Too Late for Tears

Released Jul 17, 1949

1h 39m

Crime

Drama

List

100%

Tomatometer

5 Reviews

66%

Audience Score

500+ Ratings

A woman (Lizabeth Scott) kills her husband and plots with a private eye (Dan Duryea) after someone tosses a moneybag into her car.

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A.H. Weiler

New York Times

Despite an involved plot and an occasional overabundance of palaver, not all of which is bright, this yarn about a cash-hungry dame who doesn't let men or conscience stand in her way, is an adult and generally suspenseful adventure.

Oct 30, 2015

Full Review

Michael Phillips

Chicago Tribune

The movie failed to find much of an audience in its own time. It looks a little better every year.

Rated: 3/4

Aug 28, 2014

Full Review

Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

[Lizabeth Scott's] performance as the ruthless Jane Palmer remains one of the genre's meatiest and devious since the film revolves exclusively around her actions and not those of her male co-stars.

Rated: 3.5/5

Oct 8, 2020

Full Review

TV Guide

As the money-hungry woman without a conscience, Scott is terrific, seductive as Ulysses' sirens and just as destructive to the men she draws into her web.

Rated: 3/5

Oct 30, 2015

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

The husky-voiced winsome smiling Lizabeth Scott turns in a finely tuned performance as the femme fatale.

Rated: B-

Feb 21, 2005

Full Review

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Susan M

You can never predict what is going to happen next. This film is truly suspenseful and kept me captivated until the very end. Mrs. Palmer is so evil.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/13/24

Full Review

acsdoug D

It's a nice noir from the 40s that manages to maintain a level of suspense throughout.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/28/24

Full Review

nick s

There were a few story elements I would have changed but overall this was great. Competently directed and a truly captivating performance from Lizabeth Scott, who really elevated the movie with her natural charisma.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/11/23

Full Review

Don B

I found this by accident looking for a Burt Lancaster movie so I'm not sure how this came about but it is an absolutely great film with a convoluted plot but you got to love Lizabeth Scott. I finally found someone meaner than my ex-wife.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

Full Review

paul d

In Byron Haskin's Too Late for Tears, Lizabeth Scott has the role of a lifetime as the most fatal of femme fatales, the most seductive of temptresses, and the most cold blooded of criminals, and she is magnificent. Dan Duryea isn't on screen quite as much as Scott, but he also provides a great performance. He's also playing a criminal, as he did often in those year, but here we see a full range on display, from the super tough guy to calculating smoothie to vulnerable fall guy to helpless victim. Arthur Kennedy and Don DeFore are well cast in supporting roles, and Kristine Miller is especially good and believeable in a small but crucIal role, radiating innocence and purity as a counterpoint to what's happening around her. It has a great and intricate story, with a palpable tension right from the first frames, possibly because the "MacGuffin" at the center of these lives and this film was introduced in the opening frames.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Luca D

Lizabeth Scott plays a pathological lying woman who is obsessed with a bag of money her and her husband run into. His idea is turn it in to the cops. Her idea is a little different. When she meets the man the money belongs to she devises a plan to kill her husband and share the money with her new criminal lover. This thriller is perfectly tuned for Lizabeth Scott, with her enchanting looks and her smokey voice. She creates one hell of a character and the rest was history.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/09/21

Full Review

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Byron Haskin

Director

Lizabeth Scott

Jane Palmer

Don DeFore

Don Blake

Dan Duryea

Danny Fuller

Arthur Kennedy

Alan Palmer

Kristine Miller

Kathy Palmer

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Synopsis

A woman (Lizabeth Scott) kills her husband and plots with a private eye (Dan Duryea) after someone tosses a moneybag into her car.

Director: Byron Haskin
Screenwriter: Thomas Fitzroy
Production Co: Hunt Stromberg Productions, Republic Pictures
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 17, 1949, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 28, 2016
Runtime: 1h 39m

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