I must say that Anne Sheridan is woefully miscast here. Although Anne Sheridan is delightful in many a comedy (after all she is the original "oomph girl") she is dreary and sullen here - and not just because the subject is unhappy and quite serious. When Zachary Scott confronts her after first finding out that she has been unfaithful, Anne might as well have been giving him the unfortunate news that she forgot to pick up the milk on her way home. Eve Arden is here and that's always fun! And despite a truly amazing performance in "All Quiet On The Western Front" I always tend to find Lew Ayers to be pretty much dull as a dishrag. But Zachary Scott is always wonderful and woos with his great acting range (watch this film and then try his film debut "The Mask of Dimitrios" for a viewing treat from one end of the Scott spectrum to the other) Overall, "The Unfaithful" is quite good, just some less than inspired casting in places.

Pretty good melodrama from Warner Bros. I can see the topic of marital infidelity being especially relevant in 1947, just two years after a disruptive WWII. While soldier husband Bob (Scott) was overseas, lonely wife Chris succumbed to sculptor Tanner's seductive charms. Now she hides her secret from Bob. Trouble is that Tanner turns up again, at Chris's house where she stabs him under suspicious circumstances. Question is whether Bob will find out about the past liaison, and break up what's now a reasonably happy home.I'm glad Warner's didn't cast their favorite diva, Joan Crawford, as Chris. In my book, the formidable Crawford had trouble acting vulnerable, which Chris at times is required to be. On the other hand, Sheridan manages the trick without looking too weak or even sympathetic. After all, she is guilty of what many consider a sin; thus, she's got a fine line to walk—being somewhat sympathetic but not too much. Whatever the role's requisites, it's certainly not a glamorous one. Scott's playing against his usual sinister type as the wronged husband. But then Bob can't be too sympathetic since that would bias audience reaction against Chris. I'm guessing that's why the naturally likable Lew Ayres was not cast in the husband role. And catch professional cynic Eve Arden (Paula) getting off her usual barbed asides in typically humorous fashion. She has one well-conceived scene with Bob, where she explains the difficulties Chris had while alone, with only Bob's letters for company. This has the plot effect of humanizing Chris' predicament when succumbing to the predatory Tanner.In fact, I take the movie's main message as just that. Namely, that good marriages shouldn't be abandoned because of wartime separation and the longing this creates. That would have been especially topical for the time. Note too, that Bob's start-up business is building post-war homes, at a time when the need was great. That also ties in with the general theme. All in all, it's an interesting and well-acted drama, maybe a little too subdued for its own good, but with a good thought-provoking moral.

From the opening credits, underscored by Max Steiner's propulsive, unrelenting theme, this is a powerful film. Although loosely based on "The Letter," it is really not about sexual hypocrisy, but rather deals with the price of loneliness that World War II exacted on women at the home front. That price would of course also affect the returning soldiers, spouses of those women. At one point a character refers to the adulterous wife's "debt to society"--certainly not the sort of comment that would be likely to turn up in a film today--but the movie also takes pains to present the wife as a basically decent and honest person.Other films of the time that dealt with variations on that theme are "Till the End of Time" and "The Best Years of Our Lives." The discontents of the returning soldier have been depicted for millennia, as attested by the "welcome" that Agamemnon receives on returning home from the Trojan War. While the narrator at the movie's start accurately says that the story could take place anywhere, post-war Los Angeles is very nicely evoked, with quite a bit of location shooting. Among them: the atrium office building also featured in "DOA"; a hillside cable car, and a seedy hotel located opposite a high, menacing traffic embankment. There is also some nice blocking of the action in the suburban house, the emblem of the American Dream gone awry. (That Zachary Scott's character is a housing developer, when his own household is in disarray, has a paradoxical aspect.)Fine performances from all the principals, especially Ann Sheridan, who really shines. Eve Arden is also fine as an unexpected ally and, in contrast to her usual comic roles, has some strong dramatic moments.

And that is a compliment for a film noir.This is a strange movie, both daring in its subject matter and shackled by the censors. So a sculptor did a head of Ann Sheridan while hubby Zachary Scott was away in the war. Surely this ought to have been a full nude.Still, it captures the frustration of someone left alone for a long period (Sheridan), the anger of the person who expected her to be a dutiful Penelope, and most especially the nature of gossip when such things occur: Eve Arden is splendid as the leader of a fancy gang of cats, who regularly shuck their own husbands (courtesy of protagonist Ayres, a lawyer) and click their tongues at Sheridan.The strange thing is that, though the sets are attractive, the crowd scenes plausible and well shot on Southern California streets, two of the stars and maybe more look worn out and bedraggled: Sheridan, though a sympathetic character, wears unflattering makeup that gives her a harsh look and Ayres looks puffy and tired.This is a variation on the far better known "The Letter," a movie I respect for its craft but that I have never cared for. "The Unfaithful" is a more fully realized entertainment, though perhaps less elegant and stylized than its predecessor "The Letter."