Clash by Night (1952)

the audience applauded

Fantastic!

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

. . . had to write essays about how THEY thought a short story called "The Lady or the Tiger" REALLY ended. He said that he always thought that there was a Tiger behind the Green Door. It seems that CLASH BY NIGHT--also from the 1900s--has an ambiguous "Lady or Tiger" conclusion as well. Though Brutish Sardiner Jerry SAYS that Baby Gloria is sleeping, there are absolutely NO baby sounds coming from the other room below decks on this movie's soundtrack. This leaves viewers to wonder exactly WHAT greets life-long wanton strumpet Mae when this adulterous mommy ventures behind her own Green Door. Is it a preternaturally quiet babe sleeping safe and sound, as the Cuckolded Papa Jerry has suggested? Or has this bear of a man been exposed to one DANGEROUS LIAISON too many, and gone all Glenn Close over Mae's FATAL ATTRACTION? (Only this time it's not RABBIT stew simmering in the cook pot.) It's hard to guess how the Papal Reps controlling America's censor board in 1952 would have resolved this conundrum, had they not been too preoccupied molesting all the local lads.

Raw, emotional drama with top performances. Seething with pent-up emotions Barbara Stanwyck is the seen it all gal who comes home as she says because she's run out of places to go. She's brilliant here giving a finely judged portrayal of a woman at the end of her rope, you can feel her weariness. Paul Douglas is touching as the somewhat clueless schlub who falls for Barbara and Robert Ryan adds another superior performance to his gallery of less than honorable men. Keith Andes as Barbara's brother is fine even if his character is a sexist jerk. It's interesting to see Marilyn Monroe playing just a regular girl, albeit a very attractive one but no sexpot, coming across well in a part that is an anomaly in her filmography. Moodily directed by Lang which is perfect for the material.

Although available in Warner Bros Film Noir Classics collection this is not a noir movie by any stretch of that term. Both Stanwyck and Ryan have appeared in noirs and Fritz Lang has made some classics of the genre, but this is solid melodrama. For me there were several reasons for liking and disliking this movie: Pro: Stanwyck and Ryan are outstanding as usual, Marilyn Monroe pleasant and performing well enough, the dialogs are frequently sharp and revealing and Lang's directing make it almost feel noirish. Contra: Paul Douglas' performance is way, way over the top and his character too good for this wicked world. The other supporting actors would also be more at home in a Frank Capra feel-good story. Also you constantly wait for the movie to catch fire, but it just sizzles along to a disappointing ending. Conclusion: worthwhile, but don't get your expectations up too high. And please don't call it noir.

Clash By Night (1952) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Melodrama about a woman (Barbara Stanwyck) returning to her hometown after leaving years earlier but never getting the riches she wanted. Once back she eventually starts dating a poor fisherman (Paul Douglas) who she eventually marries but his friend (Robert Ryan) sees that she's unhappy and goes after her. I'm really not sure how this film was sold as a noir as there are very few to zero connections. The only thing this film does offer than could be somewhat noir is the moody atmosphere but overall this is more soap opera than anything else. With that said, for the life of me I can't understand how a screenplay like the one here would get approved by all of those involved. I would go as far as to say this is one of the dumbest and most underwritten screenplays from this era and it's a real shame that some touching up wasn't done on it because the film contains some very good performances and nice direction by Lang. I think the screenplay is a major issue from the very start of the picture because we know all of the characters are soon as we meet them. We know Douglas is too good. We know Stanwyck is no good. We know not to trust Ryan as he is just abusing Douglas. We know that Douglas is going to steal Stanwyck. When then know that Douglas is going to have a broken heart. There's not a single plot point here that will throw you for a loop because everything that happens is exactly what you expect and it all happens just as you'd think it would. I can't believe that the studio didn't spend a little more time trying to clean this thing up. As bad as the screenplay is there are still plenty of reasons to check the film out. The biggest being the performances by the entire cast who manage to keep everything moving even though they're working with lesser material. I was really impressed with Douglas who was perfect as the good-hearted man. I thought he was easy to feel sorry for and the actor really made you want to see him win no matter what else happened. Stanwyck is also very good in her snake role. She's certainly good at playing the bad girl so she walks right through the role without any trouble. Ryan is very good as well as has wonderful chemistry with both Douglas and Stanwyck. We also have a side story about Stanwyck's brother (Keith Andes) and his fiancé (Marilyn Monroe) that actually contains some better moments than the main story. Monroe also comes off pretty good here as does J. Carrol Naish in his small role. Lang's direction is pretty solid throughout as he perfectly captures the moody atmosphere.