Undercurrent

Vincente Minnelli's 1946 film works a familiar shape: a woman slowly realises she does not know the man she married. Ann is a chemist's daughter leading a plain life who marries the wealthy industrialist Alan after a rapid engagement. He turns her into an elegant society wife, but flies into rage whenever his missing brother Michael is mentioned. The more Ann looks into her husband's past, the wider the distance grows between the Michael she has imagined and the man in front of her. Minnelli builds the tension out of domestic space, with light, mirrors and empty rooms carrying the threat. Katharine Hepburn has an unusually defenceless part, and Robert Mitchum, early in his career, barely speaks. The film sits oddly in Minnelli's filmography. Who it's for: viewers who like classic Hollywood suspense and dark domestic drama. Who it's not for: anyone expecting fast thrills; the danger arrives late.