The wife of a rubber plantation administrator shoots a man to death and claims it was self-defense, but a letter written in her own hand may prove her undoing.The wife of a rubber plantation administrator shoots a man to death and claims it was self-defense, but a letter written in her own hand may prove her undoing.The wife of a rubber plantation administrator shoots a man to death and claims it was self-defense, but a letter written in her own hand may prove her undoing.
- Nominated for 7 Oscars
- 1 win & 12 nominations total
Elizabeth Inglis
- Adele Ainsworth
- (as Elizabeth Earl)
Victor Sen Yung
- Ong Chi Seng
- (as Sen Yung)
Zita Baca
- Undetermined Role
- (uncredited)
Brooks Benedict
- Party Guest
- (uncredited)
William A. Boardway
- Trial Spectator
- (uncredited)
David Bruce
- Undetermined Role
- (uncredited)
James Carlisle
- Attorney
- (uncredited)
George Ford
- Party Guest
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe first scene that William Wyler filmed was the famous opening shot in which Leslie shoots Geoffrey Hammond. This sequence, which lasted two minutes on screen, took an entire day to film, and that was before even a single word of dialogue was spoken. The studio expected him to shoot at a rate of 3-4 script pages a day, but the opening shot reflected a mere paragraph on page one.
- GoofsThe motor vehicles throughout are all left-hand drive. In Singapore traffic drives on the left, and all vehicles there are right-hand drive.
- Alternate versionsAlso shown in computer colorized version.
- ConnectionsEdited into Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Featured review
Exquisite!!!!
From the opening sequence where we see Bette emptying her gun on this poor unsuspecting soul, you become riveted watching one of Ms. Davis' all-time flawless performances.
In a nutshell, this tells the story of what happens when first we practice to deceive. Bette claims she was attacked by a friend she has seen only casually until she was forced to "defend" herself against his unwanted advances. Initially, it looks like a slam dunk but when the case is taken to trial, more and more, Bette's lies get the best of her.
Not a sympathetic character for the most part. There is one chilling scene where she, totally exasperated with having to remember so many lies, makes a confession to her husband. It is a fascinating scene for while you recoil at her seemingly selfish attitude, there is this underlying, reluctant admiration you feel for this woman's brutal honesty.
Excellent supporting cast all around, most notably, Herbert Marshall as the poor unsuspecting (it appears many men fall under this category when dealing with the Divine Ms. Davis!)husband whose main goal is to support his wife. Now whether she deserves this loyalty is another ugly story.
Excellent mystery with certainly enough twists and turns to keep you totally engrossed in a very good story.
*Just watched it again last night (10/8/2006) - I'm tellin' ya guys - after 900 viewings, the movie still rocks!!!!
In a nutshell, this tells the story of what happens when first we practice to deceive. Bette claims she was attacked by a friend she has seen only casually until she was forced to "defend" herself against his unwanted advances. Initially, it looks like a slam dunk but when the case is taken to trial, more and more, Bette's lies get the best of her.
Not a sympathetic character for the most part. There is one chilling scene where she, totally exasperated with having to remember so many lies, makes a confession to her husband. It is a fascinating scene for while you recoil at her seemingly selfish attitude, there is this underlying, reluctant admiration you feel for this woman's brutal honesty.
Excellent supporting cast all around, most notably, Herbert Marshall as the poor unsuspecting (it appears many men fall under this category when dealing with the Divine Ms. Davis!)husband whose main goal is to support his wife. Now whether she deserves this loyalty is another ugly story.
Excellent mystery with certainly enough twists and turns to keep you totally engrossed in a very good story.
*Just watched it again last night (10/8/2006) - I'm tellin' ya guys - after 900 viewings, the movie still rocks!!!!
helpful•504
- RaiderJack
- May 20, 2007
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Das Geheimnis von Malampur
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross worldwide
- $16,455
- Runtime1 hour 35 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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