Sudden Fear

Myra Hudson is a successful playwright with money of her own. At a rehearsal of her new play she finds the actor Lester Blaine unsuitable for the romantic lead and has him dropped. Then they meet again on a train. Lester shows interest, a relationship begins, and they marry quickly. One day Myra leaves the dictating machine running in her study, and what is said in the room while she is out is recorded. She listens to it. David Miller directs. Joan Crawford plays Myra, Jack Palance plays Lester and Gloria Grahame plays Irene. Crawford was nominated for the Oscar for best actress and Palance for supporting actor. The second half is built entirely on a plan: Myra knows what is coming and prepares her counter move. The tension comes not from the unknown but from when the known will happen. It has the shape of noir, but at the centre there is no male detective; there is a woman under threat answering with her own intelligence. The steep streets of San Francisco are used directly in the final section and the chase was shot on location. Crawford's performance may seem overdone; that was the manner of the period and her scenes of panic are too much for a viewer today. Who it is for: viewers who like noir and Hollywood thrillers of the fifties. Who it is not for: the first half is slow, the plot leans on coincidence, and the ending resolves a little too easily.