Undercurrent (1946): A Katharine Hepburn Film Noir?

From a review by Jamie S. Rich of DVD Talkof the just released Katharine Hepburn 100th Anniversary Collection DVD Box Set (Warner Bros. US$59.95)

Undercurrent has started to pick up a bit of a reputation as a film noir. I first heard of the film last year when it played as part of a noir festival at the Northwest Film Center. I’m not really sure it qualifies, however, unless we can establish a subgenre of women’s noir. The plot has more in common with Victorian melodramas like Wuthering Heights and the work of Daphne Du Maurier (and her frequent adapter Alfred Hitchcock) than it does the moody expressionism of Fritz Lang or Jules Dassin. Genre hair-splitting aside, however, I found Undercurrent to be absolutely riveting. [Director Vincent] Minnelli creates a palpable sense of foreboding that lingers over the picture, ratcheting up the suspense each time Anne finds something new to cause her to doubt her husband’s story only to be placated by his wily explanations. You just know that eventually one of these things is going to be too large for him to erase, and then Anne is going to be in real trouble.”

Robert Mitchum has a supporting role.