evidently arose generating a satisfactory final cut of the film. These persisted into October 1946, when RKO announced that scheduled November 7 previews of "Deadlier Than the Male" at a national trade show and at exchange centers were being postponed. In updating the status of the film, the Hollywood news journal Box Office Digest revealed that the picture was still being edited in October and was on a list of productions identified to be on RKO's "Back Log In Cutting Room". A general release date of November 10, 1946 published earlier for the film was postponed as well. Post-production problems persisted right up to the final weeks prior to the film's distribution to theaters. Complicated femme fatale The picture is a rare film noir in that it is shown through a woman's eyes. This female subjectivity enables a more nuanced view of the femme fatale, a central motif in film noir, rather than what is usually shown. For example, the archetypical femme fatale's sexuality is merely a tool used to manipulate men for material gain. But in this film, Helen is a more complicated figure. She is drawn to Sam's brutality, although she is also interested in Fred's money. Instead of leading the male protagonist into darkness and ruin, it is she who is compromised by Sam. Moreover, her transgressions are a cause of anxiety for her. Her atypical concern over her dark turn results in contradictory behavior, like turning Sam, her lover, over to the police. Reception in 1947 At the time of its release in 1947, RKO's production was panned by Bosley Crowther, film critic for The New York Times, who called it "a smeary tabloid fable" and "an hour and a half of ostentatious vice." His review concluded: "Surely, discriminating people are not likely to be attracted to this film. But it is precisely because it is designed to pander to the lower levels of taste that it is reprehensible." Cecelia Ager of PM, another New York newspaper, was equally blunt in expressing her utter contempt. Portions of her assessment are quoted in the May 26, 1947 issue of the Independent Exhibitors Bulletin: Irving Kaplan, the reviewer for the trade journal Motion Picture Daily, found "weaknesses in several departments" of "the heavy-handed melodrama", although his appraisal of the film was far less severe. Kaplan focused his attention on the performances of the "tough and ruthless" Tierney and