Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.

Lightdeossk Captivating movie !

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Cristi_Ciopron The 2nd Wilder directed a quirky suspense movie which has the trademarks of its author: beginning with Bromfield as a wicked scoundrel, the clubs, the beaches, Hawaii, late hours, and the jealousy—in this '55 movie, also in 'Manfish' from '56; except that here we get the glamorous side of a similar tale, with all the sordidness of the events, and with all the psychology and drama being left, alas, to … Bromfield, who was such an untalented player, and one would of enjoyed to see some class from at least one of the players. If the style is austere, cold though lively, sometimes awkward, the cast seems a bit of a motley crew, so that the story is sensibly well shown, but not very well acted.The sleazy storyline is suspenseful, but the characters are unlikable. Martha wasn't a leading actress, she was one for supporting roles, and it shows. Her part here is a wealthy widow, in a situation opposite to the one in a movie she had made 6 yrs earlier, 'Alimony', where she was a fortune huntress, now she's the duped wealthy spouse instead, as a woman with an unfortunate life, who clings to life and to an illusory happiness, and the director thought this enough to explain her unawareness. Martha V. manages once more to avoid eliciting our sympathy; she was a mediocre actress. The role was tailored to make us care, but regardless (but then again, the fact that her character is expended shows perhaps she's not even supposed to be that likable).The wealthy widow was from New York, her 3rd husband from Chicago, and they meet in California.

arfdawg-1 When scheming fortune hunter and erstwhile Latin lover Ricardo De Villa learns that a wealthy but sickly widow has terminal heart disease, he seduces and marries the vulnerable millionairess. Playing the part of a faithful and doting husband, he carries on a torrid affair with sexy exotic dancer Fritzi Darvel while avoiding the suspicious eyes of her jealous bongo-playing husband. When his wife's condition seems to go into remission, the impatient De Villa decides on action that will hasten her seemingly inevitable death.The plot sounds awfully racy but these are the 50s.This is sort of a film noir and it's worth a watch, despite the very bad prints that are available.Good story.Good acting.

fwmurnau W. Lee Wilder's THE BIG BLUFF will never be a threat to his brother Billy's genre-defining classic, DOUBLE INDEMNITY, but on its own terms it's a nifty little quickie with a good story and a nice trick ending.When it starts, this film looks so cheap -- I mean, Ed Wood cheap -- you're tempted to hang it up, but stick with it. It improves as it goes along. The writing and cast are perfectly adequate and it's more entertaining than a lot of big budget A pictures.An unusual feature of this film is a reversal of the usual noir femme fatale dynamic. Here it's a sexy guy, an "homme fatal" if you will, who seduces a rich, love-starved widow.Maltin's book (2003) doesn't even list this film, but it's included in the inexpensive 6-CD "Ultimate Film Noir Collection", which I recommend for its intriguing line-up of public domain B-picture rarities, which range from junk to cult classic B's (DETOUR, THE HITCHHIKER) to even a couple great ones (Welles' THE STRANGER).

bmacv Sibling rivalry can be a dreadful thing; look at Joan Fontaine and Olivia De Havilland. Sometimes, however, it approaches farce. W. Lee Wilder probably should have stayed in New York making purses, but, no, he had to follow his little brother Billy to Hollywood. And in Hollywood, maybe he could have been a passable producer (two early Anthony Mann movies, The Great Flamarion and Strange Impersonation, bear his credit). But, no, he had to direct, showing the world how vast was the disparity between young Billy's talents and his own inadequacies. Billy, long estranged, used to call him `a dull son of a bitch,' and he was being generous: W. Lee isn't merely dull, he's barely competent.The Big Bluff rehashes a plot that Wilder had used in 1946 for The Glass Alibi. Merry widow Martha Vickers has a bum ticker and only a few months left to live. Off she goes to California with paid companion Eve Miller only to cross paths with slick operator John Bromfield (he brags about business interests in Central America but he's just a gigolo). The prospect of coming into her money at her early death emboldens Bromfield to court and marry her.But there are obstacles. Her secretary/companion and her physician (Robert Hutton) harbor suspicion of Bromfield's motives. And Bromfield's mistress Rosemarie Stack, half of a sultry nightclub act with her jealous husband Eddie Bee, doesn't cotton to his romancing another woman. But the impatient Bromfield, not content with letting nature take its course, starts tampering with Vickers' pill supply. When, paradoxically, she seems to thrive under his care, he concocts a back-up plan, and the movie jutters along to a twist ending, à la Alfred Hitchcock Presents.The plot is hand-me-down James M. Cain, done proud by the cheesiness of its direction (it's like a stock-footage festival). Wilder lets his cast get away with the stiffest readings of the literal-minded script (Martha Vickers would never nab many statuettes, but Howard Hawks goaded her into acting as Carmen Sternwood in The Big Sleep). Yet every so often there's a dark glint that keeps one watching: Bromfield and Stack plotting in a shadowy hotel staircase; Bromfield and Vickers toasting with schnapps at Scandia or `lo-balls' at La Rue. Something saves The Big Bluff from sinking to the very bottom of the barrel; it sure wasn't Wilder.