Spanish director José Antonio Nieves Conde is best known for two noir masterworks, Surcos (1951) and Red Fish (1955), but his little-known second feature, Angustia (US: Anguish), arguably packs a greater classic noir punch than both later films combined. Depicting the humiliation of financial desperation in Franco’s Spain, the film centers on ambitious scientist Marcos (Adriano Rimold) and his wife Elena (Amparo Rivelles) who live in a boarding house and struggle to pay their bills because Marcos’ research hasn’t yet paid off; this hardship often leads them to solicit financial assistance from Elena’s aunt, Mrs. Jarque (María Francés) who, in turn, readily mocks Marcos as a loser. When the young scientist dreams of murdering the old lady one night, the next day she turns up dead, and Marcos is discovered holding a wad of her cash and her most valuable jewel. To make things even more incriminating, Marcos had shared his dream with sneaky laboratory assistant Andrés (José María Rodero), who now seizes on the opportunity to blackmail the couple. As growing suspicion wears on Marcos’ sanity, Elena herself begins to question his innocence and fear for her own safety. Conde shows a talent for producing suspense: the murder scene with the shadow of the killer and the falling ball of yarn; the discovery of a corpse in a laboratory closet; Elena caught snooping through her husband’s belongings; a return to the scene of the crime at night. Stylistically, Conde and cinematographer José F. Aguayo create stunning imagery and thick noir atmosphere at almost every turn, characters encaged by light and shadows, rails and rafters, at times evoking surrealism. Of special note is Jesús Guridi’s expressive and moody score which incorporates staccato strings to accentuate tension and weaves in diegetic music, such as the boarding house cellist’s melody that infuses an undertone of horror during the film’s climax when intruders descend on the sleeping tenants inside.