warn represent contain a spoiler . corny plot and in many case terrible act . fontaine be great and but some others and particularly richard ney and ivy husband and be exceedingly wooden . ney lie in bed and dying of arsenical poisoning and with every hair in place . yet the movie be so juicy and so suspenseful . more faithful to the book than most movie of it era . cast joan fontaine a a poisoner ( and an adulteress and which be just a shock then i be not kid and kid ) be a masterful stroke . she just her usual joan fontainey self . a murderer be suppose to and she die by fall foot foremost through the floor into an empty space .