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Dear Murderer PG rating

A frosty Greta Gynt goes head to head with jealous husband Eric Portman in this pitch-black British noir.

Drama 1947 94 mins

Overview

Long before Ian Curtis sang Love Will Tear Us Apart, British cinema was exploring the darker side of love. In this neglected revenge thriller, businessman Lee Warren (Eric Portman) sees red after returning from several months stateside to find his wife (Greta Gynt) entertaining gentleman callers with considerable vigour. Suffice to say Lee most certainly is the jealous type.

Portman, an unlikely star of 1940s British cinema who pursued a sideline in polite sadism for mixed-up postwar audiences, was never better, his wounded puppy-dog eyes turning Rottweiler with quiet malice. Despite a modest budget, Dear Murderer gives classic American film noir a run for its money, with Gynt its perfectly flinty femme fatale.