* SPOILERS AHEAD *
Let me just tell you how much I LOVED this movie, by dissecting it. 1) William Holden is GREAT. He looks every bit the violinist and boxer too. Thank director Rouben Mamoulian for this dual success. He also directed Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with Fredric March. Holden's angry young man is highly melodramatic but fiery and totally New York City. 2) Barbara Stanwyck is FABULOUS as Lorna Moon. I'm not the biggest Stanwyck fan, but she captured my heart as the lost-girl-cum-tough-babe. Her torn feelings between benefactor Tom Moody and kindred-spirit Joe Bonaparte is so natural and fluid that you don't mind the underdeveloped sub-plot. 3) Adolphe Menjou, a favorite character actor, bugs out his eyes so many times you'll think he's on a Buster Keaton set ("Don't call me TOM!"), but it FITS. 4) Sam Levene as Siggie and Beatrice Blinn as Duchess are superb. Our society today has deemed such a male-dominated relationship as they have as "sickening." I not only found it to be era-accurate, but also I was sad that more real couples today can't find the harmony that they have. Once you put aside high-minded expectations of relating, you realize that Siggie and Anna love each other very much, and do whatever they can for each other. Siggie makes an honest living, and Anna is obviously happy. Among subtle messages within the movie, this one made me smile. 5) Lee J. Cobb as Mr. Bonaparte is certainly a ham, but what else from a deli owner? Seriously, the schmaltz had flavor. 6) Joseph Calleia as Fuseli is PERFECT. For sheer gusto, check out how Fuseli clears a room with a word, opens doors with a phone call - and all this without ever having a bodyguard or enforcer handy! Calleia brilliantly brings Fuseli's sneaky charm and unspoken muscle to the fore. 7) The character of Mr. Carp was, in my opinion, a grand scheme by playwright Odets. The socialist thread: the trouble in Europe, reference to Schopenhauer, even Fuseli's communist tactics - these overt and many subvert happenings kept the dance of 1930's America alive. Immigrants, gangsters, post-Depression attitudes, World War 2 brewing. Priceless! 8) The boxing match: beyond the realistic two rounds we see is the shocker: death. Then, also, we have the savagery of the crowd, shown better than perhaps in any other fight film. Finally, Chocolate's father giving his tear-filled mini-sermon with Karl Freund's camerawork all over it. Beautiful. 9) The ending: the movie comes to a swift halt after all this, and it's abruptness shook me. So many unanswered questions. But maybe that's the point. 10) One other note: check out Stanwyck's tears FLYING while she and Holden are on the Palisades! I give it a 9.5-10.
Let me just tell you how much I LOVED this movie, by dissecting it. 1) William Holden is GREAT. He looks every bit the violinist and boxer too. Thank director Rouben Mamoulian for this dual success. He also directed Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with Fredric March. Holden's angry young man is highly melodramatic but fiery and totally New York City. 2) Barbara Stanwyck is FABULOUS as Lorna Moon. I'm not the biggest Stanwyck fan, but she captured my heart as the lost-girl-cum-tough-babe. Her torn feelings between benefactor Tom Moody and kindred-spirit Joe Bonaparte is so natural and fluid that you don't mind the underdeveloped sub-plot. 3) Adolphe Menjou, a favorite character actor, bugs out his eyes so many times you'll think he's on a Buster Keaton set ("Don't call me TOM!"), but it FITS. 4) Sam Levene as Siggie and Beatrice Blinn as Duchess are superb. Our society today has deemed such a male-dominated relationship as they have as "sickening." I not only found it to be era-accurate, but also I was sad that more real couples today can't find the harmony that they have. Once you put aside high-minded expectations of relating, you realize that Siggie and Anna love each other very much, and do whatever they can for each other. Siggie makes an honest living, and Anna is obviously happy. Among subtle messages within the movie, this one made me smile. 5) Lee J. Cobb as Mr. Bonaparte is certainly a ham, but what else from a deli owner? Seriously, the schmaltz had flavor. 6) Joseph Calleia as Fuseli is PERFECT. For sheer gusto, check out how Fuseli clears a room with a word, opens doors with a phone call - and all this without ever having a bodyguard or enforcer handy! Calleia brilliantly brings Fuseli's sneaky charm and unspoken muscle to the fore. 7) The character of Mr. Carp was, in my opinion, a grand scheme by playwright Odets. The socialist thread: the trouble in Europe, reference to Schopenhauer, even Fuseli's communist tactics - these overt and many subvert happenings kept the dance of 1930's America alive. Immigrants, gangsters, post-Depression attitudes, World War 2 brewing. Priceless! 8) The boxing match: beyond the realistic two rounds we see is the shocker: death. Then, also, we have the savagery of the crowd, shown better than perhaps in any other fight film. Finally, Chocolate's father giving his tear-filled mini-sermon with Karl Freund's camerawork all over it. Beautiful. 9) The ending: the movie comes to a swift halt after all this, and it's abruptness shook me. So many unanswered questions. But maybe that's the point. 10) One other note: check out Stanwyck's tears FLYING while she and Holden are on the Palisades! I give it a 9.5-10.