moonspinner55 Instead of a shipboard romance, heiress-turned-playwright Joan Crawford has a train-track romance, traveling from New York City to San Francisco with Jack Palance, an actor she had fired from her latest show for not being romantic-looking enough. They hit it off over cards and chit-chat--and by the time they hit San Francisco, Crawford is smitten. Soon the couple is blissfully married, but a recording machine Crawford is using to dictate changes to her will remains on during a party, revealing a conversation between her husband and a female guest that spills the beans on a devious plot the two have hatched. Not-bad woman-in-distress thriller, adapted from Edna Sherry's novel by Lenore Coffee and Robert Smith, that could have easily become a one-woman show, a hysterical knuckle-biter, however Palance proves to be a strong match for Crawford (and both received Oscar nominations). As for the star, Joan is convincingly lovestruck in the first-half of the picture, shrewd and quick-thinking in the second. She still strides up and down--in a mink coat yet!--but this script is a good one, and she and director David Miller were smart not to turn her character into a simp. **1/2 from ****

LeonLouisRicci When First Time Viewers of this Film-Noir settle in for Their Fix, the First-Act seems Disappointing. Everything is Brightly Lit, Congenial, Romance Friendly, and Sets-Up what Appear to be a God-Awful Semi-Melodramatic Soap Opera with Wedding Bells in an Aging Woman's Fantasy Land Fulfilled.But when Act Two Unveils the Movie's Intent, a Tense and Gripping Thriller, Viewer Expectations are Elated and for the Next Hour Plus, this Exercise in Extreme (or sudden) Fear is a Devil's Playground of Secrets Revealed, Gut-Wrenching Terror, Revenge, Calculated and Plotted Murder, Sex, and Expressionism.The First-Class Acting from Joan Crawford (maybe her best performance), Jack Palance (in a multi-dimensional role), Gloria Grahame (in typical but effective type), and others, all make this a Curiously Overlooked Film, considering its Cast and Four Oscar Nominations. It has Recently been Re-Discovered as an Upper Echelon Film-Noir Classic.This Movie has an Accelerated, Highly Emotional, Hold-On, Suspenseful Build-Up and after Kicking-In the Film has a Perpetual Propulsive Energy that takes the Audience on a Mind-Trip of Heart Stopping Tension that Never Lets Up until the Sensational Ending through the Dark Streets of the Dark City.

DKosty123 Predating Hitchcocks Vertigo by 6 Years, this movie is an RKO production with a very good cast that has some scenes which are choppy. In a way, there are several irony's here which are legend. Supposed Joan Crawford wanted Clark Gable for Jack Palances role. Gable claimed he was too old for this role. David Miller, who directed this is said to have convinced Crawford to cast Palance. If this is so, the first scene is a reflection of real life where Crawford is not happy with Palance rehearsing her new play and fires him. Legend has it that Crawford then becomes interested (in real life) with Palance but in real life he was having an affair with co- star Gloria Grahame. If this is true, it might be why Gloria divorced in 1952, but her next spouse was not Palance. (Grahame would have 4 spouses in real life.)Early on the film has some things that will remind the viewer of Hitchcock. The use of a stair case early on and then the film moving from the east, through Chicago by train and then relocating for most of the film to San Francisco. The golden gate bridge and the hilly streets of the Golden Gate city are featured throughout the film from this point.At first, it seems Palances character is just out for revenge for being fired. Then it gets more complicated. Edna Sherry who wrote the novel only has one other film to her credit as a writer, 1929 Thru Different Eyes which has little information about it other than the cast on IMDb featuring Warner Baxter.The atmosphere in Sudden Fear is very much like a film noir, the glorious dark black and white which is nothing like Hitchcocks glorious color Vertigo, but you have to remember this is an independent production company releasing through RKO who in 1952 was nearing it's end and of being sold to Lucy and Desi. The film is ambitious and clever but the budget here must have been quite tight which might account for some choppy scenes.A viewer who has watched the TV series Mannix will recognize a young Mike Connors in this in a supporting role as a love interest for Gloria Grahame along with Palance and he is also a friend of Crawfords character which makes for some lively scripting.There is a well staged chase sequence in the latter part of the film. Overall a film that could have been better but falls a little short of classic noir, and way short of Hitchcock's Vertigo though the suspense of Crawfords character can pull the viewer in along with the plot and counter-plot aspects of the main characters.This recently premiered on Turner Classic Movies.

Dalbert Pringle In real-life Hollywood mega-star, Joan Crawford (aka Mommie Dearest) may have been a lousy mother to her adopted children, but, when it came to being a performer in custom-made vehicles like "Sudden Fear", she was the consummate actress, giving everything that she's got and even earning for herself an Oscar nomination for "Best Actress".In this intense, emotionally-charged, 1952 Thriller/Chick Flick Crawford played successful playwright, Myra Hudson, who, in a whirl of infatuation, up and marries the young, no-talent actor, Lester Blaine, only to find her bubble of bliss ready to burst when she inadvertently discovers that her stud-muffin and his snotty girlfriend are, indeed, plotting out her murder.This well-paced, lushly photographed film, with its superb cast, literally, had me on the edge of my seat during its climatic finale.