The Strange Love of Martha Ivers

Martha Ivers grows up under the control of her wealthy aunt in the town of Iverstown, and the relationship ends in violence on a stormy night. A young man named Walter O'Neil and his father witness what happens, and their silence comes at a price: Martha keeps her inheritance but must marry Walter. Years later she has become a dominant business figure and he the district attorney, a pairing that lets the two of them run the corrupt town largely as they wish. Their arrangement is unsettled by the return of Sam Masterson, a childhood friend who has been away for a long time.

Lewis Milestone directed the film, working from a screenplay by Robert Rossen, with Hal B. Wallis producing for Paramount. It came roughly midway through the features listed for Milestone, after films including All Quiet on the Western Front and The Front Page and before Ocean's Eleven and Mutiny on the Bounty. Barbara Stanwyck plays Martha, Van Heflin is Sam, and Kirk Douglas appears as Walter. Lizabeth Scott, Judith Anderson and Roman Bohnen are also among the twenty credited cast members. The film runs 115 minutes.

It was released in August 1946 and took about 3 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds a critics' rating of 7.5/10 from 12 reviews, while on TMDB it has 7.1/10 from 195 votes, so professional and audience assessments sit fairly close together.