Wicked as They Come (Portrait in Smoke in the United States) is a 1956 British film noir directed by Ken Hughes and starring Arlene Dahl, Philip Carey and Herbert Marshall.

She enters a beauty contest, then charms the elderly gentleman running it, Sam Lewis, into fixing it so she will win first prize, a trip to Europe.

However, she is determined to land someone wealthier, and photographer Larry Buckham, whom she meets at her London hotel, fits the bill.

Invited to use his charge account at a department store for a wedding dress, Kathy makes many purchases, pawns the merchandise, and leaves Larry without a word.

Virginia tries to pay her off, but Kathy requests a transfer to the agency's Paris headquarters, where she immediately uses her wiles to get Dowling to marry her.

Realising Larry is the prowler, Tim reveals to him something he only just discovered, an explanation for Kathy's cold treatment of men: when she was a teenager, she was brutally assaulted.

[9] In March 1957 Arlene Dahl filed suit against Columbia for $1,000,000 claiming the advertising for the film was "obscene, degrading and offensive.

"[16] Filmink said "The film would have been better off following the lead of the poster art rather than the script: at heart this should have been a campy Joan Crawford vehicle but it’s far too reticent and dull.