*** This review may contain spoilers ***
The very beginning of this film was intriguing, but as a whole, this film was boring to me. I felt like this was not Paul Muni's best performance. His performance as Tony Camonte was over the top and not very nuanced to me. Most of the other performances of the supporting cast were wooden, one-dimensional, or over the top. Karen Morley gave an interesting performance as the reserved Poppy, as did George Raft as the quiet Guino Rinaldo. I do wonder if it was the performances, the writing, or just the acting of the time that made me feel this way. Despite the action scenes and violence, the plot seemed predictable and not very interesting. The moments of comic relief were not very successful either. This film also seems very dated. Overall, I was just disappointed, because I heard this was a classic, and I had higher expectations.
The very beginning of this film was intriguing, but as a whole, this film was boring to me. I felt like this was not Paul Muni's best performance. His performance as Tony Camonte was over the top and not very nuanced to me. Most of the other performances of the supporting cast were wooden, one-dimensional, or over the top. Karen Morley gave an interesting performance as the reserved Poppy, as did George Raft as the quiet Guino Rinaldo. I do wonder if it was the performances, the writing, or just the acting of the time that made me feel this way. Despite the action scenes and violence, the plot seemed predictable and not very interesting. The moments of comic relief were not very successful either. This film also seems very dated. Overall, I was just disappointed, because I heard this was a classic, and I had higher expectations.