Fortune Is a Woman
| Fortune Is a Woman | |
|---|---|
.jpg) British quad poster | |
| Directed by | Sidney Gilliat |
| Written by | Winston Graham (novel) Val Valentine Sidney Gilliat Frank Launder |
| Produced by | Sidney Gilliat Frank Launder |
| Starring | Jack Hawkins Arlene Dahl Dennis Price |
| Cinematography | Gerald Gibbs |
| Edited by | Geoffrey Foot |
| Music by | William Alwyn |
Production companies | Individual Films John Harvel Productions |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Fortune Is a Woman is a 1957 British film noir crime film directed by Sidney Gilliat and starring Jack Hawkins, Arlene Dahl and Dennis Price. Its plot concerns an attempted insurance fraud goes badly wrong.[1] In the United States, it was released as She Played With Fire.[2] The book is based on Winston Graham's novel Fortune Is a Woman (1953).[3]
Plot
London insurance investigator Oliver Branwell goes to Louis Manor to probe a recent fire. Tracey Moreton lives there with his wife Sarah and his mother. He introduces them to Oliver, as well as his neighbor and cousin, Clive, and describes a valuable painting that was lost in the blaze. Tracey isn't aware that Sarah and Oliver were once romantically involved.
Months later, on another case, Oliver meets a woman, Vere Litchen, who has a painting that appears to be the one allegedly destroyed. The next time he and Sarah speak, she asks questions about the best way to start a fire.
When he later sneaks into the manor, Oliver finds the dead body of Tracey as well as flames that are about to engulf the house. Sarah is beneficiary of her husband's insurance policy but Oliver remains suspicious of her involvement.
Vere's rich fiance, Croft, who gave her the painting, is shown a photo of Sarah and denies she was the woman who sold it to him. A relieved Oliver proposes to Sarah and they leave on a honeymoon. Now the police begin to consider him a suspect.
Blackmailed by a shadowy figure, Oliver and Sarah follow him and discover that Clive was the scheme's mastermind. And that the dead man's mother, Mrs. Moreton, had accidentally caused Tracey's death, believing that her son was about to start a second fire.
Cast
- Jack Hawkins - Oliver Branwell
- Arlene Dahl - Sarah Moreton Branwell
- Dennis Price - Tracey Moreton
- Violet Farebrother - Mrs Moreton
- Ian Hunter - Clive Fisher
- Malcolm Keen - Old Abercrombie
- Geoffrey Keen - Young Abercrombie
- Patrick Holt - Fred Connor
- John Robinson - Berkeley Reckitt
- Michael Goodliffe - Detective Inspector Barnes
- Martin Lane - Detective Constable Watson
- Bernard Miles - Mr Jerome
- Christopher Lee - Charles Highbury
- Greta Gynt - Vere Litchen
- John Phillips - Willis Croft
- Patricia Marmont - Ambrosine
- Rosalind Knight - Minor role
References
- ^ Fortune Is a Woman. BFI Film Forever. 1957.
- ^ She Played With Fire. IMDb. 1957.
- ^ Graham, Winston (1953). Fortune Is a Woman. DOUBLEDAY & COMPANY. ASIN B000QBA4GS.
External links
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