I am rating this film with a 6 out of 10 on the basis that if i *could* have heard the dialogue, it would have been a very satisfying B-Movie. As it is, the Alpha Video DVD release has incredibly BAD sound quality, rendering much of the speech incomprehensible and thus muddying up both the plot and the emotional impact of the work. I am generally a promoter and fan of the Alpha releases of Poverty Row movies, but the condition of the sound is beneath what anyone should be made to endure. Anyway, on the premise that somewhere there's a better print, i think i would like to see it again. Margaret Hamilton is outstanding as a piano playing card cheat, Edgar Buchanan is unexpected as an alcoholic lawyer, and Sara Allgood is tragic as a woman who has lost her husband to the prison system and loves him still. The film really belongs to the women, but the men do a credible job, especially Sheldon Leonard as a tough-guy inmate.
Review of City Without Men
