01
Laura
Why this pick
A sophisticated New York murder investigation built around a seemingly unknowable young woman, with elegant studio-era surfaces giving way to suspicion, obsession, and shifting impressions.
A FILM WORTH A CLOSER LOOKTHE FEATURE PRESENTATION
MOVIE1954 1h 35m USA
IF THIS ONE STAYED WITH YOU
Movies like
Black Widow
DramaThriller
CINEHUNCH / THE NEXT FRAME
Keep the feeling.
SIMILAR PICKS / A PERSONAL CONNECTION
If you loved Black Widow, try these.
01
02
The Unsuspected
Why this pick
Its polished Manhattan milieu, theatrical personalities, and steadily tightening homicide plot echo Black Widow’s enjoyment of glamorous people exposing carefully concealed motives.
03
Slightly Scarlet
Why this pick
A glossy mid-century noir in which a respectable public figure is drawn into a web of manipulation, scandal, and murder, paced with crisp, cynical momentum.
04
The Dark Corner
Why this pick
This compact noir shares the pleasure of an innocent-seeming protagonist caught in a murder case, where urban professional connections become clues and threats.
05
The Web
Why this pick
A tense postwar mystery about a man framed within a murder scheme, delivering the same cleanly constructed investigation and mounting uncertainty beneath affluent surroundings.
Finding the atmosphere, tension and little details that made this one stay with you.
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01 / THE STORY
A little about the film.
Peter Denver (Van Heflin) is a renowned Broadway producer attending a party — hosted by the viciously haughty and celebrated actress Carlotta "Lottie" Marin (Ginger Rogers) and her quiet husband Brian Mullen (Reginald Gardiner) — when he meets Nancy "Nanny" Ordway (Peggy Ann Garner). Ordway is a seemingly naïve, 20-year-old, aspiring writer, who hopes to make it big in New York. She convinces a reluctant Denver to let her use his apartment to work during the day, while his wife, Iris (Gene Tierney), also a famous actress, is away, but with her permission. After the Denvers return from the airport and find Nancy hanging dead in their bathroom, a variety of people Ordway has recently met in New York begin to reveal deeper and darker connections with her. Lt. Bruce (George Raft), the detective assigned to the case, soon discovers that this apparent suicide was in fact a homicide and believes that Denver, who is suspected of having an affair with Ordway, is the murderer. Denver evades arrest and seeks clues to discover the real murderer. The case becomes cluttered when he and Lt. Bruce independently realize that Ordway's dealings in New York were not as innocent as her superficial personality.
02 / FACES IN THE FRAME
The people who bring it to life.
Gene Tierney
Iris Denver
George Raft
Detective Lt. C.A. Bruce
Reginald Gardiner
Brian Mullen
Virginia Leith
Claire Amberly
Geraldine Wall
Miss Gwen Mills
Richard H. Cutting
Police Sergeant Owens
Mabel Albertson
Sylvia
Tony De Mario
Tony, Bartender