Bedelia Carrington is living happily, it appears, in Monte Carlo with her husband Charlie Carrington. But a cultivated young artist, Ben Chaney, begins probing into her past with curious concern. Chaney, who is really a detective, learns that Bedelia's obsession for money has led her, in the past, to husband-poisoning for the insurance money.
This is quite a well-written, pacy little film noir about a glamorous widow (Margaret Lockwood) who meets and marries a rather naive English businessman (Ian Hunter) and honeymoons in Monte Carlo. There, they befriend a painter (Barry K. Barnes) who is asked to paint her portrait. After they return home, we gradually discover that she has plenty of dark secrets which all start to unravel as we find the painter is not exactly whom he claims to be, and it all culminates in a tense and suspenseful twenty minutes at their remote country home during a snowstorm. It's a little melodramatic at times, but the story flows well and the lead performances are engaging.
