I say, '3 decades too late', because this film catches the early wave of the 'feminist' movement (lots of protest about a woman quitting her great job to become a housewife), but missed the free thinking from 1930-34, before the Hayes code was strictly enforced. Example: the code dictated (among other things) a criminal could not profit from a crime; a wife could be unfaithful, but had to end up unhappily if so; the word 'sex' or 'pregnant' were unmentionable, etc. etc.So, we have Barb Stanwyck, herself the protagonist of several pre-code films, some of semi-seamy variety, giving up a great career as a renowned true crime-scandal journalist, to marry Sterling Hayden, a non-ambitious police detective. I broke up laughing when Barb hosts a party of officers and the wives: the guys play poker in one room, the women drive Stanwyck crazy prattling on & on about recipes.Anyway, someone betrays someone and gets shot for it. In the pre-code era, the scriptwriter might have concocted a rationale to allow the shooter to go undetected - possibly revealing the deceased as a real scoundrel who got what he reserved. But in the mid-50's, with the Code firmly in place, convention called for a predictable wrap-up. Yeah, yeah, justice prevails - sadly. Give me TCM's vault of pre-code films any day - I was surprised to learn that the demographic to whom these hard-edged films appealed was--- (wait for it) - married women in their early 30's!!! (I always wondered where the 'lib' movement started).So, it's a movie that's very early 'feminist', but too late for the 'pre-code', that might have dealt more open-handedly with the outcome.

Crime of Passion is directed by Gerd Oswald and written by Jo Eisinger. It stars Barbara Stanwyck, Sterling Hayden, Raymond Burr and Fay Wray. Music is by Paul Dunlap and cinematography by Joseph LaShelle.It's a strange one in many ways, in that it's a film of considerable intelligence and wry social critique. It even folds inwards the role of the film noir femme fatale, marking it out as fascinating. Yet it never fully delivers for dramatic purpose, leaving it as a modest entry in the last throes of the classic era film noir cycle.Plot sees Stanwyck as Kathy Ferguson, a strong and intelligent newspaper columnist who really doesn't suffer fools gladly. However, when she helps the police with a crime she meets and falls in love with Lt. Bill Doyle (Hayden), and after a whirlwind romance she marries him and finds herself in a picket fence suburban hell. Tiring of Bill standing still, happy with his place in society, Kathy takes drastic action to elevate their life to greater heights...Such is the quality of lead cast members doing what they did best, film manages to hold the attention from a narrative perspective, and with LaShelle's photography firmly dealing in the 50s noir realm of darkness in daylight, there's a claustrophobic atmosphere wrung out to accentuate Kathy's suburban Suzy Homemamker suffocation. The wry observations of social standings and the woman's role in the 50s home is given skilled direction by Oswald (A Kiss Before Dying), the feminist viewpoints standing tall at the front of the play.Unfortunately all the brains and technical attributes involved in production can't hide the fact that it's very rarely exciting or suspenseful, practically crawling to a sedate resolution that isn't exactly satisfying. There's a lot of good here, making it worth a watch for fans of the stars or for those that like some brains in their noir diet. But you may end up as frustrated as I was come the end... 6/10

Interesting crime drama directed by Gerd Oswald. Kathy Ferguson(Barbara Stanwyck)is a newspaper columnist unhappy with her job. She has brains and talent...and very easy on the eyes. She is blindsided by love. "Fergie" falls in love with Los Angeles Police Lt. Bill Doyle(Sterling Hayden). She is determined and self assured, while her new husband seems to lack ambition. Kathy does her best to help Bill climb the ladder in rank; she even satisfies Police Inspector Tony Pope(Raymond Burr)in the process. No longer an ace columnist, but an unhappy suburban housewife, Mrs. Doyle blames Bill's job for her loneliness. And when Pope refuses to keep his promise to promote Bill, Kathy becomes a desperate woman scorned. When Pope is found dead with one shot to the head, who do you think is a prime suspect? This movie was filmed entirely at RKO-Pathe Studios in Culver City, California. CRIME of PASSION proves what drives an intelligent, and otherwise, normal person to commit murder. Supporting cast includes: Royal Dano, Fay Wray, Robert Griffin and Virginia Grey.

Barbara Stanwyck delivers an outstanding performance as a hysterical woman who pulls every string ethically and then eventually unethically in "Brass Legend" director Gerd Oswald's hidden gem of a crime noir "Crime of Passion" that qualifies as a sociological expose of the displaced women in the late 1950s that anticipated the feminist movement. Since this movie was under the aegis of the Production Code, the savvy viewer will know that crime doesn't pay and it doesn't pay in this sharp sage. The Stanwyck protagonist is the epitome of an independent woman who doesn't believe in marriage but she turns around and marries a veteran Los Angeles detective who lacks ambition. Compensating for his lack of ambition and her lack of a job, she pours her energy into getting her husband promotions, even if it means 'playing dirty' and relying on underhanded schemes, finally she embraces murder as a means to an end. Sterling Hayden is perfectly cast as the level-headed cop, while Raymond Burr makes his presence felt even when he is not on screen as Hayden's superior and Stanwyck's illicit lover. "Crime of Passion" qualifies as a film noir and the low-budget and concise direction by Oswald adds a luster to it. The last quarter hour is a clincher. Look for Stuart Whitman as a police lab technician. Atmospheric and edgy material, "Crime of Passion" depicts a headstrong woman's collapse in a contemporary society when she has no outlet for herself. The moral of this movie is that the Stanwyck character should never have quit her job as a manipulative newspaper advice columnist.