William Wyler directs Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall and James Stephenson in this courtroom drama where a rubber plantation manager’s wife kills a man in cold blood on her doorstep.

Sultry, steamy orientalism. Then Bette steps out her front door and unloads a whole revolver into some faceless guy. We are only two minutes in. Butter wouldn’t melt once the gun cools down. Her defence is good, until it isn’t… and then the drama begins. Almost gothic opera for the final sequence. Gorgeous looking old classic.

8

Perfect Double Bill: Mr. Skeffinton (1944)

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