A Movie Memory Uncovered at Last

When I was young -- early elementary school age -- I accidentally saw two different movie scenes which gave me nightmares for years.

One scene, viewed at a neighbor's house, my husband was able to identify a few years ago as coming from THE BLOB (1958). It had to do with an old man walking in a dark field and a snake-like thing coming out of something that looked like a pineapple...

The other scene which haunted me was one in which a little girl was put to bed and her mother walked downstairs, not knowing that she's dropped a cigarette and started a fire in the little girl's room. I have no idea how or where I saw it, but it absolutely terrified me.

Earlier today I was perusing THE FILMS OF SUSAN HAYWARD by Eduardo Moreno, a used book which arrived today from Amazon. A plot description for 1947's SMASH-UP: THE STORY OF A WOMAN suddenly clicked for me. Could this be the "fire" movie?

I taped the movie about a year ago but simply hadn't gotten to it yet. (So many movies...) I put the tape in, fast-forwarded to the end of the film, and there it was. The scene was so indelibly imprinted on my mind -- though the faces of the actors were blanks to me -- it was very strange seeing it again.

Mystery solved at last!