No Man of Her Own Reviews

Mystery writer Cornell Woolrich, using a pseudonym, wrote the novel upon which this soap opera is based. It is filled with all sorts of manipulations, most of which the audience can sense, but it doesn't much matter. Stanwyck becomes pregnant by boy friend Bettger, who responds to that news by tossing her out on her ear, as though it were her fault and not his. He gives her a train ticket but nothing else. On the train, she meets Denning and Thaxter, an attractive young couple on their way home to meet Denning's parents, who have not yet met Thaxter. Stanwyck and Thaxter, both pregnant, become friendly and find they have much in common. The two women go into the ladies' room aboard the hurtling train and Stanwyck admires Thaxter's wedding ring, so the other woman gives it to her to try on. At that moment, the train crashes. Thaxter and Denning are killed. When Stanwyck gives birth to her child in the hospital, she is taken to be Thaxter because of the ring she wears. She goes to the home of Denning's wealthy parents, Cowl and O'Neill, and is welcomed as their surviving daughter-in-law, although there are several gaps in her memory. (Well, of course there are, as she hasn't lived any of the incidents referred to by O'Neill and Cowl, but they think it just may be temporary amnesia.) Her life seems happy until Bettger finds her and threatens to expose the sham unless she comes up with some cash. Meanwhile, Lund, the older brother of the late Denning, has fallen in love with Stanwyck. The question now becomes how to get rid of Bettger and keep her life intact. Lund and Stanwyck take care of that and wonder if they'll ever be discovered, but, not to worry, it all works out in the end. This was stage actor Bettger's film debut. He has since become one of the busiest character actors around. Remade as I MARRIED A SHADOW.