Sudden Fear is a 1952 RKO Radio Pictures feature film

Feature film

In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...

 starring Joan Crawford

Joan Crawford

Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....

 and Jack Palance

Jack Palance

Jack Palance , was an American actor. During half a century of film and television appearances, Palance was nominated for three Academy Awards, all as Best Actor in a Supporting Role, winning in 1991 for his role in City Slickers.-Early life:Palance, one of five children, was born Volodymyr...

 in a noir-ish

Film noir

Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...

 tale about a successful woman who marries a murderous man. The screenplay by Lenore J. Coffee

Lenore J. Coffee

Lenore Jackson Coffee was an American screenwriter, playwright and novelist.-Biography:...

 and Robert Smith was based upon the novel by Edna Sherry. Sudden Fear was directed by David Miller

David Miller (director)

David Miller was an American movie director who directed such varied films as Billy the Kid with Robert Taylor and Brian Donlevy, Flying Tigers with John Wayne, and Love Happy with the Marx Brothers.-Filmography:* Bittersweet Love * Executive Action * Hail, Hero! * Hammerhead...

 and produced by Joseph Kaufman

Joseph Kaufman

Joseph Kaufman was an American silent film actor and director prominent during the WW1 years. He was born in Washington, D.C. and died in New York City in the Influenza pandemic of 1918. His wife was silent film star Ethel Clayton. Kaufman started out as an actor appearing on Broadway in 1903 with...

. The film was nominated for several Academy Awards and has been released to DVD.

Plot and cast

Myra Hudson (Crawford) is a successful Broadway playwright who rejects Lester Blaine (Palance) as the lead in her new play. Later, she meets Lester on a train bound for San Francisco, is swept off her feet, and, after a brief courtship, marries him. When Lester learns Myra is writing her will and plans to leave the bulk of her fortune to a foundation, he plots her murder in cahoots with Irene Neves (Gloria Grahame

Gloria Grahame

Gloria Grahame was an American Academy Award–winning actress.Grahame began her acting career in theatre, and in 1944 she made her first film for MGM. Despite a featured role in It's a Wonderful Life , MGM did not believe she had the potential for major success, and sold her contract to RKO Studios...

), an old girlfriend hiding in the wings. Myra discovers their plans and concocts a diabolical scheme to kill Lester and place the blame on Irene, but cannot bring herself to go through with it. Lester learns of Myra's intention and accidentally kills Irene and himself in an attempt on Myra's life. Myra hears the two pronounced dead and breathes a sigh of relief. Others in the cast include Bruce Bennett

Bruce Bennett

Bruce Bennett was an American actor and Olympic silver medalist shot putter. During the 1930s, he went by his real name, Herman Brix .-Early life and Olympics:...

, Virginia Huston

Virginia Huston

Virginia Huston was a film actress.Born Virginia Houston in Wisner, Nebraska, Huston appeared in many 1940s and 1950s films noir and adventure films. Signing with RKO in 1945, her first film was opposite George Raft in Nocturne. Her singing voice in the nightclub was redubbed by a singer...

, and Mike Connors

Mike Connors

Mike Connors is an American actor best known for playing detective Joe Mannix in the CBS television series, Mannix. Before that, he had played a crime-fighting investigator, wielding a .38 handgun hidden in his back, in another CBS series, Tightrope.-Early life:Connors was born Krekor Ohanian in...

 (performing as Touch Connors).

Production notes

Marlon Brando

Marlon Brando

Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...

 was originally offered the role of Lester Blaine. The film was shot in San Francisco, California

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

. Costumes were designed by Sheila O'Brien

Sheila O'Brien

Sheila O’Brien was an American costume designer.O'Brien began her career as a seamstress for Paramount Pictures but transferred to the costume department of MGM, where she worked as a costume department dresser on The Wizard of Oz in 1939, coming into her own as a Hollywood costume designer in the...

 and earned an Academy Award nomination.

Reception

A. H. Weiler in the New York Times commented, "Joan Crawford should be credited with a truly professional performance", and Otis L. Guernsey, Jr. in the New York Herald Tribune wrote, "The scenario...is designed to allow Miss Crawford a wide range of quivering reactions to vicious events, as she passes through the stage of starry-eyed love, terrible disillusionment, fear, hatred, and finally hysteria. With her wide eyes and forceful bearing, she is the woman for the job." In 1984, writer Spencer Selby noted, "Undoubtedly one of the most stylish and refined woman-in-distress noirs."

Awards

Sudden Fear was nominated for Academy Awards

Academy Awards

An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...

 for:-
Best Actress in a Leading Role

Academy Award for Best Actress

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...

: Joan Crawford,
Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...

: Jack Palance,
Best Cinematography, Black-and-White

Academy Award for Best Cinematography

The Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...

 and
Best Costume Design, Black-and-White

Academy Award for Costume Design

The Academy Award for Best Costume Design is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for achievement in film costume design....

.

External links

• Sudden Fear at Rotten Tomatoes
  Rotten Tomatoes
  Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...