starring Ann Sheridan, Kent Smith
written by N. Richard Nash
directed by Vincent Sherman
111 minutes
San Franciscan Dr. Richard Talbot (Kent Smith) falls in love with nightclub singer Nora Prentiss (Ann Sheridan), a woman he meets by chance. He calls on Miss Prentiss while his wife is out of town. Nora thinks that Richard is a bit stiff but enjoys his attention. Their relationship deepens over time.
Nora tries to end things once she begins to understand that he isn't going to tell his wife about her. Richard insists that he will but then circumstances conspire to prevent him from doing so just when he is ready to tell his wife that he wants a divorce.
Another opportunity arises after one of Richard's patients dies unexpectedly of a heart attack when no one is around except Talbot. The man is physically very similar to Richard. They are both the same age, are the same height, and weigh about the same. Richard uses the man's body to fake his own death.
Richard and Nora move from San Francisco to New York City. Richard starts to go by the name Robert Thompson. He lies to Nora and doesn't tell her about faking his own death. He insists that they remain in hiding while he works on getting a divorce from his wife. It isn't until she decides she can't stand living such a secluded life and threatens to leave that he tells her the truth.
Nora gets a job as a nightclub singer once again. Richard remains in hiding. Richard grows jealous of the Phil Dinardo, the owner of the nightclub where Nora works. Finally, deciding he's had enough Richard goes to the nightclub where he gets into a fight with Phil. The police pursue him. He gets into a vehicle accident and his face is mutilated.
The police arrest him (after he recovers) for the murder of Dr. Richard Talbot. They take him back to San Francisco where he is put on trial for first degree murder. He refuses to speak a single word. No one recognizes him since his face was mutilated. The movie ends with Nora visiting him in jail, after he has been found guilty. He tells her to get on with her own life and leave him be. She leaves the prison and walks off into the night.
Thoughts
I saw this movie as part of the 2026 Noir City DC film festival at the AFI Silver Theater. I had not seen it before. Eddie Muller, the Czar of Noir, introduced the movie.
I think this movie is quite good. Ann Sheridan got top billing but Kent Smith’s character (Richard Talbot) was really the main character. I wasn’t sure where it would end but I was really quite impressed and moved by where it did. I half expected both Richard and Nora to die in a fiery car accident.
One thing that had me scratching my head was the way that no one seemed to recognize Talbot after he was burned. It might be that the makeup used just wasn't effective enough to convey how disfigured he was. There was one moment when it seems like his wife was about to recognize him (at the trial) but she didn’t. I also thought it was strange that the police just accepted his word as to his identity.
Was Richard Talbot an homme fatale? I don’t think so because he didn’t convince or talk Nora in to committing any crimes.
Notes
I have seen both Ann Sheridan and Kent Smith in movies before. Some other actors that were in this movie that I recognized from other movies, including one I saw just yesterday, include: Bruce Bennett, Robert Alda, John Ridgely, and Don McGuire.
The screenplay was written by N. Richard Nash but it was based upon a story written by Paul Webster and Jack Sobell.
The only other movie I have seen that Vincent Sherman directed was The Damned Don't Lie (1950). Kent Smith was also in that movie.
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