Rent A Woman's Vengeance (1948)

Forties Noir. - A Woman's Vengeance review by Steve

Classy murder mystery adapted by Aldous Huxley from his own short story, and staged in the film noir style by Zoltan Korda. This is a beautiful production which generates considerable suspense. There's an abundance of superfluous conversation and humdrum philosophy but it hardly burdens the narrative flow.

Charles Boyer plays an idle, misogynistic aristocrat who can't get along with his disabled, middle aged wife (Rachel Kempson) but finds a more convivial alternative in his unspoiled 18 year old girlfriend (Ann Blyth). Who becomes pregnant! The husband is found guilty of the murder of his spouse and sentenced to death.

Though perhaps the real killer is his former protégée (Jessica Tandy) who presumes she is next in line to marry... Or the sickly wife's lesbian nurse (Mildred Natwick). Korda creates a great deal of tension with his cast of suspects. And it looks outstanding with the standard thunderstorm of gothic melodrama an absolute knockout.

Maybe it's a little highbrow and it failed to find an audience. There's lots of subtext. Presumably all the circumstantial evidence makes a case against the death penalty. But this is a twisty, high quality noir with fine performances; particularly from Tandy as the woman scorned. It's worth a look just for the stunning cloudburst.