Sherry Steward (Cleo Moore) is an aspiring actress and finally got a break...a very tiny part in a picture. However, she blows her few lines repeatedly and you cannot blame the director* for replacing her...especially after she loudly starts badmouthing him on the set! Despite this, she blames him for her problems. In other words, instead of learning from the incident or accepting any responsibility, she externalizes all her problems...and vows revenge. Clearly Sherry is a....well, IMDb won't let me use that word! But she sure is!
Sherry then comes up with a crazy scheme to discredit and ruin the director...talk about an overreaction! First, she manages to get the director to her apartment where she drugs him. Second, when he awakens she said that he's been intimate with her and was going to blackmail him. And, since he's a married man AND his father-in-law owns the company making his film, he's in a real bind! What's next? Well, she ends up putting this innocent man through hell, that's for sure!!
This is a very intriguing film. It has many film noir elements, though isn't exactly a noir picture. The plot is clearly very unique (though elements are a bit like the film "The Suspect", 1944) and Cleo Moore is simply terrific as an incredibly evil and vicious woman. And, Hugo Haas sure outdid himself, as he not only directed and wrote the film but actually stars in the film as the beleaguered director! All in all, very dark, exciting and original...and a film that should not be missed.
