Noir in English

Dear Murderer (1947) was a great find, a sophisticated, noir-tinged mystery, just the kind of thing I was looking for.

It starts when Eric Portman comes home early from a long business trip and finds his wife is out. He pokes around a bit and finds letters from her lover, so he heads over there to do a little murder. He has a fool-proof plan until his wife Greta Glynt and her new lover, Maxwell Reed, walk into the apartment. Then he comes up with an even better plan. He can't kill all her lovers - or can he?

Norwegian born Glynt is glamorous enough to make it look worthwhile to murder for her, and Portman is just the type of cold-fish Englishman to do it. There is an odd little twist with Hazel Court as the sister of the first lover and ex-fiancee of the second. Not sure why she was necessary - maybe her part made more sense before a re-write. Still, she seemed nice. Also, the cop on the case is played by perennial policeman Jack Warner.

At 90 minutes, this is nice and short (longer than some of these cheapies), and full of femme fatales, deep shadows, clever coppers and would-be masterminds. Always great when I find one of these.