The Unfaithful (1947)

Pretty good melodrama from Warner Bros. I can see the topic of marital infidelity being especially relevant in 1947, just two years after a disruptive WWII. While soldier husband Bob (Scott) was overseas, lonely wife Chris succumbed to sculptor Tanner's seductive charms. Now she hides her secret from Bob. Trouble is that Tanner turns up again, at Chris's house where she stabs him under suspicious circumstances. Question is whether Bob will find out about the past liaison, and break up what's now a reasonably happy home.I'm glad Warner's didn't cast their favorite diva, Joan Crawford, as Chris. In my book, the formidable Crawford had trouble acting vulnerable, which Chris at times is required to be. On the other hand, Sheridan manages the trick without looking too weak or even sympathetic. After all, she is guilty of what many consider a sin; thus, she's got a fine line to walk—being somewhat sympathetic but not too much. Whatever the role's requisites, it's certainly not a glamorous one. Scott's playing against his usual sinister type as the wronged husband. But then Bob can't be too sympathetic since that would bias audience reaction against Chris. I'm guessing that's why the naturally likable Lew Ayres was not cast in the husband role. And catch professional cynic Eve Arden (Paula) getting off her usual barbed asides in typically humorous fashion. She has one well-conceived scene with Bob, where she explains the difficulties Chris had while alone, with only Bob's letters for company. This has the plot effect of humanizing Chris' predicament when succumbing to the predatory Tanner.In fact, I take the movie's main message as just that. Namely, that good marriages shouldn't be abandoned because of wartime separation and the longing this creates. That would have been especially topical for the time. Note too, that Bob's start-up business is building post-war homes, at a time when the need was great. That also ties in with the general theme. All in all, it's an interesting and well-acted drama, maybe a little too subdued for its own good, but with a good thought-provoking moral.

The opening narrative tells us that our story occurs in southern California, but that it may happen anywhere. From a street generously lined with palm trees, a late model auto pulls into the driveway of an attractive house in an upper middle class neighborhood. Thus begins the tale. Chris Hunter (Ann Sheridan) is excited because her husband Bob (Zachary Scott) is returning home from his latest business trip (of ten days). As it will come to pass, Bob and Chris have not been together much. They married only after knowing each other for a short time. Just two weeks later, he was shipped away to the Pacific for two years to fight the Japanese in World War II, not returning home until after the war (1945). So there is a hidden message here: loneliness.The night before Bob's arrival Chris is attacked by a man whom we do not see as she enters her house. After a difficult struggle she is able to reach for a knife and kill her assailant in obvious self-defense. The police are shortly on the scene of the crime. While the account appears to be one of an assault and self-defense issue, it is much more. The fact of the matter is that while Bob was away, the dutiful Chris succumbed to temptation: another man's advances. She tries to hide her adultery. The problem is that the man whom she killed (Mike Tanner) was the one with whom she had the affair. No one would be the wiser except that a sleazy second-hand art dealer, Martin Barrow (Steven Geray) – he of the strange accent for a guy named Barrow – happens to own a bust, a sculptured head. Not only is it a likeness of Chris Hunter, but it has been "signed" by M. Tanner, the name of the dead man! Over time, Chris' lies will get her into trouble with both the law and her husband. Her life will implode.Defending Chris is adviser-lawyer and family friend Larry Hannaford (Lew Ayres), steadfast to the end. But when everything comes out into the open, there will be a sensational shattering public trial. Lew Ayres is more than adequate in court, and he later has the soothing words for Bob and Chris when they need them. So does gossipy Paula (Eve Arden), who turns decent at the end. Jerome Conway is the prosecuting attorney, a pit bull, in court. By the way, if he looks familiar as a court lawyer, he had the same role (district attorney) during the same year (1947) in "Miracle on 34th Street." Los Angeles locales are used to good advantage. But although the leads (Ann Sheridan, Lew Ayres, Zachary Scott) are fine, there are two weaknesses: Roger (Douglas Kennedy), a bit of a heavy, wanders in and out very early on, and we never see him again. Also the movie length is at ten or fifteen minutes too long. Nevertheless it is entertaining, satisfying, and recommended.

Ann Sheridan, Zachary Scott, and Lew Ayres star in a much watered down version of W. Somerset Maugham's The Letter. If you've seen either or both the Jeanne Eagels or Bette Davis versions you will be vastly disappointed in what the Brothers Warner give us here. The Davis version differs slightly from the original Eagels film, but nothing like what this one is about.Instead of exotic Malaya this is set in America and it involves a woman who married a GI just before him shipping out and then drifts into an affair with a sculptor. As in the other versions we see Ann Sheridan killing him as the film opens and telling LAPD homicide cop John Hoyt that she killed a burglar. Which of course he doesn't buy.Zachary Scott is the husband who stands by her and Lew Ayres provides a spirited defense. If you know the plot of The Letter you know what happens.Taking the setting out of Malaya was a horrible mistake as it robbed the story of the racial component so essential in the plot. Worse was a false happy ending of sorts.The writers were credited with an ORIGINAL screenplay because I'll bet Maugham did not want his name associated with this. I don't blame him.A talented cast wasted on watered down tripe.

Major change for Zachary Scott here. For a change, he is a victim, the husband of an unfaithful wife. He acts accordingly when he discovers Ann Sheridan's discretion.As always, Eve Arden is along for the ride with her snappy one-liners and her usual brilliant sarcasm. In a change for her as well, she really dramatizes it up with her scene with "cousin" Scott, telling him to go easy on Sheridan. For Scott and Arden, this was their re-teaming after "Mildred Pierce," 2 years before.Interesting line here that women left alone during World War 11 resorted to unfaithfulness. It really isn't nice when you think of it, but it works here.Note a solid supporting performance by Jerome Cowan as an aggressive district attorney.