A psychological thriller in a similar vein as Spellbound and Vertigo, this film is a love story that revolves around a provocative woman and her mysterious ways. The woman is seemingly afraid of thunderstorms and certain colors, all the while determined to steal money from her employers without any hesitation or regret. Of course there must be a reason for this inexplicable behavior, and who better than a distinguished gentlemen looking for love to help get to the bottom of it. Sean Connery in his only Hitchcock film plays the wealthy widower intrigued by the troubled woman, effectively played by Tippi Hedren in her second and final Hitchcock film following her breakthrough role in The Birds.
There is legitimate chemistry, or at times a deliberate lack-of chemistry, evident between Connery and Hedren on screen accentuated by the display of vivid emotions and feelings of desperation that the script calls for. For instance a controversial rape scene took Hitchcock out of the good graces of his screenwriters, however in retrospect it may have brought the best out of the actors while putting an emphasis on the strain and tension built up throughout the film. Although the plot feels convoluted at times while Hedren is continuously and voluntarily self destructive, by the time it comes to its resolution there is an adequate explanation that makes her behavior justifiable. The flashback scene at the end is a stand out (despite potentially some “over-acting” by Hedren) and the film’s mystique is ultimately it’s best quality, as the relationship between Hitchcock and Hedren would captivate film scholars for the many years that followed.
