ildimo-35223 Expertly paced proto feminist indictment of the '50s US suburbia, directed boldly and efficiently by Gerd Oswald - an "outsider" of the Hollywood system. Stanwyck is in her usual neurotic best as the trapped, sexually frustrated wife, while Hayden and Burr turn in solid supporting performances. Interestingly, no child ever appears in the film, a rather curious fact for a film criticising the american dream of the era, enigmatically leaning the story towards an adult critique of the sexual predicament of the couple as the primary social unit.

SnoopyStyle Kathy Ferguson (Barbara Stanwyck) is an advice columnist for the San Francisco Post. LAPD detective William Doyle (Sterling Hayden) and Captain Charlie Alidos arrive for a case. She helps Doyle to solve the case and is offered a big opportunity. Instead, she abandons her career to marry Doyle and follow him to LA. Doyle is a by-the-books guy with no ambitions to climb higher. Kathy claims to have no ambitions other than to be a housewife. Soon, she chafes at the banalities of a suburban housewife life and is pushing Doyle up the ladder any which way possible. She deliberately gets into a car accident with Alice Pope to connect with her husband, Police Inspector Tony Pope (Raymond Burr). This sets her in conflict with the Alidos and down a dark path.Barbara Stanwyck is a noir femme fatale stuck in suburbia. It is a fascinating concept and it has the amazing Stanwyck. She does need a more compelling opponent. It would have been interesting to have the Alidos have a bigger role. As such, it is a fascinating character for Stanwyck. She has the balls and the rooting interest. Although, I don't think that it's necessary to start her off as a career woman. It would have been more compelling to do a darker side of suburban life by starting everyone in that nuclear family utopia.

gavin6942 Kathy (Barbara Stanwyck) leaves the newspaper business to marry homicide detective Bill but is frustrated by his lack of ambition and the banality of life in the suburbs. Her drive to advance Bill's career soon takes her down a dangerous path.Barbara Stanwyck, Raymond Burr, Fay Wray, Robert Quarry and others... this is quite the cast. That alone should make this worth watching. Stanwyck leads the way, and while this may not be her finest performance, it is always nice to see her in the lead.How this is not considered one of the better-known film noir movies out there is something of a mystery to me given those involved. It certainly is not seen on the level as "Asphalt Jungle" or the works of Fritz Lang. Maybe it should be?

Michael_Elliott Crime of Passion (1957)** (out of 4) Sussessful woman Kathy Ferguson (Barbara Stanwyck) gives up her career when she falls for a police officer (Sterling Hayden). The two are eventually married but the wife grows tired of her husband not working harder to accomplish more so she decides to strike up a relationship with his superior (Raymond Burr) in hopes to help the husband's career but everything backfires. CRIME OF PASSION struck me as a rather far-fetched and over-dramatic story that never really grabbed my attention. There's no question that the entire cast is in fine form but at the same time I just couldn't get caught up in their story simply because I found it to be rather silly and at times poorly handled. I think one of the biggest issues for me was the Stanwyck character and the various things she does throughout the picture. I mean, it seems like this hard-working woman wouldn't have thrown her job away to begin with and it seems like she would have realized that this man wasn't going to be her match. The entire plot with the Burr character is just so far-fetched that I had a hard time believing such a smart woman would sink this low and be fooled so badly. Stanwyck is certainly believable in the part but then again she's always strong in these type of roles. Hayden was also very believable in his part and it was nice seeing Fay Wray in her supporting bit. The standout is clearly Burr who seems to be having a great time playing this low-life character.