[1][2] The screenplay was written by William Durkee and Jonathan Latimer The plot concerns a femme fatale named Phyllis (Diana Dors) who tells her sordid story from her prison cell in flashback.

[4] Phyllis tells her story, beginning with how she met rich vintner Paul Hochen from Napa Valley in a bar and married him soon after.

Not long after the marriage, Phyllis begins having an affair with a local rodeo rider, San Sanford, seeing him every time her husband is away, which is frequently.

Not wanting to go to jail, she convinces her husband to confess to the killing and they concoct a story that would set him free after the trial.

The "unholy" wife finally gets the punishment she deserves when her mother-in-law dies of poisoning and the blame goes to Phyllis, who is sent to prison for a crime she did not commit.

There was some talk this play was based on the Woodward case but the host of the show, William Lundigan, denied this in the press, saying the script had been bought six months previously, and was held until Claire Trevor was available to star in it.

For the new R. K. O. production and Universal-International release, teaming her with Rod Steiger, is a dull, unholy mess, and an absolute waste of anyone's time.

Pretentiously tinted in garish color, and staged with coronation pomp by director-producer John Farrow, the picture is a hollow, tawdry little drama of frustration, violence and a loveless marriage in California's Napa Valley.