The Scarlet Hour (1956)

An unhappy wife (Carol Ohmart) who is having a romantic affair with an employee (Tom Tryon) of her husband (James Gregory) uses her powers of manipulation to draw the infatuated man into an ill fated jewel heist. Co-written by Frank Tashlin (THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT) and directed by Michael Curtiz (CASABLANCA). Despite the contributions of writer Tashlin and director Curtiz, this is a rather routine film noir. There's a neat little surprise toward the end of the movie but other than that, this is a by the numbers effort by all involved. This was an attempt by Paramount to make a star out of Carol Ohmart. She was given a big build up with lots of publicity but when the film flopped, Paramount dropped her. Ohmart had a nice screen presence and was a decent actress but this film pretty much torpedoed any film career she might have had. Not terrible but not very good either but some noir fans are disposed to it. With Elaine Stritch (in her film debut), E.G. Marshall, Nat King Cole, Edward Binns and Jody Lawrance.