My Review of ‘The Locket’ (1946)

This movie puts the definite lie to the notion that screenwriters shouldn’t use flashbacks to tell stories. The Locket is notable for its multiple and multi-layered flashback scenes.

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The story opens with a woman named Nancy (played by Laraine Day) on the verge of marriage to a man named John (played by Gene Raymond). However, before the nuptials start, John is taken aside for a little chat with Dr. Harry Blair (played by Brian Aherne), who has a whopper of a tale for him.

This is the part where the screen does that dissolve-y thing and we go back in time to when Nancy and Blair were married—at least, that’s what he says.

About two or three (or four?) flashbacks later, we discover that Nancy grew up the child of a housekeeper. And her mother’s employer was a total ~~bitch~~ jerk. The ~~bitch~~ woman accuses Nancy of stealing a locket that her own daughter secretly gave her. And, let’s just say, this leads to serious repercussions for Nancy.

: Via The Nitrate Diva.

: Via The Nitrate Diva.

Via The Nitrate Diva.

The story is well-told and surprisingly unconfusing—especially given all those freaking flashbacks. It reflects the interest at that time in psychoanalysis. And, while it may not feature sets designed by Salvador Dali a la Spellbound, the narrative is structured in a way that gives the climactic ending the feel of a genuine tragedy.

Via The Nitrate Diva.

I should mention that, tucked amid the flashbacks are scenes of Nancy’s life with an artist named Norman Clyde, played by Robert Mitchum. It may qualify as one of the most un-Mitchum roles he tackled.

Via The Nitrate Diva.

I also think this film owes a debt to Citizen Kane, in that it uses flashback to explore how one childhood event can profoundly affect a person’s entire life.

And here’s a question for those of you who know the movie: was Nancy’s marriage to John a result of deliberate planning over the years or was it a random fluke of noir world fate?