Set on a fairgrounds in the resort town of Blackpool on the Irish Sea, George King’s Scarlet Heaven (US: Forbidden) sets a tale of murderous adultery in a seaside setting of poetic sights spanning beach, boardwalk, jetty, and the intimidating Blackpool Tower where the film’s climax unfolds 500 feet above ground. Serving as swan song for both director King and leading man Douglass Montgomery, the film follows down-on-his-luck chemist Jim Harding (Montgomery), relegated to a gig as potion peddler on the Blackpool boardwalk with old army buddy Dan Collins (Ronald Shiner), as he plots to exit his loveless marriage to execrable shrew Diana (a deliciously demonic Patricia Burke), who refuses to give him a divorce out of spite. Having fallen in love with sweet, working-class girl Jane Thompson (Hazel Court), a romance consummated in a lovely, moonlit encounter on the beach, Harding ultimately puts his chemistry knowledge to work by “adjusting” Diana’s heart medications in a last ditch effort to free himself to be with Jane. Melachrino’s dramatic score adds intensity to the most pivotal scenes, notably as Harding disposes of the body, while Robinson’s production design adds a sense of poetic realism that makes the all-too-happy ending slightly less disappointing.