Movie Review: Shadow of a Woman (1946)
Synopsis: After suffering a nervous breakdown, Brooke goes on a holiday and falls in love with Dr. Eric Ryder. They marry immediately and soon after, Brooke begins noticing a variety of odd things about her new husband - people are trying to kill him, he has peculiar eating habits and has an ex-wife and son he didn't bother to mention. Things go from bad to worse when she suspects Eric of trying to starve his son to death to collect an inheritance.
Who's in it? The movie stars Andrea King, Helmut Dantine, William Prince, John Alvin and Becky Brown.
Review: I wasn't sure what to expect when I added Shadow of a Woman to my library because the film's description left a lot to the imagination. I wound up watching it this morning and it turned out to be an intriguing movie.
This is, at minimum, a nice cautionary tale about marrying someone you just met. It was absolutely amazing just how little Brooke (King) knew about her new husband (Dantine), including the fact he was married before and had a son. If his decision not to tell her that didn't raise a red flag, the two attempts on his life soon after they were wed should have set off alarm bells. It made me wish the movie would have shown a bit more of their short courtship, so I could see exactly why she was so in love with him.
Ryder's medical practice and beliefs added another interesting element to the movie, reminding me a bit of what you see today with anti-vaxxers, etc. It was hard to tell if he truly believed he could cure people through diet alone, despite all the evidence to the contrary, or if there was a much more sinister reason for his actions.
His marriage to Brooke was also suspicious as a result. He made it clear a big part of the reason for marrying her was to keep custody of his son (Larry Geiger) but to what end? If she wasn't going to testify on his behalf, did that put her life at risk? The latter became even more of a question when some of his witnesses mysteriously died.
The movie's ending was intriguing, with Brooke facing murder charges of her own. It became unclear if she'd be able to clear her name, especially with no witnesses able to back up her story (or if she learned her lesson about falling in love with men she just met).
My only real complaint about the movie was, for all the suspicions against Ryder, people seemed to be fine staying within his reach. This wasn't just Brooke, who had her own house and friends, allowing her to escape whenever she wanted. Some of the people who were threatening to expose Ryder as a quack also seemed perfectly comfortable accepting rides, sedatives, etc. from him. That was more than a little confusing in my book, along with why he wasn't facing criminal charges when just about everyone knew what he was doing.
Final Opinion: It was an entertaining film that had a unique and unpredictable plot. I would have liked to have seen a bit more of their courtship, to understand her loyalty to her husband a little better, but it was a good choice overall.
My Grade: B+
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Here are some reviews of other movies from 1946:
Movie Review: House of Horrors (1946)
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