Suspenseful ,tense melodrama with old film noir touches ,"portrait in black" has enough sudden new developments to satisfy the thriller buff; the doomed lovers played by the mighty Quinn and Lana Turner (who,along with Sandra Dee ,seems to be taken from Douglas Sirk' s brilliant "imitation of life" (1959),but we are far from the compassionate mom here) suspect everyone in the house from the mischievous chauffeur to the sinister-looking Asiatic housekeeper,after committing a murder (where is the Hippocratic oath ,doctor Quinn?); the identity of the blackmailer is somewhat far-fetched and it provides the low point of an otherwise gripping screenplay .Even the secondary plot ,which concerns Dee and Saxon, though their affair is rather bland, is important for the action .
Of course there are implausibilities : Miss turner had never driven a car in her whole life , but the first time she had been at the wheel, she almost effortlessly did it ,and in the pouring (and I mean pouring) rain to boot!But it is the rule of the game of the thriller cum melodrama .
Of course there are implausibilities : Miss turner had never driven a car in her whole life , but the first time she had been at the wheel, she almost effortlessly did it ,and in the pouring (and I mean pouring) rain to boot!But it is the rule of the game of the thriller cum melodrama .