This is one strange little film. If anybody but Odets had supplied the dialogue it would have just been another bottom of the double bill movie. Do people talk that way?.......well, probably but we are so used to "movie talk" that initially it seems forced. As the film progresses, you realize that this indeed is the language of the city and who better to say lines like "I hear the bell ringing" than Susan Hayward. She was just on the brink of stardom and was already coming across as the tough dame who was vulnerable if you pushed the right buttons. Nobody did it better.
Her relationship with Bill Williams strains credibility. He moves through his role as the confused sailor as if he was mentally challenged. Williams never made it big but appeared in supporting roles in countless films and on television.At least he married Perry Mason's secretary Della Street (Barbara Hale) so he couldn't be all bad.
Paul Lukas, looking particularly haggard, has a good role as the taxi driver with a secret and there are a number of excellent actors in secondary roles. My favorite supporting actor,Joseph Calleia, does his usual slimy but debonair crook with panache and there are appearances from Marvin Miller(as the blind ex-husband), Jerome Cowan(as a less than likable producer) and Lola Lane(as a blackmailing good time girl who soon becomes the raison d'etre for all the scurrying around by the principals).
This is a film that you either like or hate and it may take a couple of viewings to fall under its spell. Listen to that dialogue......quirky and slangy.....it will grab you every time.
Her relationship with Bill Williams strains credibility. He moves through his role as the confused sailor as if he was mentally challenged. Williams never made it big but appeared in supporting roles in countless films and on television.At least he married Perry Mason's secretary Della Street (Barbara Hale) so he couldn't be all bad.
Paul Lukas, looking particularly haggard, has a good role as the taxi driver with a secret and there are a number of excellent actors in secondary roles. My favorite supporting actor,Joseph Calleia, does his usual slimy but debonair crook with panache and there are appearances from Marvin Miller(as the blind ex-husband), Jerome Cowan(as a less than likable producer) and Lola Lane(as a blackmailing good time girl who soon becomes the raison d'etre for all the scurrying around by the principals).
This is a film that you either like or hate and it may take a couple of viewings to fall under its spell. Listen to that dialogue......quirky and slangy.....it will grab you every time.