IMDb RATING
7.1/10
5.8K
YOUR RATING
After discovering the dead body of her teenage daughter's lover, a housewife takes desperate measures to protect her family from scandal.After discovering the dead body of her teenage daughter's lover, a housewife takes desperate measures to protect her family from scandal.After discovering the dead body of her teenage daughter's lover, a housewife takes desperate measures to protect her family from scandal.
Jessie Arnold
- Old Lady
- (uncredited)
Jack Baker
- Man
- (uncredited)
Pat Barton
- Receptionist
- (uncredited)
Holger Bendixen
- Man
- (uncredited)
Gail Bonney
- Woman
- (uncredited)
Chet Brandenburg
- Department Store Customer
- (uncredited)
Peter Brocco
- Pete - Bartender
- (uncredited)
Paul E. Burns
- Desk Clerk
- (uncredited)
John Butler
- Pawnbroker
- (uncredited)
Kathryn Card
- Mrs. Loring
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe Balboa Island Car Ferry, used by Joan Bennett and James Mason, still travels the 1000 feet distance between Balboa Island and the Balboa Peninsula.
- GoofsDuring Lucia's motorboat ride to dump Ted Darby's dead body, just before she passes under a road bridge, the frothy bubbling wake in front of Lucia's speedboat can clearly be seen, which could only be coming from the vessel carrying the film crew and camera.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Maternal Overdrive (2006)
Featured review
Joan Bennett highlights Max Opuls' nuanced, ironic film noir
The sultry temptress of Fritz Lang's Scarlet Street and The Woman in the Window, Joan Bennett dons spectacles and a harried mien as a respectable mother in a California coastal town. Family life is proving nettlesome, what with a husband traveling the globe on business, a teenage son drawn to inappropriate states of attire, and two live-ins, a father-in-law and a cook/housekeeper. The nettle-in-chief, however, is her handful of a daughter (Geraldine Brooks). Like her predecessor Veda Pierce, she fancies herself a worldly woman and has taken up with a penniless but pretentious lecher, who winds up dead. Bennett's battle to cover up the death becomes the story's meat. Into the mix ambles James Mason, wanting $5-grand for incriminating love letters.... Mason, with an Irish lilt, is the film's most intricately shaded character (and he gets top billing) but Bennett delivers a controlled, expert performance, possibly her finest. The star of The Reckless Moment, however, is the great Max Ophuls (though the directorial credit has it "Opuls"). Displaying evocative chiaroscuro -- Burnett Guffey was cinematographer -- and voluptuous slow takes, Ophuls creates a rich texture ranging from shabby seaside respectability to the grungy sidewalks of nearby Los Angeles. This splendidly nuanced work has emerged as one of the standouts of the noir cycle, its ironies so understated that their oppressive weight isn't felt until long after the film has unspooled.
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- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
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- Also known as
- The Blank Wall
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $882,653 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 22 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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