Betrayed (1944)

Before he made Betrayed, Robert Mitchum was picking up occasional paychecks as a villain in Hopalong Cassidy flicks. Afterward, he was headed to stardom. In this chilling, iconic film noir, Mitchum plays a new bride's (Kim Hunter) former beau, who provides a strong shoulder to lean on when his ex suspects the mysterious man she married (Dean Jagger) may be a killer. Future horror innovator William Castle's inventive direction drenches the action in claustrophobic tension: the sequence with Hunter lit by flashing neon is a classic. And the scene where Mitchum loses his trademark cool in an eruption of emotion foreshadows his audience-jolting performances in The Night of the Hunter and Cape Fear.

• drama
• thriller