Jennifer (1953)

In desperate need of a job, a woman (Ida Lupino) accepts a job as a caretaker at a secluded mansion. The previous caretaker, also a woman, mysteriously disappeared without a trace. She becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to the previous caretaker. Based on a short story by Virginia Myers and directed by Joel Newton, whose only film credit this is. A psychological thriller that begins promisingly but its screenplay boxes it in so it has nowhere to go. The film benefits enormously by James Wong Howe's shadowy cinematography which gives the movie an air of suspense and Ernest Gold's solid underscore. Other than that, the film is notable for introducing the jazz standard Angel Eyes sung by its composer, Matt Dennis. Lupino is okay but she's done this woman in distress before, the rest of the cast is negligible. With Howard Duff, Robert Nichols, Lorna Thayer and Ned Glass.