I am generally not a big fan of Douglas Sirk so I approached this movie with some skepticism. I think this is the best movie I have seen by him. Nevertheless, I couldn't help but wonder what might have been in the hands of a firm noir master. The movie opens with a confused and upset Claudette Colbert traveling on a train to Boston from New York. She is attended to, regains her wits about her, and the movie begins to unfold. Unfortunately, the "mystery" is revealed much too soon. Robert Cummings is in an all-too-familiar role for him reminiscent of "Dial M for Murder" or "The Lost Moment" rescuing the damsel-in-distress. Raymond Burr makes an appearance early in the film and looks to be an interesting part of the proceedings but then disappears. Hazel Brooks is an actress that I was unfamiliar with and was very good in her bad girl role. The rest of the cast was okay and that was pretty much how I felt about the rest of the movie. It's between 6 and 7 and I gave it the benefit of the doubt.

How to get rid of a wealth y wife in five easy lessons. When I first saw this film some thirty years ago, I didn't quite get it. I assume from having grown up and gotten a bug for film noir in the intervening years that I wasn't nature enough to grasp the intrigue of that genre. Now, having seen it once again since then (maybe about 15 years ago) that it is a smart thriller with all the stops pulled out in creating a diabolical drama of masterminded evil that grabs you and doesn't release you until the final seconds.Claudette Colbert plays a Sutton Place socialite who finds herself on the train to Boston, unaware of how she got there. Her husband indicates shock over her disappearance to investigator Raymond Burr but is he sincere? The presence of a pesky but friendly old lady Queenie Smith adds to the intrigue as she is obviously a part of a scheme, while Ameche is soon revealed to be involved in an clandestine affair with the sinister Hazel Brooks, one of the most evil predatory women ever to grace the screen.Robert Cummings is added into the plot, playing his usual happy go lucky good guy, befriending Colbert and escorting her around while Ameche plots with Brooks. Colbert, taking a break from the light-hearted comedies she was best known for (or long suffering mother roles), is sensational. Ameche is quite different than any role he had played up to this point. Produced by retired silent movie star Mary Pickford, this is dark and sinister, and above all, gripping and powerful.

Sirk delivers the goods. I don't know what it is about these "Gaslight" scenarios that I love so much, maybe it's just so delightfully devious. Okay, so the story is pretty damn predictable, but it's a really fun movie. Claudette Colbert (teamed up once again with Don Ameche, although in a far different way than MIDNIGHT) isn't great, but it's kind of a tricky role and she pulls it off pretty well. And for once, I enjoyed a Robert Cummings performance. Unfortunately, Raymond Burr doesn't get much to do and neither does femme fatale Hazel Brooks, although she does have a fantastic entrance, as we see her shapely legs coming down the stairs. But the performances aren't the film's strength. It has terrific pacing, some amazing shots (the whole thing is photographed very nicely) and even some good bits of comedy that manage not to undercut the tension. The Chinese wedding, for example, takes a good portion of time away from the action, but it's a delightful scene that establishes the relationship between Colbert and Cummings. Maybe this isn't a groundbreaking noir, but I really enjoyed it, especially for the entertaining (if somewhat routine) plot and superb cinematography.

We're into familiar territory again with this would-be sleeper about a woman being drugged by her husband (DON AMECHE) for her inheritance and trying all manner of tricks to get her to think she's going insane.It all has a familiar ring--although this time, under Douglas Sirk's direction, it's all much too contrived and not too convincing in its execution.CLAUDETTE COLBERT is the poor victimized wife (but she's no Ingrid Bergman) and the cast-against-type DON AMECHE is much too affable to be chilling as the husband, unlike CHARLES BOYER in "Gaslight". Interestingly, ROBERT CUMMINGS is playing the same sort of role he essayed years later in "Dial M For Murder" whereby he helped Grace Kelly who was caught up in a sinister plot by her husband. Whatever, he's still pretty bland.In fact, that's the trouble with the whole film. It's bland despite the makings of a plot that should be mystifying and terrifying. Maybe a director other than Sirk could have done things with the bare bones of the story that would have turned it into the kind of chiller it's striving to be.Summing up: Not really worth your time.