Signs of early greatness in Antonioni's first film

I'm not sure if you could tell from his first film - Story of a Love Affair (1950) - that Michelangelo Antonioni was destined for a great career (Le'Avventura, Blow-up, The Passenger ... ) but it sure stands as evidence that right from the start he could, w/ minimal budget, create a good noir narrative, a distinct sense of time and place, and a few powerful dramatic scenes. The film starts out as a conventional detective story - a middle-aged PI gets the mundane assignment of checking up on the fidelity of the wife of a wealthy manufacturer - and we follow the detective through about the first 3rd of the fil: He checks out the wife's background and we soon learn that before she was married there was suspicion that she and a boyfriend (Guido) were present when Guido's then-fiancee fell to her death in an elevator shaft. Fell? Pushed? It's unclear - but when Guido and the wife learn that a detective has been snooping (they hadn't seen each other in 7 years) they suspect he's investigating the elevator accident. Their suspicions make matters much worse for them, as they plot to do away w/ the husband. Aside from the clever plot twists, which go right to the end of the movie, some of the highlights are the cool jazz score (sax and piano duo); terrific location shots of Italy just 5 years post war w/ some new construction, much war damage, and poverty all around - the vast boulevards and traffic circles almost devoid of cars and trucks and you could just part anywhere anytime even in Milan!; great rich/poor contrasts (the lavish apartment, baronial apartment of the wife/husband and the dingy hotel room where Guido makes do); a great charity dress-auction scene; the argument between Guido and woman on a bridge above railroad tracks and a muddy canal; the test drive of the Maserati; and for a lighter touch the somewhat comic scenes between the detective on the street and his boss back at the office pressing for results. All told, a really good film by many measures - surprising that it hasn't been adapted and remade in a contemporary setting (which would probably miss the whole point and ruin it, but still ... )