The Unfaithful (1947)

July 1, 1947 (US) • Thriller, Drama, Mystery • 109m

Overview

Christine Hunter kills an intruder and tells her husband and lawyer that it was an act of self-defense. It's later revealed that he was actually her lover and she had posed for an incriminating statue he created.

Director

Vincent Sherman

Writers

David Goodis, James Gunn, W. Somerset Maugham

Top Billed

Ann Sheridan

Keywords

infidelity artist sculpture film noir killer divorce lawyer stabbed to death

Where to watch

Check streaming options on TMDB

Top Billed Cast

Ann Sheridan

Christine Hunter

Lew Ayres

Larry Hannaford

Zachary Scott

Bob Hunter

Eve Arden

Paula

Jerome Cowan

Prosecuting Attorney

Steven Geray

Martin Barrow

John Hoyt

Det. Lt. Reynolds

Peggy Knudsen

Claire

Marta Mitrovich

Mrs. Tanner

Douglas Kennedy

Roger

Claire Meade

Martha

Frances Morris

Agnes

Jane Harker

Joan

Mary Field

Miss Bryar

Ray Montgomery

Ray

Eve Whitney

Young Woman

Ellen Corby

Courtroom Spectator

Bob Alden

Newsboy in Montage

Lois Austin

Middle-Aged Woman

Brooks Benedict

Party Guest

Monte Blue

Businessman with Hunter

Chet Brandenburg

Bailiff

Ralph Brooks

Party Guest

Dorothy Christy

Mrs. Freedley

Tristram Coffin

Party Guest

Heinie Conklin

Streetcar Passenger

Jean De Briac

Jean, Maitre D'

Sayre Dearing

Juror

Jay Eaton

Party Guest

John Elliott

Judge Edward R. McVey

Maude Fealy

Old Maid in Montage

Ross Ford

Young Man

Robert Haines

Juror

Carey Harrison

Seedy Man in Montage

George Hickman

Newsboy in Montage

Betty Hill

Reporter in Montage

Charles Jordan

George, Doorman

Fred Kelsey

Courtroom Spectator

Kenner G. Kemp

Party Guest

Bob Lowell

Reporter in Montage

Charles Marsh

Reporter on Telephone

Philo McCullough

Party Guest

Harold Miller

Party Guest

Ray Montgomery

Ray, Hunter's Assistant

Jack Mower

Morrie, Plainclothesman

Sol Murgi

Courtroom Spectator

Paul Panzer

Courtroom Spectator

Waclaw Rekwart

Party Guest

John Vosper

Man in Montage

Richard Walsh

Reporter

Leo White

Spectator Arriving at Courtroom

Eric Wilton

Restaurant Waiter

Joan Winfield

Bill Girl

Clifton Young

Charlie (Voice)

Crew

Vincent Sherman

Director

David Goodis

Screenplay

James Gunn

Screenplay

William Wallace

Set Decoration

Max Steiner

Original Music Composer

Jack L. Warner

Executive Producer

W. Somerset Maugham

Novel

Perc Westmore

Makeup Artist

Murray Cutter

Music Arranger

Jerry Wald

Producer

Leo K. Kuter

Art Direction

Alan Crosland, Jr.

Editor

Francis J. Scheid

Sound

Leo F. Forbstein

Music Director

William C. McGann

Special Effects

Rudy Vallee

Lyricist

Robert Burks

Special Effects

Ernest Haller

Director of Photography

James McMahon

Assistant Director

Travilla

Costume Designer

Charles Henderson

Original Music Composer

Reviews

John Chard

⭐ 7/10

May 11, 2019

The Statue.

The Unfaithful is directed by Vincent Sherman and written by Dave Goodis and James Gunn. It's based around the 1929 play, The Letter, by W. Somerset Maugham. It stars Ann Sheridan, Lew Ayres, Zachary Scott, Eve Arden, Jerome Cowan, Steven Geray and John Hoyt. Music is by Max Steiner and cinematography by Ernest Haller.

When a Los Angeles socialite kills a man while home alone one night it appears to be a simple case of self defence....

Maugham's play written source of 1929 had already been adapted in 1931 and 1940, the latter the most grandiose version with Bette Davis starring and William Wyler directing. So wisely, Vincent Sherman and his team rework the principle to a modern day city, with modern day social awareness and a whole different macguffin. It's a tricky blend of murder mystery and domestic melodrama dressed up occasional film noir garb, and yet for although it's hardly riveting viewing - with a hopelessly safe finale, there's rich characterisations and enough honest intention on the page to keep you on side.

In the first instance pic is concerned with the mystery element, the big question of if Chris Hunter (Sheridan) did in fact kill in self defence. The crime itself is superbly staged by Sherman (All Through the Night) and Haller (Mildred Pierce). A house at night lit by lamplight, a woman entering her front door is submerged by an approaching shadow, a scuffle moves into the house and we the viewers witness the rest via jostling silhouettes. It's a nifty show of a visual flourish that sadly has you wishing there was a more consistent commitment to the mise en scène throughout rest of the piece.

Then the story throws a spanner in the works, excitingly so, for all is not as it seems. Adultery, blackmail, deceit, murder? Can it be true? But again, one has to be disappointed that these themes - ripe for noir dalliances - are not covered with dark tints. Because instead the pic chooses to go for domestic disharmony, even becoming a message movie - where as honourable as that is in the context of the era it was made, it loses all of its dramatic worth. This is the nearly very good under seen crime/noir picture...

For all that, there's good craft here, with performances to match, notably a wonderfully waspish Arden. And in going the way they did for the finale, it would be churlish to decry it its hopeful hopefulness. So as Steiner weaves his musical swirls, and Haller brightens the gloom, hope does indeed spring eternal. 6.5/10

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The Unfaithful (1947)

David Goodis, James Gunn, W. Somerset Maugham

Where to watch

Top Billed Cast

Crew

Reviews

John Chard

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