James M. Cain’s controversial novel was brought to the screen by B-movie multi-hyphenate Cimber in the first of his back-to-back teamings with leading lady Pia Zadora. The latter swelters it out in 1937 Nevada as the long-lost daughter of miner Stacy Keach, with their reunion taking sordid turns that lead to a trial with Welles as the presiding judge; while he later scored a Golden Globe Award nomination, Zadora’s own Globe win for New Star elicited industry sniping.