Chris Hunter stabs a man in her home one night while her husband Bob is out of town. The dead man's name is Tanner and she claims not to know him and to have acted in self-defense. Art shop owner, Martin Barrow, contacts Chris' lawyer and good friend Larry Hannaford. Barrow shows Hannaford a bust of Chris Hunter's head, signed by Tanner, and attempts blackmail. It turns out Tanner had been a sculptor, and it is now evident to Hannaford that Chris has lied about never knowing the man she killed. After learning about the bust, Chris goes to Barrow to try to take possession of it. But, Barrow has taken the piece to Tanner's wife, who is now convinced Chris had an affair with her husband and wants Chris punished for murder. Barrow convinces her to create more anguish for Chris by relaying this information to Bob Hunter, thinking also that the wronged husband would pay to avoid scandal. When Bob learns about the affair and sees the bust, he confronts Chris at home. After she admits to having an affair with Tanner while Bob was away during the war, he demands a divorce. Chris is charged with murder and tried. Hannaford persuades the jury that while Chris was indeed guilty of adultery, she truly did stab Tanner in self-defense. Hannaford then convinces Bob, who has softened a bit on the idea of divorce after a long talk with his cousin, Paula, and Chris to at least consider trying to save their marriage, rather than rushing into a divorce.
According to Warner Bros records, the film earned $1,939,000 domestically and $1,033,000 in foreign.
Critical response
The New York Times gave the film a mixed review: "The Warner Brothers have turned out a better than average murder mystery in The Unfaithful, but they have badly over-weighted with melodramatics the things they obviously wanted to say about a pressing social problem. The new picture at the Strand stabs and jabs like a hit-and-run prizefighter at the subject of hasty divorces and the dangerous consequences to society of this ill conceived cure all for marital difficulties, but it never gets across a telling dramatic punch. However, through some uncommonly persuasive acting and skillful direction the patently artificial plot stands up surprisingly well."
