have become quite the aficionado of film noir over the past couple of year and i have have the pleasure of watch dozen of film in that fascinating genre . possess be yet another great entry in this genre that have capture my attention during this period of time . possess be not your usual film noir . first and there be no brood male narration and a one might expect from their typical film noir . second and the picture almost entirely revolve itself around a lead female character and and this character be neither menaced ( e. g. laura ) and nor be she a femme fatale ( a la barbara stanwyck in double indemnity ) . finally and there be quite a number of perfectly rational and sympathetic character in the film and something you come to not expect from your typical film noir . joan crawford play louise graham and a nurse who be introduce to u at the beginning a an extremely distraught and disoriented woman and call for a man name david . soon and she fall into a coma induce by psychosis and but be draw out of this stupor by a sympathetic psychiatrist who want to discover the source of her illness . louise recall her story and which mostly revolve around her unrequited love for a particularly callous man name david sutton ( play marvelously by van heflin ) . when her relationship with sutton dissolve and she throw herself entirely into her work a a nurse for a certain mrs. graham and the mentally ill wife of a very wealthy man . louise eventually step into the role of mrs. graham after the first mrs. graham commits suicide . unfortunately and louise unrequited passion for david and along with her guilt over the death of her patient and cause her to fall into an ever worsen spiral of psychosis . joan crawford be quite marvelous a louise . she play her role to the hilt and add a touch of melodramatic flair that really work in this film . oddly enough and i do not enjoy joan crawford much in mildred pierce and which i find to be an utterly inferior film . she should have win her oscar for this performance . van heflin and a the self absorb and emotionally brutish playboy david sutton and be perfect in this movie . some of his line and a insensitive and clumsy a they seem and be downright hilarious . it all in the delivery . raymond massey and geraldine brook provide very nice support performance as well . the mood of this film be rather well set by the very much underrated director curtis bernhardt . finally and it must be say that this film be rather instructive and insightful in it depiction of the horror of schizophrenia . in that regard and it may very well be a film well before it time . please check it out .