The Reckless Moment

Director: Max Ophuls

1949 / 82min / 35mm

When Joan Bennett’s comfortable-but-deathly-bored California housewife takes it on herself to cover up a crime committed by her daughter, she finds herself involuntarily involved with James Mason’s unscrupulous Irish-born criminal—but then unwelcome emotions begin to develop between the unlikely duo that make mere blackmail look like child’s play. While twining together aspects of noir and melodrama, Ophuls creates an emotional experience that transcends genre limitations, exploring the often-destructive illogic that spurs sexual hunger. “One of the director’s most perverse stories of doomed love… Ophuls spins a network of fine irony out of the lurid material.” —Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

Part of Max Ophuls: Motion Within Motion