Warner Bros.
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Kino)
The new governor of Sydney, Australia, and his second cousin adapt to life among the ex-convicts around them. The cousin soon finds himself making a deal with shady landowner Joseph Cotten. At a visit to his remote bungalow, he discovers he was childhood friends with Cotten's wife, Ingrid Bergman, but that she is struggling with an alcohol addiction. The truth turns out to be far more sinister, as she is actually being poisoned by the housemaid who is in love with Cotten. Her relationship with her husband also has a dark history. All of this is revealed in a somewhat understated way, especially by Hitchcock standards, giving it more of a melodramatic flavor. Nonetheless, it does deal with the usual Hitchcock themes of murder and a guilty conscience, and has a colorful period feel for 19th century Australia. As with his previous color film Rope, it utilizes long, unbroken takes, but they are much less intrusive this time around, and the transitions are difficult to spot.
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