The Private Affairs of Bel Ami (1947)

George Sanders was always great as the cad, and rarely better than here. He is the seriously ambitious "Duroy" who decides that he can use woman as stepping stones to social acceptability. He's broke and jobless, but luckily encounters his war-time buddy "Forestiere" (John Carradine) who gets him job at a newspaper. Networking opportunities beckon. Initially, it's bar-fly "Rachel" (Rachel Wilson) who keeps him entertained, then he alights on the slightly more sophisticated "Clotilde" (Angela Lansbury) whom he has a genuine soft spot for, but she isn't going to get him anywhere near far enough up the greasy pole. For that he needs "Madeleine" (Ann Dvorak) and she not only opens an whole new social world, one that gets his mind set on a bit of malevolent manipulation and you just know that sooner or later his chickens are going to come home to roost. His unstinting ability too think only of himself is really quite entertainingly nauseous and somehow Sanders manages to encapsulate that selfishness and venality really quite smug and chillingly. There's the odd splash of colour in here, too, and with the ladies delivering strongly throughout - especially Lansbury but also Wilson too, this is a smartly written observation of dastardly deeds.