This time, amnesia minus the amnesia. Heiress Matilda Frazier, presumed to have perished in a shipboard fire, returns home where she's met by Steven Howard who claims to be her recently-wedded husband. She fails to remember him for the good reason that she's never met him and hasn't lost her memory. It's a case of "attributed amnesia." Not a disease at all — merely a handy plot device, credible in black-and-white 40s murder mysteries where amnesia is as common as a slight cold. Matilda is temporarily deceived by Mr.Howard. So are the spectators.
Terrific direction by Michael Curtiz, fine performance by luminous Joan Caulfield, reliable work by steady Fred Clark, effortful ventriloquism by Constance Bennett in a part originally written for Eve Arden.
The Unsuspected borrows much too much from Laura (1944). In addition to the prominently-displayed portrait, there's Claude Rains channeling Clifton Webb. Plus the heroine's return from presumed death, the curious sexless relationship between an older man (the murderer) and a much younger woman. A smitten investigator. Good thing there's a dollop of fake amnesia to help differentiate the two films.
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