Pickup (Hugo Haas, 1951)_PARENTE Noir

Jan Horak is a middle-aged railroad dispatcher stationed at a forsaken spot in the desert, within driving distance of the nearest town. A widower, he has saved his money and goes to town to buy a dog, but instead meets flashy blonde Betty, who gains his confidence and marries him for the purpose of acquiring his $7,000 "fortune". Jan suffers a loss of hearing brought on by psychosomatic reasons, as it is explained later, but listening to Betty is more than enough to deafen any man. While he is incapacitated, Steve is sent to substitute for him, and Betty soon makes sure that the railroad job description is broadened to include her. Before long, Betty and Steve are plotting Jan's death, with no postal worker in sight beyond plot swipes. As usual, in Hugo Haas films, fate, irony, and eventful circumstances always come into play; this time an automobile accident knocks Jan down but doesn't injure him. But as a result, Jan regains his hearing. He does not bother to inform Betty and Steve of this, he just starts listening--good sportsmanship be hanged!--to their conversations as they plot his death. More business happens before the end that wouldn't have happened if Jan had just stayed with his original mission and bought a dog from Joe back in the first reel.