Martin Bradley High camp and a load of old tosh. Ross Hunter's production of "Portrait in Black" is one of his lesser efforts and that's saying something. Lana Turner and Anthony Quinn (badly miscast) are the adulterous lovers who murder her rich husband, Lloyd Nolan, and are then plagued by a 4th party who seems to know what they did. Since Nolan was something of a louse your sympathies are initially with his killers, at least until they start to screw up and go off the rails. Others involved in this decidedly OTT mystery include Richard Basehart, Sandra Dee, John Saxon, Ray Walston and that siren of the silent screen Anna May Wong. Of course, it's terrible but not unenjoyable in a bad-movie kind of way.

TheLastDriveIn Directed by Michael Gordon, Produced by Ross Martin, based on a play and adapted to the screen by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts, this crime melodrama is filled with all the right tawdry drama and campy dialog that makes watching films from the fabulous 60′s so much fun!Starring Lana Turner as Sheila Cabot a woman who is married to a dying shipping magnate Matthew Cabot ( Lloyd Nolan). Anthony Quinn portrays Dr. David Rivera, Matthew Cabot's attending physician. The wealthy couple live in a sumptuous home in San Francisco.Sheila and the good Doctor, begin having an affair, and soon after their sparks fly , the lovers decide to murder Sheila's nasty yet, terminally ill husband. But as often the way these juicy tales of murder and passion go, someone knows the lovers have killed off the rich old Cabot, and begins blackmailing them.Sandra Dee plays Cathy, Cabot's daughter from his first marriage. Richard Basehart is Howard Mason, Cabot's greedy business partner. John Saxon plays Blake Richards, the chauffeur, who is pursuing Cathy, and Ray Walston, Virgina Grey and Anna May Wong fill out the cast of dubious characters, all of whom might be the 'one' who knows about their crime!Oh the flashy melodramatics, Oh Turner's wardrobe!

MartinHafer Lana Turner plays a woman married to a rich but both emotionally and physically abusive rich jerk (Lloyd Nolan) who is also an invalid. Naturally she can't stand the way she's being treated and decides to do something permanent to remedy the situation. She and her doctor (Anthony Quinn) boyfriend she is keeping on the side decide to inject air into Nolan's veins to kill him--though I have learned this is NOT a viable way of killing someone, as it takes A LOT of air to do this, not the 'few air bubbles' you hear about in movies and on TV. So, at the outset the film has a strike against it for not getting its facts straight.Unexpectedly, after Nolan's death a lot of weird things start happening--almost like the ghost of Nolan is moving about the home. However, it really turns out to be the doings of a blackmailer--and they know too much about this death. To make things worse, Turner's character is a dope--and does things that could incriminate her--such as panicked phone calls to her lover almost immediately after the funeral! Again, chalk this up to poor writing, as any reasonable person would have tried harder to hide their tracks. Because of all this, the film would have been surprising if someone had NOT been trying to blackmail them! the rest of the film consists of the lovers trying to figure out who knows--and stop them permanently if they can.Despite some very bad acting by Turner (perhaps the badly written part for her just made her seem like a bad actress--especially the scene occurring at the 82 minute mark), some dumb moves by Quinn's character as well and a poorly conceived murder, the film does have some exciting moments. For example, the confrontation scene between Richard Basehart and Turner is well handled and exciting. But, unfortunately, due to some overly dramatic and soapy moments, these good ones are lost amid the glossy mess. Overall, I'd say this is a decent time-passer but sure could have been a lot better. Too bad the plot and acting just didn't seem all that important to the director.

JLRMovieReviews Lana Turner, who's married to invalid Lloyd Nolan, has fallen for his doctor Anthony Quinn in one of Lana's most underrated films. This has to be one of the best examples of the melodrama genre, with Lana looking great as usual. I love it when movies know how to fill the cast with recognizable names, giving each role a chance to stand out: Anthony Quinn, Richard Basehart, Lloyd Nolan, Sandra Dee, John Saxon, Ray Walston, silent-screen star Anna May Wong, and Virginia Grey, who was an almost constant presence in Lana's later films. How you can go wrong? Granted, it may be campy or cheesy in some places, with loopholes to boot. But it wouldn't be melodrama without them. And, watching Anthony be driven out of his mind, is priceless. Only a great actor as him could overact so well. And, Sandra Dee comes off surprisingly well in her role, as the stepdaughter skeptic of her stepmother, who goes shopping, but comes back with no packages. If you're yearning for a good old-fashioned movie, the kind they just don't make anymore, this is for you. It's out on DVD, with Madame X. (That's another review.) Knock yourself out! Also, with Lana and John Saxon together in San Francisco, it feels like early Falcon Crest all over again. You gotta love it.