymond Burr) comes to Forbes with a case that requires him to interview a woman, Mona Stevens played by frequent femme fatale actress, Lizabeth Scott.\u00a0 Her fianc\u00e9, Bill Smiley, has passed along to her gifts paid for with money he fraudulently obtained against his insurance.\u00a0 During his meeting with Forbes MacDonald indicates that he is lusting after Stevens and will be making a play for her while her boyfriend is in jail.\u00a0 We can tell that Forbes despises MacDonald but in order to maintain a working relationship with the investigator ignores the crudity of MacDonald\u2019s plan.<\/p>\n
When Forbes meets Mona Stevens at her apartment he blandly and uncaringly requires her to surrender her engagement ring and other gifts given by Smiley.\u00a0 She upbraids him for his callousness and just to show her disdain for his power she tells him about an asset he didn\u2019t know about, a small speed boat that she loves more than anything else.\u00a0 Now Forbes feels remorse for being such a heel and while going out to see the boat he apologizes and tells her he\u2019ll buy her a drink to show her that he has nothing against her.\u00a0 The couple go to the dock and at her invitation they go out on the boat and she even allows him to drive it.\u00a0 They both enjoy the ride and each other\u2019s company.\u00a0 Afterwards they go to a bar and have some drinks and Forbes tells Mona that he won\u2019t include the boat in his report.\u00a0 During the scene sexual attraction is on display on both sides and afterwards they head back to Mona\u2019s apartment.\u00a0 Meanwhile we are shown MacDonald skulking around watching them.\u00a0 In the next scene Forbes is shown arriving at his home very late in the night and he sneaks into his bedroom where his wife is asleep.\u00a0 His guilt over betraying her is plain to see on his face.<\/p>\n
The next day MacDonald shows up in Forbes\u2019 office and tells him he doesn\u2019t want Forbes interfering with his play for Mona.\u00a0 Also, he informs Forbes that he has added the speed boat to the list of assets that Mona must relinquish.\u00a0 Forbes tells MacDonald to stop annoying Mona and not to interfere with his actions either professionally or personally.\u00a0 Forbes meets with Mona and tells her about the speed boat and MacDonald\u2019s part in it.\u00a0 Mona volunteers that MacDonald has been annoying her.\u00a0 When Forbes gets home that night MacDonald is waiting for him in front of his garage and administers a serious beat down on Forbes.\u00a0 Forbes tells his wife and the police that he had been robbed by strangers.\u00a0 His doctor tells him he\u2019ll have to stay in bed for a couple of weeks and Forbes tells his job that he has a bad cold.<\/p>\n
When Forbes doesn\u2019t show up for a few days Mona calls his office and is informed that he is home sick.\u00a0 She drives to his house with some soup and there discovers that Forbes is a married man.\u00a0 She actually speaks to his wife in front of the house claiming that she is looking for a house on a different street.\u00a0 When Forbes finally gets well, he goes to speak to Mona and she tells him she has discovered his secret.\u00a0 Forbes admits his deception and apologizes.\u00a0 Now Mona tells him that Macdonald is pressing his demands for a relationship, hounding her at work and is threatening to tell her fianc\u00e9 in prison that she is having an affair with Forbes.\u00a0 Apparently, MacDonald who is a former policeman has connections in the prison.\u00a0 Forbes promises to fix the situation.<\/p>\n
Forbes goes to MacDonald\u2019s apartment and administers a beating that at least matches the one he got from MacDonald.\u00a0 And he warns him to stay away from Mona and Forbes\u2019 family.\u00a0 Time passes and Smiley will be getting out of jail.\u00a0 MacDonald has been visiting him in jail and filling his mind with stories that Mona is having an affair with Forbes.\u00a0 Smiley shows up at Mona\u2019s apartment drunk and armed with a pistol that MacDonald gave him.\u00a0 He accuses her of infidelity with Forbes and says he\u2019s going over to his house to settle things.\u00a0 Mona phones Forbes and warns him.\u00a0 Forbes arms himself and when Smiley arrives, he pulls the gun on him and tells him to leave or be shot.