Shadow on the Wall (1950)

This is a nice change of pace for the still striking Ann Southern, moving into dramatic parts after nearly two decades in mostly comedies or musicals. She had spent nearly a decade earning a steady paycheck as salt of the earth Maisie, solving everybody's troubles like an older Shirley Temple. But here, she causes it, accidentally killing her evil sister and allowing innocent brother- in-law Zachary Scott face the chair. What's ironic is that Scott, finding out that she's been unfaithful, may have done it had the nasty deceased not knocked him out with a blow from her hair brush. Hodiak's young daughter (Gigi Perreau) saw Sothern's shadow and has had a breakdown. Along comes future first lady Nancy Davis as a child psychologist who vows to uncover the secrets Perreau has locked up inside her mind.This glossy MGM film noir is interesting in its use of who is the protagonist and who is the antagonist and how the truth plays out. It's not easy to hate Sothern knowing how the gunshot happened, but her desperate state turns her into the monster of childhood nightmares, and Sothern plays the increasing anguish in excellent detail. Perreau is incredible as well, showing great depth as her horror comes and goes, giving quite the adult performance in the fact that this would be quite difficult to understand for a child in the situation, let alone play it out. Davis, often attacked for photographing oddly and simply for being the future Nancy Reagan, does manage to provide some warmth in spite of her seemingly public cold demeanor. This has many interesting facets that make up for some unbelievable bits, and of course, typical clichés that you could see coming from miles away.

David (Zachary Scott) is married to a no-good cheat, Celia. After returning from a business trip, he learns at a dinner party that his wife and 'friend' are having an affair. Later, as the two are arguing over this, Celia knocks out David. In the meantime, Celia's sister, Dell (Ann Sothern) arrives and confronts Celia for stealing her fiancé. Soon Dell kills Celia...and with David unconscious, he's assumed to have done the killing...and David isn't sure he didn't. David's been sent to death row and the only glitch in Dell's plan is that David's young daughter (Gigi Perreau) might have witnessed the killing and Dell needs to be certain she won't talk. While the young girl is too traumatized to fully recall the events, she could remember through the course of therapy...and it could be Dell on death row instead! So Dell can either wait and hope the child cannot remember or kill her to make certain!This is an unusual film due to the casting. This is NOT a complaint, but seeing Ann Sothern playing a killer is interesting, as she usually played nice, sweet folks like her Maisie character from the 1940s. At first, you can understand her motivation in killing her sister...but to see her attempting to murder an innocent child...that is a dark and twisted character! Additionally, this is one of the few films I've seen where Nancy David (Reagan) is given a chance to really act and she was quite nice as the child psychiatrist, Caroline. In other films, such as "Hellcats of the Navy" and "The Next Voice You Hear", Davis never really had a chance to shine as an actress.As for the film itself, it is very good and worth seeing. It's also very unusual for MGM...a studio that wasn't known for such dark films back in 1950. In general, film noir pictures were done by other studios and MGM preferred making 'nice' movies...but here they've created a rather hard-hearted film! This is NOT a complaint...I liked the film and can easily recommend it to anyone. By the way, one odd thing you see in the film is 'hydrotherapy'. Back in the bad old days of psychiatric treatment, hospitals often used baths to somehow try to cure or alleviate suffering in mental patients. In the really bad old days, it was ice water! Here, in the more enlightened 20th century, the baths were less traumatic and more soothing--with warm water. Of dubious value...but at least not harmful in the latter.

This is a very good B movie done in the noir style. Ray June was the cinematographer, and his deep focus work makes the film worth seeing all by itself. Note particularly the bedroom scene where everything is doubled. Zachary Scott, for a change, plays the typically confused noir male, and Ann Sothern, showing the force of period style, switches from Maisie to a somewhat tormented femme fatale. Enjoy!

A young girl(Gigi Perreau) becomes traumatized after she witnesses the accidental killing of her stepmother(Kristine Miller). Well-acted film noir showcases the dramatic talents of the exceptionally gifted actress Ann Sothern, who was known primarily for her 'light' roles in films like MAISIE. The film also features an early appearance by Barbara Billingsey, better known as June Cleaver on the popular '50's sitcom LEAVE IT TO BEAVER.