I can't understand why nobody here has posted anything about this movie. I think it is a very funny film, with a carefully developed and twisted plot. And there is some great acting: Rex Harrison is just brilliant in one of his villain movies (cf. Dial M for Murder) and Maggie Smith also is really great as the shy but smart nurse.
Could any hell be more horrible than now and real?
-Jim Morrison
Harrison wasnt in DIAL M. It was Ray Milland.
shareThis was a good movie but could have been a great movie and the fault lies in cutting the scenes of Susan Hayward to shreds. At the time Miss Hayward was still a great marquee name and when you buy a ticket to a Susan Hayward movie to find out she had a little part it becomes unfair and antagonizes the audience. 20th Fox, Joe Mankiewicz and Rex Harrison all liked Susan Hayward--as well they should have!--so I have no real clue why the cut her out of the movie. She filmed scenes that were dropped.
As others have said Her husband fell ill during the shoot however she did film scenes before his illness and returned to Rome after his funeral to work.
Of course you are right, f elliott. I confused "Dial M" with "Midnight Lace".
Could any hell be more horrible than now and real?
-Jim Morrison
[deleted]
I liked it too, though I wish there were more scenes with the cute Edie Adams.
Professional Jayne Mansfield fanatic/lover™ since 1980.
This was a UA movie and the whole point of Hayward's character is that she dominates the story and you as a viewer think that she is going to be a central figure and then (typical to Mankiewicz's brilliant plot twists) she dies. The same way that Janet Leigh dies in "Psycho" only a half hour into the movie. Hayward is still a central point of the plot and is actually the main focus of the finale of the film.
It's a brialliantly written and acted movie. I don't know why it doesn't get more attention and I don't know why someone's lame assessment of it dominates the "user comments" section. I think the movie with it's literate script and twists and turns of the plot is a gem. And what a great cast. I've never been a big fan of Cliff Robertson and his uninspired acting, but he does well here. Rex Harrison is brilliant as is Maggie Smith. Capucine's role doesn't require much, but Edie Adams is perfectly cast as the American actress. She's always been an underrated actress and she's very funny here.
It's a great movie that deserves a DVD release.