SUDDEN FEAR

Myra Hudson is a successful Broadway playwright who rejects Lester Blaine as the leading man in her new play. She subsequently meets him on a train bound for San Francisco and is swept off her feet. After a brief courtship they marry.

When Lester's former lover and fellow scam artist Irene Neves shows up, he is not happy to see her, fearing she could spoil his situation. But she has enough leverage that they are soon secret lovers.

Myra's lawyer Steve drafts a will that includes a bequest of $10,000 a year for Lester, to be terminated if he remarries. Myra decides instead to leave him everything, and records her revision on the SoundScriber. Guests are arriving for a party and in her hurry she forgets to turn it off.

During the party, Lester and Irene meet in Myra's office, where they see Steve's draft of the will on her desk. Unaware of Myra's favorable revision, they discuss how to kill her before the will can be finalized. Their conversation is recorded, so when Myra listens to the SoundScriber in the morning she learns everything.

Devastated, her initial fear and despair gradually give way to defiance, and she plots her revenge.

The recording reveals that Lester has a key to Irene's apartment and that Irene has a gun. After obtaining a duplicate key, Myra takes the gun and forges two notes designed to lure Irene out of her apartment before Lester arrives for a rendezvous. Myra intends to kill Lester there with Irene's gun, framing her.

As planned, Irene leaves and Myra hides in the closet, but while waiting she has a change of heart. She drops the gun and is going to leave but is back in the closet because Lester arrives. Myra is able to slip out unobserved, but Lester notices a handkerchief she dropped. Realizing she has been there and knows everything, he gives chase, but loses her.

Lester takes after Myra in his car. When Irene appears in the distance, he mistakes her for Myra and speeds towards her to run her down. Myra sees what is about to happen and calls out to save Irene. Lester recognizes Irene and slams on the brakes but loses control of the car. Lester and Irene are killed in the crash.

Myra is grief-stricken but quickly regains her composure and walks home resolutely.

Lester and Irene die in a car crash while attempting to run down Myra, who survives and resolutely walks home.

The film’s climax sees Myra escaping her would-be murderers through a tense series of near-misses and quick thinking. Fate intervenes with poetic justice as Lester and Irene’s own plot ultimately leads to their demise. Myra is left shaken but empowered, her ordeal underscoring the perils of trust and the resilience required to reclaim control when betrayed.