The Bitter Stems (1956)

Crime · Drama · Film-noir

Alfredo Gaspar (Carlos Cores) is an unhappy reporter who teams with an immigrant bartender, Liudas (Vassili Lambrinos), in a get rich quick scheme; they advertise a correspondence course in journalism, and the money pours in. Other than being a crook, Liudas is a nice guy hoping to bring his wife and two children from Europe to Argentina. Gaspar is so moved by the family's plight that he offers Liudas a bigger share of the ill-gotten gains to help them. Eventually, though, Gaspar comes to suspect that Liudas hasn't told him the truth; perhaps someone who's, after all, a crook would also lie to him. Gaspar decides to exact revenge on his "business" partner and commits "the perfect crime"...or so he thinks. But nothing goes quite as planned.