A notoriously grim tale, rife with sexual intrigue and illicit passion, James M. Cain's torrid crime novel received its first authorised screen treatment in this third adaptation - the previous being Pierre Chenal's Le Dernier Tournant (1939) and Luchino Visconti's Ossessione (1942). One of the high points of 1940’s film noir, Garnett’s smooth, steamy adaptation starred brooding John Garfield as the handsome drifter drawn into a net of murder, when he falls for luscious platinum bombshell Lana Turner at her husband's roadside diner. Even under 1946 Hollywood’s censorship, Turner and Garfield's libidinous desires burnt up the screen.