For another perspective on THE TATTERED DRESS (and director Jack Arnold), here's a link to the post and discussion of the film at Colin's (Livius) blog:

https://livius1.com/2018/09/10/the-tattered-dress/

The general assessment there is more positive, with more context and background applied to Jack Arnold.

Also, Dan Stumpf is closer to Mark's assessment (but without some of the precision) and is followed by some wonky discussion of Jeff Chandler minutiae over at Mystery*File:

https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=19703

Universal noir always seems a bit more disjointed than the other major studio product. They are the major purveyors of "Cinemascope noir," which has its own set of quirks, many of which were never quite smoothed over...