The Strange Love of Martha Ivers is a 1946 American noir tragedy film directed by Lewis Milestone and starring Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin and Lizabeth Scott.

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers was entered into the 1947 Cannes Film Festival[4] and premiered in London in June 1946, before opening in New York City on July 25, 1946.

Martha wrestles the cane away from her aunt and strikes her across the head, causing her to fall down the stairs, accidentally killing her.

Sam, having been a soldier and itinerant gambler while he was away, drives into the small town by chance and, after an accident, leaves his car to be repaired.

[5] Barbara Stanwyck was cast in the title role following her lead in Billy Wilder's film noir Double Indemnity (1944).

[6] The film marked the screen debut of Kirk Douglas,[7] who was recommended to producer Hal B. Wallis by Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, who suggested that Wallis attend a play which featured Bacall's old drama school classmate, Issur Demsky, who later took the name Kirk Douglas.

[9] Future film director and producer Blake Edwards had an uncredited bit part as a sailor who hitches a ride with Sam.

[10] Filming of The Strange Love of Martha Ivers took place at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles.

[11] Director Lewis Milestone left the film for several days in sympathy with a set decorators' strike which was going on at the time.

[13] Kirk Douglas later wrote that Stanwyck was indifferent to him at first, until at one point she focused on him and told him, "Hey, you're pretty good."

[16] The audience at the London premiere was reportedly so taken by actress Lizabeth Scott's appearance that they began to mob her before the screening.

Herbert Cohn of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle wrote: "It is a complex story, but [director] Milestone used each detail to make his characters seem real, their actions not too far-fetched," and went on to praise the leading performances.

[18] John L. Scott of the Los Angeles Times praised the performances as raw and "geared toward the material," and added that the film "is not a pretty tale but it holds the attention down to the last scene.

"[19] A review published in The New York Times noted: "reminding one of a jigsaw puzzle, there are long stretches in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers when it seems as though the director, Lewis Milestone, and Robert Rossen, the author, will not be able to gather in all the pieces of the rambling plot.

[21] Glenn Erickson, reviewing the film for DVD Talk, complimented its psychological complexity, writing: "Many noirs create moods of corruption but Robert Rossen's script for The Strange Love of Martha Ivers gives us characterizations of uncommon depth... [it] isn't a detective movie or a standard crime thriller, which helps support the notion that film noir is a style and not a genre.

"[22] Dave Kehr from Chicago Reader wrote in a glowing review that the film "is pervaded by [Rossen’s] guilty-liberal fascination with power and money."

And continued by saying "Director Lewis Milestone does little more than accent the hysteria of Rossen's script, though his portrait of the company town, bound in factory grime and feudal loyalty, is nicely done.

"[23] John Patrick received an Academy Award nomination for Best Writing, Original Motion Picture Story.

[22] The independent distributor HDClassics issued a restored DVD and Blu-ray combination set in 2012, though this edition was noted for having middling picture quality and featuring digital noise reduction.

[28] On September 22, 2022, Kino Lorber released a new Blu-ray edition featuring a 4K restoration from the original film elements.