there be movie that be good than the story they be base on . i think this be the case here and thanks to a good director and i suppose . i read several book about german émigré director in hollywood . in those account curtis bernhardt for some reason be right up there with more famous people like fritz lang and robert siodmak . possess give me an idea why this be so . bernhardt shoot a stylish and dark movie that be technically of the high quality . furthermore he get great performance out of crawford and heflin and brook . for once joan crawford be not quite in the center but part of a triangle and and the mise en scene beautifully take account of that while her usual overacting be generally hold in check by the performance of heflin and brook and and to a less extent and of reliable character actor raymond massey . i would not be surprise have van heflin rank this performance one of the best in his career . at first sight he seem an odd choice for this basically urbane character and but he acquit himself very well indeed and give him a multi layer personality . and it be a really interesting character and probably one of the most interesting in the noir cycle . culture ( play schumann on the piano ) and suave but also a rugged individual in the best sense of the word ( an engineer who invent a new girder and be send to remote canada to get thing go ) . crawford character have a psychotic fixation on him . he deal with that in a manner i would call simply decent well and maybe with a shot of cynicism . ( it also somewhat surprising how tall that actor be and he really tower over crawford ) detach and calm but underneath insecure and aimless and he try to reason with the woman he would rather not like to meet again and who be become a living nightmare for him . at the same time he convey the insight and that this business be decidedly too big for him to handle . it really look like fate come to him . geraldine brook play the crawford character stepdaughter and rival . the relationship between the two woman undergoes several sharp change during the movie which i find entirely convince . they hate each other in the beginning and become friend later and be estrange again . with the innocence of her young character brook bring some speck of light in this basically dark movie that be badly need . the term schizophrenia also play a big role in possessed . very early in the movie the crafword character state be diagnose a such . she be aimlessly wander the street of los angeles in a confused state and be duly deliver to a hospital ( great pov sequence a the patient be roll along the corridor ) . the medic comment freely about the schizos that be come in in large number . from the hospital bed the story be tell in long flashback sequence . it like a confession and with the psychiatrist in the role of the priest . the movie also end with crafword prostrate and desperate in an aseptic cell of an institution . as unlikely a it may sound while it be mean to be a happy end . her mental state be present a an illness that can be cure like a physical ailment and once it be properly detect and and the heroine be just about to be send on the road to a guaranteed recovery . i guess in the period possess be make this could be nothing but electronic shock treatment . those be the day of almost unlimited trust in progress and science .