So Evil My Love (1948)

Returning to England from the West Indies, a widow (Ann Todd) meets a painter (Ray Milland) aboard ship. She falls under his spell and he influences her to reacquaint herself with a school friend (Geraldine Fitzgerald) who is unhappily married with the intention of blackmailing her husband (Raymond Huntley) regarding some indiscreet letters his wife wrote. Based on the novel FOR HER TO SEE by Marjorie Bowen and directed by Lewis Allen (THE UNINVITED). An aptly titled film, this is an excellent example of what is referred to as "gaslight noir". It's a period film set in the Victorian era but the atmosphere is thick with fatalism as a perfectly respectable woman slowly degrades herself under the evil influence of a deceptive criminal mind that corrupts her totally. Milland excels at these kind of roles (think DIAL M FOR MURDER) and Ann Todd has a porcelain delicacy that slowly erodes as she debases herself and even gets an adrenaline rush as she turns to blackmail and murder. Fans of noir should eat this up. With Martita Hunt, Hugh Griffith, Finlay Currie, Leo G. Carroll, Moira Lister and Zena Marshall.