This was not a good movie. It came as part of a Bette Davis box set but I'm very tempted to get rid of it. The only thing stopping me is the special features. They are adorable.Musician Christine Radcliffe (Bette Davis) was in love with cellist Karel Novak (Paul Henreid) before WWII but lost track of him during. She tried everything she could to locate him and bring him to safety in America but to no avail. Years later, by chance, she found that Novak had lived and was doing concerts at small colleges. She meets him and they immediately reignite that old flame. But, fearing his jealousy, she hides the fact that she has been mistress to a notoriously cruel composer, Alexander Hollenius (Claude Rains), for the past couple of years. Jilted and angry, Hollenius threatens to reveal everything to Novak, causing Christine to devolve into a cycle of paranoia that can only end in violence.
I normally like Bette Davis but here she's playing such a stupid woman that I just can't get past it. Christine doesn't let a moment's worth of rational thought interfere with her fearful delusions and it annoys me beyond all measure. Hollenius is a schoolyard bully, all puffed-up arrogance and threats, but it works because she allows it. Novak is repeatedly referred to as having an "artistic temperament" but that really just means he's unpredictable and petty. None of these characters are worth the time of day and I just can't be bothered with them.
The special features include a line-up called "Warner's Night at the Movies", leading off with a newsreel about frozen TV dinners, followed by two shorts and a cartoon. They're so hilariously out of date that they elevated the entire disc from "hated it" to "meh".
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