\u00a0 Smiley leaves but as soon as Forbes goes back in his house Smiley smashes through a large window in the living room and enters the house.\u00a0 As soon as he steps foot in the house Forbes shoots him several times.\u00a0 Forbes pretends that the man is a prowler in his statement to the police.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile MacDonald is at Mona\u2019s apartment and listens on her radio to the police channel where they hear about the shooting at Forbes\u2019 address.\u00a0 When the radio reports add homicide to the message MacDonald calls a friend at the precinct and learns that Forbes has killed Smiley.\u00a0 MacDonald then informs Mona that with Smiley dead and Forbes entangled with his death and Macdonald\u2019s connections with the police, Mona will have no choice but to go away with MacDonald and be his girlfriend.\u00a0 As he starts packing her clothes her face becomes bleak and she reaches into a drawer, pulls out a pistol and puts several bullets into MacDonald.<\/p>\n
Back at Forbes\u2019 home he is racked with guilt and confesses to his wife his relationship with Smiley\u2019s fianc\u00e9 and the reason for the break in.\u00a0 He then wanders off into the night preparing himself for the consequences of his actions.\u00a0 He ends up at police headquarters and makes his statement to the district attorney and there learns that Mona has shot MacDonald and depending on whether he lives will be indicted for either murder or attempted murder.\u00a0 No charges will be brought against Forbes but the DA rebukes him.\u00a0 He says that Forbes\u2019 attempt to conceal his infidelity is responsible for the shootings.\u00a0 Otherwise he could have called the police and prevented the incidents.\u00a0 As Forbes is leaving the building, he sees Mona being led away by the police.<\/p>\n
As he leaves the building, he sees his wife Sue waiting for him in their family car.\u00a0 He gets in and as she is driving him home, they discuss their situation.\u00a0 Forbes is contrite and assumes she will want a divorce.\u00a0 Sue admits that she has considered it but isn\u2019t sure that is what she wants.\u00a0 She does think they will have to move to another town and suggests that he asks for a transfer from his company.\u00a0 When he asks her how she will take up her life with him after the betrayal she admits that things will not be the same but says she is willing to give it a chance.<\/p>\n
I find this movie interesting for a number of reasons.\u00a0 The fact that the adulterous husband avoided all legal consequences and might not even lose his wife was a very atypical ending in 1948.\u00a0 The Hays Code required that the guilty be punished and that included moral offenses that might not have a jail sentence specified.\u00a0 Also, the reality of a pillar of the community being bored with his \u201cAmerican Dream\u201d existence was sort of heretical.\u00a0 But the reality of post-war America is a fitting subject for a realistic appraisal of how men would adapt to a world that no longer needed war heroes but rather expected a boring but dependable \u201cFather Knows Best\u201d husband and dad.\u00a0 Interestingly, Jane Wyatt who played the wife is best known for her part as the loyal, dependable wife in that show Father Knows Best.\u00a0 The crisis and resolution of John Forbes\u2019 transgression is handled in a more realistic and nuanced way than what would have been seen in the 1930s and early 40s.\u00a0 Forbes breaks the accepted boundaries of morality but instead of paying with his life or his freedom he is stuck with his conscience and the knowledge that his wife can no longer believe in him.\u00a0 One man is dead because of him and an innocent woman will go to jail.\u00a0 This is much more like what life is really like.\u00a0 Lots of gray, not so much black and white.\u00a0 Flawed people living with the consequences of their mistakes and hopefully learning from them.<\/p>\n
And on a personal basis, I find the fact that Mona filled Raymond Burr full of lead very satisfying and admirable.\u00a0 It shows the right attitude.\u00a0 Interesting movie with nuanced characters and lots of things to think about.\u00a0 Highly recommended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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