After a doctor (Susan Hayward) is released from prison for manslaughter, she is hired by the very man who sent her to prison. The attorney (Peter Finch) who prosecuted her case. He wants her to watch over his mentally disturbed wife (Diane Cilento), who is a danger to herself. But there's a more complicated backstory that will soon be unraveled. Based on the novel by Audrey Erskine-Lindop, this is what used to be called a "woman's picture". It's essentially a melodrama with psychological undertones. Perhaps surprisingly, Hayward's role is very low key here. It's a rather passive, reactive role and it's not till the last ten minutes of the film, that Hayward has a real Susan Hayward moment. The film belongs to Diane Cilento as the schizophrenic wife, she gets all the big dramatic moments and poor Finch hasn't a chance between the two actresses facing off. It's a somewhat entertaining piece of pulp though the director Robert Stevens can't sustain the suspense and the weak conclusion seems rather hastily thrown together. There's a decent score by Ron Goodwin though. With Kieron Moore, Cyril Cusack, Brenda De Banzie, Athene Seyler, Joan Hickson and Laurence Naismith.
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