Newlywed Ann Garroway (Katharine Hepburn) is blinded by happiness. Maybe her sudden entry into the Washington elite makes her unable to see the true nature of her husband (Robert Taylor). She overlooks the menace that creeps into his words and pays no mind when domestic animals seem fearful in his presence. And she trusts him when he says his mysterious, long-unseen brother (Robert Mitchum) is a psychopath.

Shadows flicker, Brahms' Symphony No. 3 sets a brooding tone, and Ann's marriage spirals into doubt and fear in this noir-styled melodrama directed with deft, screw-tightening skill by Vincente Minnelli. "Loaded with entertainment, suspense and fine acting," the New York Daily Mirror said. "It's a grand meller."