PUSHOVER: the magic of Fred MacMurray

Fred MacMurray was not an actor who made fans swoon or critics rave. For most of his long career he played solid dependable all-American types who were - frankly - dull. He was never as wooden as Dana Andrews, yet - despite a talent for light comedy - neither was he a bundle of fun. 
But on the rare occasions when he got to play against type it was fascinating to watch him peel away his surface veneer of solidity and predictability to reveal a conniving, calculating, amoral, cynical and murderous monster beneath.
He achieved this metamorphosis most memorably in the classic 1944 film noir "Double Indemnity,"  playing Walter Neff, the weak-willed insurance salesman who allows himself to be lead astray by scheming femme fatale Barbara Stanwyck.

Less well known but almost as rewarding to observe is his performance a decade later in PUSHOVER as Paul Sheridan, a cop who falls for the gangster's moll he's using to get to her boyfriend who's wanted for a bank robbery.
By no means is this simply a retread of "Double Indemnity" but there are parallels. In both stories the seduction of MacMurray's character sets alarm bells ringing with the attentive viewer although clearly not with Fred. Why would a woman as sultry and seductive as Stanwyck or (in PUSHOVER) a young Kim Novak fall so hard and fast for someone quite so square and average.? 
A man with the looks and charisma of Neff or Sheridan's gotta have a pretty big ego to believe such woman are melting into his arms solely because of his irresistible charms. With Stanwyck's Phyllis Dietrichson we get a pretty good idea early on of her true intentions but with Novak's Lona McLane the motivation is much more difficult to discern.
She yields to Sheridan with alarming and inexplicable speed, all but drooling on his shoes and licking his face like a love-sick puppy in the process. Her expression as she does so is something to behold. Attempting to convey uncontrollable lust Novak succeeds only in looking slightly demented and rather boss-eyed. But I should give the girl a break. This was Novak's first co-starring role and she's actually not too bad for a 22 year old with just one uncredited bit part on her resume.
This lack of clarity in Lona's motivation for falling for Sheridan (it's clearly not love) is the film's major weakness, but it's not the sole factor undermining the story's effectiveness. The pace is a little too slow and the plot is pedestrian. It's reminiscent of a dozen other B-movie thrillers straddling the film noir and crime genres, shot cheaply and starring actors on the way down or who'd gotten as far as they were ever going to go, that were pumped out by Hollywood in the 1950s. 
What makes PUSHOVER stand out from the crowd is MacMurray's performance. He doesn't achieve the heights scaled in "Double Indemnity" but the peak is at least in view and that alone makes this a movie worth watching..