As the chauffeur for a wealthy family, Robert Mitchum becomes implicated in the crimes of his mistress (in both senses of the word), Jean Simmons, whose excessive adoration of her father (Herbert Marshall) leads to murder. Otto Preminger's visual artistry is perhaps nowhere more evident than in this expert film noir, in which dark imagery and details of decor, long tracking shots and intense close-ups all contribute to a fatalistic mood of sexual and class obsession. In Preminger's hands, the passionate and unsettling relationships here seem not merely underscored but understood.