Human Desire (1954)

Jeff Warren, a Korean War vet just returning to his railroad engineer's job, boards at the home of co-worker Alec Simmons and is charmed by Alec's beautiful daughter. He becomes attracted immediately to Vicki Buckley, the sultry wife of brutish railroad supervisor Carl Buckley, an alcoholic wife beater with a hair trigger temper and penchant for explosive violence. After he is fired for insubordination, he begs Vicki to intercede on his behalf with John Owens, a rich and influential businessman whose pull can get him reinstated. When he suspects Vicki has used her sexual charms to persuade Owens, he stabs him to death in a jealous rage in a railroad compartment. Jeff, a potential witness to the homicide is drawn into a sordid affair with the alluring Vicki and becomes an accessory after the fact.