Wicked as They Come

Arlene Dahl was a beautiful woman. She doubtless still is. She had a cold look, which works for this movie. She plays a gold-digger with little heart. The character seems to be icy physically, too: She likes what men can get her but romance and sex do not appear to be among her interests.

Herbert Marshall, for decades a leading man, ends up in this too. He plays one of the men she uses.

There are similarities between this and "Baby Face" with Barbara Stanwyck. That movie packs a real wallop, though. This one is chic but tepid.

Wicked as they come is the suggestive title of this 1956 British drama, with Arlene Dahl as the protagonist. It is the story of a beautiful woman, who reveals symptoms of misandry from an early age, but ruthlessly uses men as means of social and financial advancement.

The film portrays this life path, with a refusal of emotional involvement, which accumulates enemies and seems destined for a tragic end.

It's an interesting, original, well-paced film, a little melodramatic for some people's tastes, but one that can be enjoyed until the end, as a result of the plot's ongoing developments.

With Philip Carey, Michael Goodliffe and veteran Herbert Marshall, among the actors who embody the suitors passed over by the Machiavellian Kathy.

Following the success of All About Eve, there were many knock-offs to give other actresses their day in the sun. "I could have been Eve Harrington!" they all cry. If you want to see Arlene Dahl being "as wicked as they come," then check out the aptly titled drama.

Beautiful, and with a sensational figure, Arlene finds out early on that when men are attracted to her, they lose their good judgment. They'll do anything for her, and she learns to take advantage. Starting with her stepfather and his friends when she's young, Arlene gets a warped view of love and romantic relationships. They're nothing but a way for a woman to get ahead, she believes. And she wants to go straight to the top. Along the way, she steps on and over Herbert Marshall, Philip Carey, and a string of other foolish men.

The witty screenplay has lines that will make you chuckle even though the situation is tense. "How much do you love my husband?" Faith Brook asks Arlene, while extracting her checkbook from her purse. Poor Philip Carey falls in love with Arlene and thinks she could be different if she learns to love in return. When she repeatedly disappoints him, he quips, "You could try the want-ads. Wanted: rich husband, preferably someone else's." If you're an Arlene Dahl fan, don't miss this dramatic thriller. It's spicy and fun.

Kiddy warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, since there's a rape scene, I wouldn't let my kids watch this movie.

Wicked as They Come is directed by Ken Hughes who also co-writes the screenplay with Sigmund Miller and Robert Westerby. It stars Arlene Dahl, Philip Carey, Herbert Marshall, Michael Goodlife and Ralph Truman. Music is by Malcolm Arnold and cinematography by Basil Emmott.

Adapted from the Bill S. Ballinger novel, story has Dahl as a poor but beautiful girl who realises that her sexuality will get her all the finer things in life - at whatever cost.

Efficient little British Noirer that makes up for a lack of originality with some strong psychological smarts.

We are all guilty of it, film fans and critics that is, in how we often compare a film recently viewed with something of a similar ilk that is far better. One such case is Wicked as They Come, a piece coming late in the original film noir cycle that sticks a major league femme fatale out there front and centre. Dahl's Kathy Allen (nee Allenbourg) is hot to trot, a viper of the highest order, her beauty and sexuality is stunning, thus men line up to eat out of her hands. Where once was sane and astute business men, now sit lap dogs soon ready to fall into the vipers nest.

If that sounds familiar then of course it is, even from the pre code days there were film makers exploring the sex as a weapon angle, toying with bad girl persona's as a course of cinematic titillation. Ken Hughes knows his draw card is Dahl, who even in black and white is heart achingly gorgeous, a smouldering vixen to literally die for. The story trajectory is nothing new, Kathy tramples on every man she can to feather her own nest, but sooner or later things have to come to a head, where the reason for the distorted psyche will out and the crossroads of life ominously appears at film's closure.

Better films out there that deal with the same themes? Yes, absolutely. That doesn't mean this should be readily dismissed as a viable option to those with an interest in such femme fatale dalliances. Dahl is super, her male co-stars equally so, and Hughes steers it safely to a perfectly ambiguous finale. Welcome to noirville, men enter at your own risk. 7/10

This priceless British copy of an American crime film comes to you courtesy of rising young director Ken Hughes with a tongue-in-cheek tone set from the outset by shots of fifties London accompanied by a noisy jazz score provided by Malcolm Arnold, with noirish photography by Basil Emmott.

Set in the days when travel by plane was considered the high of glamour, the presence of Sid James as Arlene Dahl's stepfather serves as a visual reminder of Miss Dahl's humble beginnings (early on she's seen wielding a broken bottle) before she rises in the world while wreaking havoc on all the men in the cast,