The Unfaithful (1947 film)

Last updated
The Unfaithful
The Unfaithful movie poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Vincent Sherman
Screenplay by David Goodis
James Gunn
Based on The Letter
1927 play
by W. Somerset Maugham
Produced by Jerry Wald
Starring Ann Sheridan
Lew Ayres
Zachary Scott
Cinematography Ernest Haller
Edited byAlan Crosland Jr.
Music by Max Steiner
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • July 5, 1947 (1947-07-05)(U.S.) [1]
Running time
109 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1,822,000 [2]
Box office$2,250,000 (US rentals) [3] or $2,972,000 [2]

The Unfaithful is a 1947 American murder mystery film noir directed by Vincent Sherman and starring Ann Sheridan, Lew Ayres and Zachary Scott. It was produced and distributed by Warner Brothers. Regarded by some as a film noir, the picture is based on the W. Somerset Maugham-penned 1927 play and William Wyler-directed 1940 film The Letter , [4] which was reworked and turned into an original screenplay by writers David Goodis and James Gunn who shifted the setting from Malaya to the United States.

Contents

Plot

Chris Hunter stabs a man in her home one night while her husband Bob is out of town. The dead man's name is Tanner and she claims not to know him and to have acted in self-defense.

Art shop owner, Martin Barrow, contacts Chris's lawyer and good friend Larry Hannaford. Barrow shows Hannaford a bust of Chris Hunter's head, signed by Tanner, and attempts blackmail. It turns out Tanner had been a sculptor, and it is now evident to Hannaford that Chris has lied about never knowing the man she killed.

After learning about the bust, Chris goes to Barrow to try to take possession of it. But, Barrow has taken the piece to Tanner's wife, who is now convinced Chris had an affair with her husband and wants Chris punished for murder. Barrow convinces her to create more anguish for Chris by relaying this information to Bob Hunter, thinking also that the wronged husband would pay to avoid scandal. When Bob learns about the affair and sees the bust, he confronts Chris at home. After she admits to having an affair with Tanner while Bob was away during the war, he demands a divorce.

Chris is charged with murder and tried. Hannaford persuades the jury that while Chris was indeed guilty of adultery, she truly did stab Tanner in self-defense. Hannaford then convinces Bob, who has softened a bit on the idea of divorce after a long talk with his cousin, Paula, and Chris to at least consider trying to save their marriage, rather than rushing into a divorce.

Cast

Reception

Box office

The film was highly successful at the box office. According to Warner Bros records, the film cost $1,822,000 to produce and earned $1,939,000 domestically and $1,033,000 in foreign markets, [2] registering a profit of $1,150,000.

Critical response

Thomas Pyror of The New York Times gave the film a mixed review:

"The Warner Brothers have turned out a better than average murder mystery in The Unfaithful, but they have badly over-weighted with melodramatics the things they obviously wanted to say about a pressing social problem. The new picture at the Strand stabs and jabs like a hit-and-run prizefighter at the subject of hasty divorces and the dangerous consequences to society of this ill conceived cure all for marital difficulties, but it never gets across a telling dramatic punch. However, through some uncommonly persuasive acting and skillful direction the patently artificial plot stands up surprisingly well." [5]

The film was shown on the Turner Classic Movies show 'Noir Alley' with Eddie Muller on November 19, 2022.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lew Ayres</span> American actor (1908–1996)

Lewis Frederick Ayres III was an American actor whose film and television career spanned 65 years. He is best known for starring as German soldier Paul Bäumer in the film All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) and for playing Dr. Kildare in nine films. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Johnny Belinda (1948).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ann Sheridan</span> American actress and singer (1915–1967)

Clara Lou "Ann" Sheridan was an American actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in the films San Quentin (1937) with Humphrey Bogart, Angels with Dirty Faces (1938) with James Cagney and Bogart, They Drive by Night (1940) with George Raft and Bogart, City for Conquest (1940) with Cagney and Elia Kazan, The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942) with Bette Davis, Kings Row (1942) with Ronald Reagan, Nora Prentiss (1947), and I Was a Male War Bride (1949) with Cary Grant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zachary Scott</span> American actor (1914–1965)

Zachary Scott was an American actor who was known for his roles as villains and "mystery men".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marion Marshall</span> American actress (1929–2018)

Marion Marshall was an American actress.

<i>The Blue Gardenia</i> 1953 film by Fritz Lang

The Blue Gardenia is a 1953 American film noir starring Anne Baxter, Richard Conte, and Ann Sothern. Directed by Fritz Lang from a screenplay by Charles Hoffman, it is based on the novella The Gardenia by Vera Caspary.

<i>Nora Prentiss</i> 1947 film by Vincent Sherman

Nora Prentiss is a 1947 American film noir directed by Vincent Sherman and starring Ann Sheridan, Kent Smith, Bruce Bennett, and Robert Alda. It was produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The cinematography is by James Wong Howe and the music was composed by Franz Waxman. The film's sets were designed by the art director Anton Grot.

