The Strange Love of Martha Ivers

A critical and commercial hit for Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin and, making his debut, Kirk Douglas, this high-voltage portrait of evil and greed remains blissfully absorbing and entertaining. Stanwyck plays manipulative millionairess Martha, married to Douglas, a weak-willed DA with a drink problem, whom she despises. Enter Van Heflin, Stanwyck's nemesis from the past, and the fun begins. Robert Rossen (who would write and direct the Oscar-winning The Hustler in 1961) has a hand in the screenplay, and Lewis Milestone directs for maximum effect. The New York Times accurately defined Martha and her hubby as "two of the meanest and most seriously interesting characters that addicts of homicidal melodrama are likely to meet on the screen".