So Evil My Love (1948)

★ 6.4 1h 49m IMDb

Drama Thriller

In the late 19th century, on board a ship sailing from Jamaica to England, Olivia Harwood, a recent widow, takes on the task of caring for several malaria patients, including Mark Bellis, a mysterious and tormented painter.

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Cast

Ray Milland as Mark Bellis Died 1986 · Neath, Glamorgan, Wales, UK Ray Milland (born Reginald Alfred John Truscott-Jones or Alfred Reginald Jones; 3 January 1907 – 10 March 1986) was a Welsh actor and director. He is best remembered for his Academy Award–winning port...

Ann Todd as Olivia Harwood Died 1993 · Hartford, Cheshire, England From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Dorothy Anne Todd (24 January 1907, Hartford, Cheshire – 6 May 1993, London) was an English actress and producer. She was born in Hartford, Cheshire and was ed...

Geraldine Fitzgerald as Susan Courtney Died 2005 · Greystones, County Wicklow, Ireland Geraldine Fitzgerald, Lady Lindsay-Hogg was an Irish-American actress and a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame. She was born south of Dublin, the daughter of Edith Catherine and Edward Martin...

Leo G. Carroll as Jarvis Died 1972 · Weedon Bec, Northamptonshire, England, UK Leo Gratten Carroll (25 October 1886 – 16 October 1972) was an English actor. He is best known for his roles in six Alfred Hitchcock films - Rebecca, Suspicion, Spellbound, The Paradine Case, Stranger...

Raymond Huntley as Henry Courtney Died 1990 · King's Norton, Worcestershire, England, UK Horace Raymond Huntley (23 April 1904 – 15 June 1990) was an English actor who appeared in dozens of British films from the 1930s to the 1970s. He also appeared in the ITV period drama Upstairs, Downs...

Director Lewis Allen

Cast Ray Milland, Ann Todd, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Leo G. Carroll, Raymond Huntley, Martita Hunt, Moira Lister, Raymond Lovell, Roderick Lovell, Muriel Aked

John Chard 7/10 Apr 04, 2015

Locket Love!

So Evil My Love (AKA: For Her to See/The Obsessed) is directed by Lewis Allen and adapted to screenplay by Ronald Millar & Leonard Spigelgass from the novel written by Joseph Shearing (AKA: Marjorie Bowen). It stars Ray Milland, Ann Todd, Geraldine Fitzgerald and Leo Carroll. Music is scored by William Alwyn & Victor Young and cinematography by Max Green.

"This is a true story...one of the strangest chapters in the annals of crime. Its characters lived more than fifty years ago...the leading figures in a passionate game of love and murder. It began on a sailing vessel homeward bound from the West Indies for Liverpool...."

Lewis Allen's movie falls into that category of films tagged as Gaslight Noir – Period Noir. Marjorie Bowen's literary works were always ripe for such noirish period pickings, given that many of them feature dark doings, bad people, idiotic people and just plain misery, and this filmic adaptation is no different in that respect; gloriously so for the film noir faithful.

While not in the same league as the two Gaslight movies, So Evil My Love pulses throughout with tainted blood. The period flavours are lovely, the lead cast members at home in their settings, yet you will have to search far and wide for someone you can respect. Heading up the cast is Milland, who around this time was thoroughly enjoying himself playing troubled or bad boy roles, and here, as he drags all around him through the mud, he's having a grand old time of it.

Unfortunately the long running time proves a bit much for director Allen, who sinks into deep melodrama for a good portion of the mid- section, and this is where it comes close to being dull, but the final third is worth waiting for as the septic and the stupid trot along to their respective fate. It's also disappointing that Green's photography doesn't always enhance the turbulent atmosphere, so for better work from him seek out Hatter's Castle (1942) and the mightily great Night and the City (1950).

Lots to like here for period and gothic noir fans though. 7/10

JPV852 7/10 Jan 23, 2021

Pretty good gothic thriller with everything from deceit, blackmail and ultimately murder. Liked the two leads with Ray Milland and Ann Todd, the latter's character being manipulated from innocent widow to a woman committing ever escalating crimes. Pretty tense film from beginning to end. **3.75/5**