Diana Dors, Britain's answer to Marilyn Monroe, stars with Rod Steiger, Tom Tryon, Arthur Franz, and Beulah Bondi in "The Unholy Wife" from 1957.
Dors as her character, Phyllis, serves as the narrator, telling her own story. When we first see her, she's deglamorized and no longer a blond, but somehow, still beautiful with this natural look.
She tells the story of meeting a vineyard owner Paul Hochen (Steiger) in a bar, where she picks up guys with her friend (Marie Windsor). Here she is dazzling in a form-fitting silver gown and that signature platinum blond hair. Phyllis has a young son from a past relationship, and soon, she is married to Paul, living with him, her son, and his mother (Bondi) in a mausoleum of a house.
Everything with Paul is family tradition and the making of wine. She's bored, so she enters into a liaison with a cowboy (Tryon). Then she decides enough is enough and begins to plot her way out of her situation with murder. Her plan doesn't work the way she wanted, so she has to improvise.
This is a slow, dark film, and the actors underplay - even Steiger, who is so off the wall in The Big Knife. I mean, the man can go big. Here he's a simple, proud man who takes care of his mother, is devoted to Phyllis' son, and has a priest for a brother. Obviously he and Father Stephen were raised with a different set of values from Phyllis.
The film comes off as average. Comparing Dors to Monroe is a mistake. Dors was sultry and sensusal, but she didn't have Monroe's charisma, presence, or likeability. However, had she played down the bombshell routine, she probably would have been considered a good actress.
Routine, but the stars made it interesting.
