Really, really enjoyable—I had meant to watch this shortly after viewing Leave Her to Heaven, but it kept popping in and out of my streaming services.
Anyway. Gene Tierney! Of course everyone around Laura Hunt feels possessive about her. I really like how she actively refuses to be hemmed in. Clifton Webb’s Waldo Lydecker (what a great name) gets all the best lines, the kind of scathing, queer-coded character that just jumps off the screen.
This didn’t strike me as a by-the-book film noir (Laura Hunt isn’t really a femme fatale so much as a smart, beautiful woman upon whom others project their desires). The romantic aspect feels half-baked but you know what—I’ll buy it, because again: Gene Tierney.