Slightly Scarlet (1956)

The secretary (Rhonda Fleming) of a mayoral candidate (Kent Taylor) in a crime ridden city takes her sister (Arlene Dahl) in after she is released from prison for theft. Meanwhile, the right hand man (John Payne) of the city's crime kingpin (Ted De Corsia) has plans of his own to take over. Loosely based on the James M. Cain novel LOVE'S LOVELY COUNTERFEIT, if Douglas Sirk had directed a Technicolor noir, this lurid crime thriller is what it would probably look like. The film is actually directed by the prolific Allan Dwan who directed his first feature film in 1914! The casting of two of cinema's most famous redheads is inspired. Dahl, in particular, gives her best screen performance as the kinky and amoral kleptomaniac/nymphomaniac. This is one sick kitten! Payne's ambiguous protagonist with shifting allegiances makes for a problematic "hero" which leaves Fleming as the film's moral center despite implications she may have ignored her sister's illness in her ambitious climb to success. It's a messy, crazy film and all the more fascinating because of its loopiness. The great John Alton (ELMER GANTRY) does wonders within the film's low budget giving the film a lush expensive look that belies its cost. With Ellen Corby, Lance Fuller, Frank Gerstle and Myron Healey.