Crime of Passion

1957

1 hr. 24 min.

Crime

Drama

List

80%

5 Reviews

Tomatometer

33%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

When newspaper columnist Kathy Ferguson (Barbara Stanwyck) meets cop Bill Doyle (Sterling Hayden), the two quickly hit it off and get married. Kathy gives up her career and heads to Los Angeles with Bill to settle down. The homemaker lifestyle doesn't suit Kathy, however, and she becomes bored with her life and resentful toward Bill because he doesn't share her drive for success. She then secretly decides to make major moves to further Bill's career -- even if it means murdering his rivals.

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Steve D

Frustrating and unworthy of Barbara.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

07/08/23

Full Review

Bill T

INTERESTING, I wouldnt say all that SUCCESSFUL Film Noir about a independent woman giving up her journalism career for the job of a policeman's wife. Bored to tears of the responsibilities, she seems to do little things to move her up bit by bit in the police hierechy, beginning with a fender bender with the commissioner's wife. Things start to escalate, and so do the stakes! It all ends like film-noirs with Barbara Stanwyck and William Holden SHOULD end, but it's not quite as satisfying as it could have been, like the stakes (job advancement?) were'nt that high to begin with.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/01/23

Full Review

Peter F

Crime of Passion was a genuinely intriguing little film noir that I really wish would've been made about fifty years later. I just feel like a story and character study this psychologically disturbing could've had so much more impact with a different acting and cinematography style than what we got in the mid-‘50s. While I generally don't mind the mid-20th century acting and shooting conventions, for such a dark and dramatic subject matter, I feel like the film could've been so much better in the hands of a present-day filmmaker… David Fincher came to mind. With that being said, there were some things I did really love about the film—I thought the main character, Kathy, was a complex individual, an interesting take on the film noir femme fatale and the plot was really well constructed. The dark themes explored of settling down and trading a career for love and what is sacrificed in the process and what we do for the people we love… it really resonates, even in the 2020s, perhaps even better than it might've in the 1950s. All this to say—good, subversive film noir, definitely a great story with a complex anti-hero protagonist. Could've been stronger with different filmmaking decisions.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/10/22

Full Review

paul d

Gerd Oswald's Crime of Passion should have been better. It features three great actors and a spicy plot line. The problem is in the execution, because the screenplay has some jarring and unbelievable transitions. The first part of the film works well and establishes Barbara Stanwyck's intelligence, ambition and feminist independence, which is in synch with her later unhappiness as a suburban housewife and her creative plotting. But her love story, marriage and personal transformation don't fit the person we've just met. Neither does her spiral out of control. There is a clumsiness in the screenplay and direction that taint the final product for me.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

OK noir with Barbara Stanwyck and Sterling Hayden. Wife pushes her cop husband to promotions.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Film noir starts out well then starts to disintegrate after an hour; Stanwyck is good in her usual "grasping female" role.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

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Gerd Oswald

Director

Barbara Stanwyck

Kathy Ferguson Doyle

Sterling Hayden

Police Lt. Bill Doyle

Raymond Burr

Police Inspector Anthony

Fay Wray

Alice Pope

Virginia Grey

Sara Alidos

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Richard Brody

New Yorker

This acerbic film noir features Barbara Stanwyck in one of her greatest performances...

Apr 14, 2020

Full Review

Dan Callahan

Slant Magazine

This overlooked, subversive movie has a strong feminist message and an even stronger Stanwyck performance.

May 1, 2006

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 3/5

Jul 3, 2005

Full Review

Carol Cling

Las Vegas Review-Journal

Rated: 3/5

Jan 23, 2004

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

A so-so noir melodrama, that can't overcome its limited script.

Rated: C

Jul 25, 2001

Full Review

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Synopsis

When newspaper columnist Kathy Ferguson (Barbara Stanwyck) meets cop Bill Doyle (Sterling Hayden), the two quickly hit it off and get married. Kathy gives up her career and heads to Los Angeles with Bill to settle down. The homemaker lifestyle doesn't suit Kathy, however, and she becomes bored with her life and resentful toward Bill because he doesn't share her drive for success. She then secretly decides to make major moves to further Bill's career -- even if it means murdering his rivals.

Director: Gerd Oswald
Executive Producer: Robert Goldstein
Screenwriter: Jo Eisinger
Production Co: Robert Goldstein Productions
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): May 17, 2017

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