Lisa (Sophia Loren) and Robert Macklin (Anthony Perkins) are unhappily married in Paris. She wants to leave him but he pleads for them to stay together. His plane to Casablanca crashes and he is presumed dead after purchasing a large flight insurance. He surprises her coming home after avoiding death and suggests collecting on the insurance anyways. He would take the money and run away leaving her as she wishes.

This would work better if Robert is played by a scarier actor. Perkins plays creepy really well but he's not exactly overpowering. This is trying to be a Hitchcockian thriller but it doesn't have his touch. I don't see the reason for Barnes. She should be avoiding him like the plague. The story is pushing too hard. I do like the kid and the way he pushes his way in. I don't like that she doesn't get rid of Barnes and the others more forcefully. She should just tell them that she doesn't want to party after her husband's death. I don't understand what she's doing.

Tony Perkins, fresh off of "Psycho," isn't Norman Bates, but he's damned close. His eccentric, childish persona really made me nervous. I forgot what a looker Sophia Loren was. I remember her later when she had put on so much weight. Anyway, she has to deal with Perkins and his idiotic moods. He's violent and a bully, so she is stuck. Imagine the relief when she thinks he is dead. But then he shows up and ruins her life. Gig Young comes to investigate and she must carry with her all these secrets of bilking the insurance company. It's a really uncomfortable film to watch. Perkins is way too much here and that kind of ruins it for me. But there is some morality at work here.

And with good reason. Sophia Loren is in a loveless marriage to the completely not so Anthony perkins, just a few years off of "Psycho", and a completely manipulative narcissistic American whom Sophia regrettably married to get out of her small town in Naples. She admittedly made a mistake and now wants out of the marriage, but it's not going to be without a price as he finds himself in a predicament by surviving a plane crash and having purchased flying insurance before taking off. Now he wants to stay dead and collect the money and will only agree to leaving her alone if she will go along with his plan.

This film takes a while to get off the ground but once it does, you're absolutely hooked even though it is completely far fetched. Sophia's acting is sensational, completely unwilling to try to cheat to get a false settlement but having no other choice to go along with it so she can be rid of Perkins permanently. While she's working, he tries to hide out in their apartment, but a nosy little kid discovers his presence, leaving to a delightfully funny scene where he pretends to be on the run from a long dead gangster.

This is one of those thrillers that could have been a lot better and obviously the comparisons to Hitchcock films are because Perkins just worked for him. He's truly malevolent and scary but he underestimates Sophia. A lot of Sophia's brilliant scenes here come without words as the fear is written all over her face. The director, Anatole Litvak, has certainly made his share of classics, but this is quite forgotten, strange considering it came right after his famous shower scene and her Oscar. the slow start had me worried that this would be disappointing, but there were a lot of great moments even though this is far from perfect.