Nora Prentiss

(Vincent Sherman, US 1947, 111 min., 16mm)

The Noir Effect. The murder of Dr. Richard Talbot is the central mystery of this film. In flashback, we see that he was a dedicated family man until he happens to be witness to a car accident. The victim, Nora Prentiss (Ann Sheridan), is a beautiful young club singer that Talbot becomes increasingly obsessed with and begins to pursue. She resists initially, but soon they become entangled in a plot that turns deadly. Sherman’s handling of the noir style and sensibility underscores the power of the genre as he turns in his best work in this twisty, dark, doomed romance.