Ann Sheridan! In our film today, many critics herald it as the magnum opus for the sultry actress. Sure, her role in "The Man Who Came to Dinner" was stellar, but in today's film, she is the lead. Uh oh...this is a Film Noir movie and she plays a nightclub singer. Yep, we know what that means. Murder. The sultry singer will seduce and also find the meaning of life and love, all while ending the lives of so many around her. Let us look at 1947's "Nora Prentiss," directed by Vincent Sherman.
Set in San Francisco before it became a total shithole, Dr. Richard Talbot (Kent Smits) has it made. A beautiful family and a loving wife (well, maybe not that loving), Lucy (Rosemary DeCamp). He has a simple routine, breakfast with the family, go to work, come home and hear his wife drone on and on about her day. His medical practice is a successful one and his partner is the handsome bachelor, Dr. Merriam (Bruce Bennett), a wild bachelor. Uh oh, alone at the office, Richard treats a sultry dame who got hit by a car outside his office. She's out cold and has a leg injury. The dame, Nora (Sheridan) comes to and finds Richard tending to her leg. She has a sense of humor, and Richard is all nerves as he is a bit shy around dames. Nora gets him to loosen up, bats her eyelashes at him, and plays on his insecurities. Nora's quite the flirt, but in no time she is in love with this stable man with a routine and a boyish shyness.
Soon, our rigid and anal doctor is fantasizing about Nora. When Lucy and the kids leave for the weekend, Richard finds himself at the nightclub. Dressed in slinky gowns, Nora sings away and seduces. Nightclub owner, Phil (Robert Alda) is in love with Nora, but Nora now wants Richard. Richard promises to divorce his wife and go away with her. Uh oh...none of this goes well. People will die. Richard comes up with a plan that would be genius if it wasn't so stupid. Now Richard and Nora may be cursed by getting exactly what they want. Lies and deceit masquerading as good intentions threaten to ruin the whole deal. Then an unbelievable twist in a murder case.
Can an upstanding doctor in the city really just leave his wife and kids? Does Nora have some Svengali-type power over the drooling Richard? Will Phil just sit there and allow Nora to run off with this dweeb she has only known for a week or two? What happens here will be vicious and be so wrong on many levels. Be ready to gasp at the depravity both Nora and Richard are seduced to fall into. Also, as a warning, middle-aged couples should see this film as a warning of what may happen if routine and comfort replace passion in marriage. For a weird and twisted Film Noir thriller, highlighting the glamorous Ann Sheridan, see "Nora Prentiss."
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