The Unholy Wife
| The Unholy Wife | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | John Farrow |
| Produced by | John Farrow |
| Written by | William Durkee Jonathan Latimer |
| Starring | Diana Dors Rod Steiger |
| Cinematography | Lucien Ballard |
| Editing by | Eda Warren |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | June 24, 1957 |
| Running time | 94 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Unholy Wife (1957) is a color film noir drama film produced and directed by John Farrow at RKO Radio Pictures and released by Universal Pictures as RKO was in its final stages of closing down. The screenplay was written by William Durkee and Jonathan Latimer.[1][2]
The film is about a femme fatale named Phyllis (Diana Dors) who tells her sordid story from her prison cell.
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[edit] Plot
The film begins with Phyllis (Diana Dors) telling her story in flashbacks. It begins how she meets rich vintner Paul Hochen (Rod Steiger) from Napa Valley in a bar and marries him soon after.
Not long after the marriage, Phyllis begins having an affair with a local rodeo rider, San Sanford (Tom Tryon), seeing him every time her husband is away, which is frequently. One night, Phyllis' elderly mother-in-law (Beulah Bondi) thinks a burglar is breaking into the house, so she calls the police.
Phyllis sees this as an opportunity to kill her husband and blame the burglar for the crime. The plan backfires a day later when Phyllis instead kills her husband's best friend. Not wanting to go to jail, she convinces her husband to confess to the killing and they concoct a story that would set him free after the trial.
Unfortunately for her husband, Phyllis lies at the trial and he is put away for murder. The "unholy" wife finally gets the punishment she deserves when her mother-in-law dies of poisoning and the blame goes to Phyllis, who is sent to prison—for a crime she had nothing to do with. Later, she faces her execution in the gas chamber. The film ends with Paul showing their son Michael (Gary Hunley) the vineyard that will someday be his.
[edit] Cast
- Diana Dors as Phyllis Hochen
- Rod Steiger as Paul Hochen
- Tom Tryon as San Sanders
- Beulah Bondi as Emma Hochen
- Marie Windsor as Gwen
- Arthur Franz as Father Stephen Hochen
- Luis Van Rooten as Ezra Benton
- Joe De Santis as Gino Verdugo
- Argentina Brunetti as Theresa
- Steve Pendleton as Deputy Bob Watkins
- Douglas Spencer as Judge
- Gary Hunley as Michael
- James Burke as Sheriff Tom Watling
- Tol Avery as Dist. Atty. Carl Kramer
[edit] Critical reception
The film has received mixed reviews. Dennis Schwartz at the "Ozus' World Movie Reviews" web site called the film, "A ponderous melodrama that even becomes more awkward by the film's end."[3]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Harrison's Reports review; August 31, 1957, page 138
- ^ Variety film review; September 4, 1957, page 6.
- ^ Schwartz, Dennis. Ozus' World Review, July 22, 2001. Last accessed: December 5, 2007.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: The Unholy Wife |
- The Unholy Wife at the Internet Movie Database
- The Unholy Wife at the TCM Movie Database
- The Unholy Wife film trailer at Back Alley Noir
