Ann Sothern was her own most caustic critic. In an interesting interview in "Films in Review" (March 1988), she was very scathing of her early films and finished up with a hope that her new film "The Whales of August" (1987) would garner her a Best Supporting Actress nomination at the Academy Awards (it did)!!! Every film I have ever seen her in she is usually the star to watch. Even watching "A Letter to Three Wives" - she had so much vibrancy, she put the other two wives in the shade (Jeanne Crain, Linda Darnell). Almost straight after "A Letter to Three Wives" she played a cold blooded murderess in "Shadow on the Wall" and played it to perfection.Initially, she wasn't cold blooded at all. She played Dell Faring, sister of the beautiful Celia (Kristine Miller) who had made it her life's work to take everything that was precious to Dell - yes one of those sisters!!! Celia has it all, marriage to a devoted husband David (Zachary Scott) and a sweet step daughter Susan (Gigi Perreau). But Susan has reservations about Celia that are well founded for Celia is having an affair with Crane, Dell's fiancée. David finds out and makes it known to Dell who then comes to Celia's apartment for a showdown. Celia and David have had words and when David comes out of his stupor (he has been hit on the head) he finds Celia dead and that he has been charged with murder!!! He can't remember anything but believes he did it. But there is a witness - Susan, who is in shock and by the help of a caring psychiatrist (Nancy Davis) is being persuaded to remember!!The movie really belongs to the talented Gigi Perreau, she has always had an ethereal aura (she was magical in "Enchantment") and was groomed as a successor to Margaret O'Brien. While at first she was a happy little girl, most of the movie is set in the trauma ward of a children's hospital. She is just first rate as she retreats into a world of her own, only remembering the hideous shadow on the wall. Sympathy for Dell evaporates as she becomes more and more determined to conceal the truth - even if it means killing Susan. There is a particularly chilling scene when Dell poisons Susan's chocolate milk. After asking a little boy to drink it as she thinks it tastes "nasty and bitter" they are both saved when it is accidentally spilt.This is a stylish film noir and Ann proved, once again, that she had what it takes to be a big star. Whatever she thinks about herself, she was definitely a survivor - there weren't many actresses who started in 1927 and were nominated for Academy Awards in the 1980s!!!

This was a pretty decent movie. Nancy Davis (Reagan) was solidas the psychiatrist trying to help little Susan (Gigi Perreau in a very good performance) remember a horrible event which she hadwitnessed. Zachary Scott, one of my favorites, proved real men canhandle supporting roles with as much flair as the more substantialroles. And imaginative casting with Ann Southern as the baddie --she handled it well without going over the top (as somecomedians are tempted to do with dramatic roles). Script couldhave used a little more meat and the ending could have been a bitmore imaginative, but, all in all, not a waste of ninety minutes ofyour time.

Best known for starring in the classic sitcoms "Private Secretary" and "The Ann Sothern Show", Sothern delivers a dynamic dramatic performance in this suspenseful thriller. Ann plays a woman who discovers that her sister is having an affair with her husband-to-be. Sothern confronts the sister, accidentally kills her, then flees the scene, allowing her brother-in-law to take the rap. The plot thickens, however, when it is discovered that Sothern's traumatized young niece witnessed the dreadful event, and the child is starting to regain her memory. The supporting cast also impresses, but this is Ann's vehicle all the way, and, as usual, she is magnificent.

Shadow on the Wall starts out with some promise as a marital spat between New York sophisticates escalates into violence. But the rest of the film centers on their daughter, who has witnessed but repressed the scene, and her psychologist, Nancy Davis (later Reagan). It's hard to say which of them is more insufferable. The movie will probably keep your attention (it's blessedly short) but it's hard to work up much affection for a vehicle that so totally miscasts, and wastes, Ann Sothern.