The Locket (1946)

The Locket: Directed by John Brahm. With Laraine Day, Brian Aherne, Robert Mitchum, Gene Raymond. Just before a wedding, the bridegroom hears a complex tale painting his lovely bride as devilish and unbalanced.

“Just before his wedding to the beautiful and carefree Nancy, John Willis is visited by Doctor Harry Blair who informs him that he knows the real Nancy and warns the doctor not to make the same mistake as him by marrying her. He tells her the story of how he had just married Nancy when a man called Clyde turned up in his office and told him a story about how he had met Nancy and had got drawn into her world of deception.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eShunning conventional structure is always a risk and in this film it is one that it takes as we have a story being told by Blair that is basically about him being told a story by Clyde. This makes for an interesting approach especially since the stories are both told by her dumped lovers. In this regard weu0026#39;re not sure what is true and what isnu0026#39;t and, while the stories engage on one level, I was conscious of the fact that they were telling and not necessarily facts (a trick Usual Suspects would later repeat to great praise). Existing within the minds of the characters, the story is interesting and is all the better at the end for it. For many viewers the story-telling approach will be a little slow and I times it did drag a bit but mostly it comes together and works as something different and interesting.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe cast are roundly good although they take second fiddle to the script and the ideas of director Brahm (who produces some clever ideas in Nancyu0026#39;s bridal march). Aherne is a bit too stiff in the role where really I wanted him to display a bit more range. Mitchum is good in his role but it wasnu0026#39;t the sort of thing I was used to seeing him in and he has been much better elsewhere. Day takes the main role of Nancy and does well with it – she is part of the reason weu0026#39;re not sure what is true and what isnu0026#39;t and she convinced me that she didnu0026#39;t know either. She has plenty of nice touches as well as one or two very strong moments. Like I said though, this wasnu0026#39;t a great actors film but nobody was less than good.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOverall this is an interesting and different film that takes a risk by stepping back to flashback within flashback but mostly pulls it off. The story format might be a little testing on the patience (hearing about something implies a lack of action in the time where we are – after all the audience spent the film in the Willis study) but the material is worth it and, once back in the present, everything comes together nicely. Worth seeing for being a different style of drama from the period.”