At some point close to the end of this picture, Robert Mitchum utters a scream so piercingly animalistic it’ll turn your blood cold. That’s the chilling power of Charles Laughton’s only directorial effort: a no-frills tale of love, hate, and the true soul-deep evil man is capable of when money is his only god. Paramount screens the classic in black & white for its 70th anniversary, though I can assure any doubters that time has not made this tale any less relevant. – James Scott
