IMDb > Crime of Passion (1957)

Crime of Passion (1957) More at IMDbPro »


Overview

User Rating:
6.4/10   379 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
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Director:
Gerd Oswald
Writers:
Jo Eisinger (screenplay)
Jo Eisinger (story)
Contact:
View company contact information for Crime of Passion on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
9 January 1957 (USA) more
Genre:
Crime | Film-Noir | Drama more
Plot:
Kathy is a smart and tough 1950's advice columnist at a San Francisco newspaper, with her name plastered on billboards all over the city... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
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User Comments:
Stanwyck in B-film decline...Burr steals the acting honors... more (21 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Barbara Stanwyck ... Kathy Ferguson Doyle
Sterling Hayden ... Police Lt. Bill Doyle
Raymond Burr ... Police Inspector Anthony (Tony) Pope
Fay Wray ... Alice Pope
Virginia Grey ... Sara Alidos
Royal Dano ... Police Capt. Charlie Alidos
Robert Griffin ... Police Sgt. James
Dennis Cross ... Police Sgt. Jules
Jay Adler ... Mr. Nalence
Stuart Whitman ... Laboratory Technician

Malcolm Atterbury ... Police Officer Spitz
Robert Quarry ... Sam, Reporter
Gail Bonney ... Mrs. London
Joe Conley ... Delivery Boy
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Patricia Merlin ... Taxi Driver
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Additional Details

Runtime:
84 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Aspect Ratio:
1.66 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono

Fun Stuff

Goofs:
Crew or equipment visible: When Kathy calls Alice from the phone booth and hears she is leaving for Honolulu, the reflection of the cameraman is seen all through the scene on the back window of the booth (above left Kathy's head), and it moves as the camera pulls back. more
Quotes:
Alice Pope: You said, "Bill, you better go right out and get your lunch because I've just driven up Mrs Pole's telephone Pope". more

FAQ

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9 out of 16 people found the following comment useful.
Stanwyck in B-film decline...Burr steals the acting honors..., 2 August 2004
Author: Neil Doyle from U.S.A.

An overwrought BARBARA STANWYCK tries hard to make CRIME OF PASSION look like a steamy melodrama but the script, production values and uninspired direction defeat her despite some valiant efforts in a couple of strong scenes.

Sterling Hayden is convincing as her unambitious police lieutenant husband who has no idea his wife is so unsatisfied with domestic life that she's willing to kill the man who blocks any chances of a career rise.

Stanwyck's unhappy wife reminds me of Bette Davis' Rosa Moline in BEYOND THE FOREST--both of them ambitious and totally without scruples. At least FOREST had the advantage of Grade A production values and a Max Steiner score--and Davis was even more flamboyant than Stanwyck in creating her vixenish creature. But here Stanwyck is adrift in what looks like a B-film made on the cheap and quickly without much thought given to characterizations.

Raymond Burr gives the film's most interesting performance as a man who "picked up the chips" Stanwyck tossed at him--and makes more of his role than the script allows. He was always at his best in these films of the '50s showing his dark side as a philandering charmer who was quite a heel.

The ending is a distinct letdown--especially when you want Sterling Hayden to have a really strong confrontation with the woman who killed on his behalf. A stroll with his wife down a hallway toward a squad room is hardly a strong enough conclusion for a story of this sort.

Stanwyck fans will find it absorbing enough but definitely not one of her best assignments.

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Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Left big city newspaper columnist job for this? kevin-bergin
Last sentence of the movie? kl467
Where was the house? miriamwebster
All three wives a lot older than their respective husbands kevin-bergin
DVD Question Aletheia3
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