Nora Prentiss

Nora Prentiss is a 1947 American film noir directed by Vincent Sherman and starring Ann Sheridan, Kent Smith, Bruce Bennett, and Robert Alda.

Dr. Richard Talbot, unhappy with the dull routine of his married life in San Francisco, meets nightclub singer Nora Prentiss by chance after he sees her get struck by a truck near his office.

Even though the truth means they will not be able to get married and that Richard will not be able to practice medicine any more, Nora says she will stick by him and starts singing at the new club her boss from San Francisco has opened in New York.

Back in San Francisco, Richard refuses to reveal his identity or speak in his defense, since he feels that doing so will only serve to cause his family more suffering because he has already ruined any chance he may have had at a tolerable future.

Miss Sheridan is practically a cipher and Kent Smith, who plays the poor doc, gives a walking representation of a love-smitten telephone pole.

Film historian Bob Porfirio notes, "Unlike such other Ann Sheridan or Joan Crawford motion pictures as The Unfaithful, Flamingo Road, and The Damned Don't Cry!, Nora Prentiss does not lapse into a romantic melodrama that might detract from the maudit sensibility, the quintessential element of film noir.