I Love Trouble (1948)

A politician (Tom Powers) hires a private detective (Franchot Tone) to investigate his wife's (Lynn Merrick) past. But what seemed a simple case at first spirals down the rabbit hole as the wife's identity and her past becomes more mysterious and elusive and results in a couple of murders. Based on the novel THE DOUBLE TAKE by Roy Huggins and directed by S. Sylvan Simon (THE FULLER BRUSH MAN). An entertaining if convoluted film noir that should be better known among noir fans. It's got everything a noir fan could ask for: a wise cracking gumshoe (who gets beaten up regularly by thugs), a gaggle of femme fatales and a twisting trail of deceit, corruption and murder. One doesn't think of Franchot Tone as a tough guy but he does very well here and as two of the film's femme fatales, Janet Blair (we're never quite sure if she's to be trusted) and Janis Carter (we know better than to trust her) do very nicely. With John Ireland, Raymond Burr, Glenda Farrell, Steven Geray, Adele Jergens and Eduardo Ciannelli.