alf-Way to Heaven,” a new play by San Francisco heiress and dramatist Myra Hudson (Joan Crawford), is set to open soon on Broadway. After watching stage actor Lester Blaine (Jack Palance) rehearse, Myra convinces a producer and the director that he’s just not right for the part, as he lacks the physical handsomeness necessary to convince audiences of his romantic qualities. Another leading man is cast – and a month afterwards, the show becomes a huge success. A short time later, on a train out of New York headed to Chicago, Myra runs into Blaine, who congratulates her on the premiere. During the trip, they bond over small talk, poker, ruminating about the theater, and several meals. At their final destination of San Francisco, Myra is welcomed by her lawyer Steve Kearney (Bruce Bennett) and Ann Taylor (Virginia Huston), who join the new couple for dinner and dancing.

That evening, Blaine returns to Myra’s large home, where the two succumb to the effects of their previous flirtations. Although Lester has nothing and Myra’s fortunes are immeasurable, they’re quickly wed. But when Kearney’s son, Junior (Touch Conners), brings a new girl to the Blaine’s reception, Irene Neves (Gloria Grahame) from New York, Lester panics. After the party, he follows Irene to her Tamalpais apartment, where it’s revealed that the two were former lovers. Quite unintentionally, Myra records a conversation between Lester and Irene in which they plot to murder the wealthy bride during a three-day period before her updated will can be filed.

The dialogue is sensational, brimming with poeticism, ferocious threats, and delusive charm. The setup is expertly paced and absorbing, with plenty of foreshadowing to create uneasiness as Myra’s idyllic life begins to crumble. And, true to the title, it’s very sudden. The second half becomes a riveting ordeal of dread and torment as Myra pretends to be unaware of her husband’s murderous machinations, while designing a stratagem of her own – for survival and much-deserved revenge. Of course, to ratchet up the suspense, not everything goes according to either opponent’s designs; and skillful outsmarting doesn’t always reside with the protagonist.

Palance is perfect as the two-faced beguiler who convinces nearly everyone that his love is genuine, even while his dastardly scheme has already been set in motion; Grahame is equally appropriate as the vampish instigator of greed and disloyalty; and Crawford is sensational as the unsuspecting – then completely suspecting – hostage in a life-and-death game involving frightful cognizance of impending doom. In a hilariously devious fashion, Myra continually and spontaneously changes her plans over the course of her three-day death sentence to foil her nemeses’ maneuvers, though she’s actually uncertain of precisely how they plan on orchestrating her untimely demise. With tricky editing to demonstrate Myra’s initial intentions and the appalling potential outcome of her snare, a fittingly sparse soundtrack to signifying the characters’ anxieties, and a literal toy symbolically toying with the tortured spouse, the majority of the film is inspiringly thrilling. But the finale is so riddled with contrivances, clumsiness, and borderline slapstick that it can’t help but to inspire laughter, allowing “Sudden Fear” to end on a disconcertingly inharmonious note – one so bad that it just might undo all of the prior brilliance.

– Mike Massie