Sleep, My Love (1948)

Sleep, My Love (1948)

starring Claudette Colbert, Robert Cummings, Don Ameche

directed by Douglas Sirk

97 minutes

Alison Courtland (Claudette Colbert) wakes up on a train from New York to Boston with no memory of how she got there. She has a gun in her purse. It turns out to be her husband’s gun. 

Alison is soon reunited with Richard (Don Ameche), her husband. A doctor who claims to have been sent by her husband shows up at her house and then mysteriously disappears. Alison starts to question her sanity. Richard tries to comfort her but she doesn’t really relax until after she goes out with Bruce (Robert Cummings), the husband of her friend Barby. She wanted to go out with Richard but he was too busy with other things. 

Richard has secrets, including Daphne, a young woman he has been seeing on the side. Daphne is tired of waiting, tired of sneaking around. She insists that Richard do something, about his wife. 

Richard slips something into Alison’s hot chocolate that she drinks before going to bed. She wakes up in a trance and at Richard's suggestion almost jumps off the balcony. She only stops because Bruce, concerned for her safety, showed up in the middle of the night and yelled at her not to do it.

Bruce was already suspicious of Richard but he goes into detective mode after the near suicide. He breaks into Richard’s office. He finds the “doctor” who mysteriously disappeared. He also finds Daphne. Richard tries again to kill Alison but Bruce gets in the way once again.

Thoughts

I thought it was a little strange that Bruce was hanging out with Alison so much without Barby. When Bruce first showed up it was in the company of Barby. I got the impression that they were a couple. If they were then why did he take Alison to the wedding as his date? It isn't like Barby drops out of the picture after her first appearance. She does show up again. Maybe the status of Barby and Bruce's relationship just isn't explicitly clear.

I thought it was a a little strange how they worked Jimmie Lin into the story. He was Bruce's friend. He got married and then instead of going on his honeymoon he helps Bruce to figure out what Richard is scheming. It just seemed like an odd way for Jimmie to get introduced considering the role he ends up playing in the movie.

Rita Johnson played the part of Barby. She was also in The Big Clock (1948). She played Pauline in that film, the woman who was murdered. She has 45 screen credits according to IMDb. The only other movie she was in that I think I might have seen is Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941). Her acting career was cut short by an accident that left her with brain damage. She died in 1965 but her last credit according to IMDb was in 1957.

Hazel Brooks played the part of Daphne. This is the only thing that she was in that I have seen. She only has sixteen credits according to IMDb. All of her appearances in movies and television happened between 1943 and 1955. All but three of them happened between 1943 and 1948. She died in 2002.

I saw this movie as part of the 2023 Noir City DC Film Festival.