Black Widow

Nunnally Johnson's 1954 film is a murder mystery set around Broadway. A young woman trying to build a stage career is found dead in a famous producer's apartment; what looks at first like suicide quickly becomes a murder investigation, and suspicion piles directly onto him. The film uses the theatre world's particular hierarchy, and the calculations of people trying to hold a place in it, as background. Ginger Rogers plays a hard, scheming character well outside her usual line. Being shot in colour and widescreen gives it a different surface from the dark mysteries of the forties, while the narrative follows classic puzzle construction. Who it's for: viewers who like fifties studio mysteries and stories set in the theatre. Who it's not for: anyone wanting tension and psychological depth; the film is focused on its solution.