Suspense is a film noir

Film noir

Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...

 directed by Frank Tuttle

Frank Tuttle

Frank Tuttle was a Hollywood film director and writer who directed films from 1922 to 1959 ....

. The ice-skating-themed movie starred Barry Sullivan

Barry Sullivan (actor)

Barry Sullivan was an American movie actor who appeared in over 100 movies from the 1930s to the 1980s.Born in New York City, Sullivan fell into acting when in college playing semi-pro football...

 and former Olympic skater Belita

Belita

Maria Belita Gladys Olive Lyne Jepson-Turner , known professionally as Belita, was a British Olympic figure skater, dancer and film actress....

 (Gladys Lyne Jepson-Turner), who would team up again in 1947 for the film, The Gangster. It was also the last film appearance of actor Eugene Pallette

Eugene Pallette

Eugene William Pallette was an American actor. He appeared in over 240 silent era and sound era motion pictures between 1913 and 1946....

. At a cost of 1.1 million dollars, it was considered the most expensive film put out by Monogram Pictures

Monogram Pictures

Monogram Pictures Corporation is a Hollywood studio that produced and released films, most on low budgets, between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram is considered a leader among the smaller studios sometimes referred to...

.

Plot

Frank Leonard (Albert Dekker), the proprietor of an ice-skating revue, promotes a strong-arming peanut-vendor named Joe Morgan (Barry Sullivan) at the show to a management position based on suggestions he makes to improve the act of the show's star, Roberta Elva (Belita), who also happens to be the owner's wife.

However, he soon begins to notice that his new manager is paying more attention to his wife than he believes is appropriate, and begins to suspect that his new manager has designs not only on his wife but on his business. The plot thickens later when it appears that the man may have killed the owner.