Cast a Dark Shadow - 1955 Brit noir directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Dirk Bogarde as Edward "Teddy" Bare. He's a gigolo/fortune hunter of sorts who's been married to older, well off Monica (Mona Washbourne) for a year. But it's obvious that he's biding his time and spending her money while he works on getting her will rewritten. When she announces that she is indeed getting it amended Teddy assumes that she's writing him out. This drives him to stage an "accident" but he soon finds out she was instead leaving him her entire fortune and all he'll end up with is their home. In the meantime Monica's attorney Phillip Mortimer (Robert Flemyng) suspects him of murder but can't prove it.
Teddy soon has to go in search of his next meal ticket and meets widowed Freda Jeffries (Margaret Lockwood), a former barmaid who married a richer older man. The shrewd, no-nonsense Freda spots Teddy for the opportunist that he is but he convinces her that he has also been left financially set for life. She agrees to wed him with the understanding that both contribute equally to the marriage. It doesn't take long for her to see through his schemes but being such a pragmatist and having developed feelings for him she sets new ground rules. Teddy chafes at his "kept" status and upon making the acquaintance of well to do newcomer Charlotte Young (Kay Walsh) sees a possible way around his predicament. She's looking to purchase an estate to open an equestrian school and, having worked as a realtor, Teddy starts showing her several properties.
This is right around the time where the plot has slowed down and there is a definite lull in the proceedings. But then there's a completely unexpected development that's enough to give anyone whiplash. Maybe some people could have seen it coming but I didn't. It kind of woke me out of my torpor and, since I hadn't bothered to check out the runtime, I figured we were still knee deep in the second act. Nope.
The cast is efficient in that British drawing room mystery kind of way and Bogarde does a fine job as the textbook wolf in (threadbare) sheep's clothing. But it's Lockwood's performance as the fearless, straight-talking Freda that dominates the film. Which is a shame because the movie's failure at the box office was largely blamed on her and led to a two decade absence from the big screen. It's not the perfect noir but I think some might consider it a neglected gem.
75/100