A tense thriller about a charming portrait painter with a horrifying secret: he has a habit of marrying, and then quietly poisoning, a succession of wives once he tires of them and finds inspiration for his next canvas in a new woman. When his current wife begins to suspect that she may be next, she must piece together the truth before it is too late. The play builds its suspense through domestic intimacy turned sinister, as the audience watches affection curdle into menace inside an ordinary home. It was popular on stage and later adapted into a well-known film noir, prized for its slow-burn dread and a villain whose polish makes him all the more unsettling.

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