<i>The Dark Mirror</i> (1946 film) 1946 film by Robert Siodmak

The Dark Mirror is a 1946 American film noir psychological thriller film directed by Robert Siodmak starring Olivia de Havilland as twins and Lew Ayres as their psychiatrist. The film marks Ayres' return to motion pictures following his conscientious objection to service in World War II. De Havilland had begun to experiment with method acting at the time and insisted that everyone in the cast meet with a psychiatrist. The film anticipates producer/screenwriter Nunnally Johnson's psycho-docu-drama The Three Faces of Eve (1957). Vladimir Pozner's original story on which the film is based was nominated for an Academy Award.

<i>They Drive by Night</i> 1940 film by Raoul Walsh

They Drive by Night is a 1940 American film noir directed by Raoul Walsh and starring George Raft, Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino, and Humphrey Bogart, and featuring Gale Page, Alan Hale, Roscoe Karns, John Litel and George Tobias. The picture involves a pair of embattled truck drivers and was released in the UK under the title The Road to Frisco. The film was based on A. I. Bezzerides' 1938 novel Long Haul, which was later reprinted under the title They Drive by Night to capitalize on the success of the film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lottie Williams (actress, born 1874)</span> American actress (1874–1962)

Lottie Williams was an American character actress whose career spanned both the silent and sound film eras.

<i>Mildred Pierce</i> (film) 1945 American melodrama/film noir film by Michael Curtiz

Mildred Pierce is a 1945 American melodrama/film noir directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, and Zachary Scott, also featuring Eve Arden, Ann Blyth, and Bruce Bennett. Based on the 1941 novel by James M. Cain, this was Crawford's first starring role for Warner Bros., after leaving Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. In 1996, Mildred Pierce was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected for preservation in the United States Library of Congress National Film Registry.

<i>Ruthless</i> (1948 film) 1948 film by Edgar George Ulmer

Ruthless is a 1948 American film noir drama film directed by Edgar G. Ulmer starring Zachary Scott, Sydney Greenstreet and Louis Hayward.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie Bishop (actress)</span> American actress (1914–2001)

Julie Bishop, previously known as Jacqueline Wells, was an American film and television actress. She appeared in more than 80 films between 1923 and 1957.

<i>Three Strangers</i> 1946 film by Jean Negulesco

Three Strangers is a 1946 American film noir crime drama directed by Jean Negulesco and starring Sydney Greenstreet, Geraldine Fitzgerald, and Peter Lorre, and featuring Joan Lorring and Alan Napier. The screenplay was written by John Huston and Howard Koch. It was produced and distributed by Warner Brothers.

<i>Silver River</i> (film) 1948 film by Raoul Walsh

Silver River is a 1948 American western film directed by Raoul Walsh and starring Errol Flynn, Ann Sheridan and Thomas Mitchell. The film is based on a Stephen Longstreet story that was turned into a novel. It was produced and distributed by Warner Bros.

<i>Shine On, Harvest Moon</i> (1944 film) 1944 film by David Butler

Shine On, Harvest Moon is a 1944 musical–biographical film about the vaudeville team of Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth, who wrote the popular song "Shine On, Harvest Moon." The film was directed by David Butler and stars Ann Sheridan and Dennis Morgan Sheridan's singing voice was dubbed by Lynn Martin.

<i>Appointment in Honduras</i> 1953 film by Jacques Tourneur

Appointment in Honduras is a 1953 American adventure film directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Glenn Ford, Ann Sheridan, and Zachary Scott.

<i>One Last Fling</i> 1949 film by Peter Godfrey

One Last Fling is a 1949 American comedy film directed by Peter Godfrey and written by Richard Flournoy and William Sackheim. The film stars Alexis Smith, Zachary Scott, Douglas Kennedy, Ann Doran, Ransom M. Sherman and Veda Ann Borg. The film was released by Warner Bros. on June 30, 1949.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Elliott (actor)</span> American actor (1876–1956)

John Hugh Elliott was an American actor who appeared on Broadway and in over 300 films during his career. He worked sporadically during the silent film era, but with the advent of sound his career took off, where he worked constantly for 25 years, finding a particular niche in "B" westerns.

<i>Alcatraz Island</i> (film) 1937 film by William C. McGann

Alcatraz Island is a 1937 American drama film directed by William C. McGann and written by Crane Wilbur. The film stars John Litel, Ann Sheridan, Mary Maguire, Gordon Oliver, Dick Purcell and Ben Welden. The film was released by Warner Bros. on November 6, 1937.

<i>Miami Exposé</i> 1956 film by Fred F. Sears

Miami Exposé is a 1956 American film noir crime film directed by Fred F. Sears and starring Lee J. Cobb, Patricia Medina and Edward Arnold. The film marked the last performance of Arnold, who was fatally stricken during the production. Also in the film is a brief appearance by boxing great Jake "The Raging Bull" LaMotta, playing a thug during the Everglades chase scene.

References

  1. "The Unfaithful (1947)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 "Warner Bros Film Grosses, 1921–51: the William Schaefer ledger". Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. 15 (1): 27. doi:10.1080/01439689508604551.
  3. "Top Grossers of 1947". Variety. January 7, 1948. p. 63.
  4. "The Unfaithful". Turner Classic Movies . Retrieved November 12, 2022.
  5. Pryor, Thomas (June 28, 1947). "'The Unfaithful,' Post-War Study Starring Ann Sheridan, Lew Ayres and Zachary Scott, Has Its Premiere at the Strand". The New York Times. Retrieved November 18, 2009.