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Raoul Walsh's The Man I Love opens during an after-hours jam session at a Manhattan jazz boîte, the 39 Club, where Petey Brown (Ida Lupino, dubbed by Peg La Centra) sings the title song while expelling cigarette smoke. And it seems there was a man she loved, but we don't hear much about him, except that their parting has given her wanderlust, leading her back home to California.

Living there is what's left of the family of which she becomes de facto matriarch: Her sister Sally (Andrea King), whose shell-shocked husband (John Ridgely) is in a psychiatric hospital; younger sister Ginny (Martha Vickers); and ne'er-do-well brother Joe (Warren Douglas). Almost part of the family are next-apartment neighbors, the O'Connors - doting and deluded Johnny (Don McGuire) and discontented, two-timing Gloria (Dolores Moran, in a deliciously slutty turn).

They keep Lupino's hands full, but a girl's gotta make a living, too, so she slaps on the war-paint and slithers into a gown, landing a job as `canary' in a nightspot operated by womanizing Nicky Toresca (Robert Alda). She keeps rather tepid company with him, until circumstance brings legendary jazz-piano man San Thomas (Bruce Bennett) into her life; the victim of an unhappy marriage, he's currently AWOL from the Merchant Marine and thinks he's lost his gift for the ivories. They kindle a volatile liaison (apparently the template from which Martin Scorsese struck the romance between Francine Evans and Jimmy Doyle in New York, New York). But Lupino's two lives, family and romantic, start to interlock disruptively....

An unlikely amalgam of freighted, '40s romance, low-key musical and a touch of film noir, The Man I Love relies less on plot than on old-fashioned story. It's a complicated and ever-shifting story that Walsh manages to juggle adroitly (though he lets a couple of Indian clubs clatter to the floor - the shut-away husband and the Vickers character don't come to much, and the usually glamorous King is ill-garbed as the long-suffering hausfrau).

But Lupino, though she shares the movie with a large cast, stays at its center - strong and smart-mouthed but compassionate and vulnerable. (Her grand exit, smiling through tears on the waterfront, recall's Barbara Stanwyck's in Stella Dallas.) Bennett proves a good match for her, in a strong, shaded performance (though top billing among the males goes to Alda, looking like a young Danny Thomas and delivering no more than a bland, generic heavy).

The Man I Love exerts a nostalgic pull that avoids (barely) the campy and the overwrought. Though there's a violent death, it's not a violent film, nor even, really, a crime story. Coming from the immediate post-war era when emotions were still running high and not yet subject to over-analysis, it serves up its thick stew with gusto. Yes, it ends a little too daintily, but with its torch songs, its messy relationships, and unabashed commitment, it still makes a memorable meal.

Ida Lupino excelled at playing tough, yet vulnerable, women. One of the best Ida Lupino films, "The Man I Love" is all about atmosphere. It has great music, great images, and great lines all tied to a fast-paced and entertaining, if unlikely, story. This film influenced director Martin Scorsese when he made "New York, New York". Scorsese's film is overlong and overdone, but "The Man I Love" is brisk and sleek. You won't be bored. If you enjoy "The Man I Love", I also recommend the Ida Lupino film "Road House".

Ida Lupino is always good or really good--here she is overpowering, but without unbalancing a movie with a very strong script and a cast of actors who may not be all that famous (Robert Alda, beautiful but sinister; Bruce Bennett, the sad shadow of Gary Cooper) but who certainly pull their weight. Ida begins the movie by smoking and drinking while she sings the title song in a killer deadpan, and goes on to confront, unarmed, a gunman and slap him silly. But, unusually, these theatrics are balanced by romantic and psychological dialogue of a maturity that is rare indeed in the movies, certainly at this early date. Occasionally harsh realism (for instance, in the terrifying behavior of a mentally disturbed veteran) more than earns the qualified optimism shown here.

Two other things to be impressed by: Bruce Bennett, as the jazz pianist, does all his own playing (bet Gary Cooper couldn't do that!), and Ida, in skin-tight evening gowns, looks astonishing. What a figure!

"The Man I Love" is a 1947 film (though made in 1945) directed by Raoul Walsh. The stars are Ida Lupino, Robert Alda, Andrea King, Martha Vickers, Bruce Bennett, Delores Moran, and Alan Hale.

Lupino plays a nightclub singer, Petey, who goes home to visit her family - two sisters and a brother. They're all in one way or another pretty messed up, so Petey, the strong one, sticks around to try and help. Her brother Johnny (Don McGuire) is married to Gloria (Delores Moran). They're the parents of twins, but Gloria is out a lot visiting "friends." With Johnny working at night, Gloria gets bored easily.

One of Petey's sisters (King) has a husband (Jon Ridgeley) who is institutionalized due to a breakdown after the war. Petey gets a job at Nicky Toresca's (Robert Alda) nightclub. Toresca is a slimeball who is constantly on the make, but Petey ignores him and goes crazy for a pianist who has seen better days, Sand Thomas (Bennett). But Sand is still grieving over his ex-wife, who comes back to town during the time he and Petey have together before he ships out on a merchant steamer.

Basically, this is a story about not so great men and the women who love them, except for Gloria's poor husband Johnny - but since Gloria is crazy about Nick Tedesco, we can leave Johnny out. All I can say is, with those twins, Johnny is darn lucky his sisters live across the hall. And Sand's not a bad guy but let's face it, he's carrying a torch for the ex.

There is music throughout, including the title song played a great deal in the background. Other music: "Why Was I Born," "If I Could Be With You," and "Liza." Peg LaCentra dubbed for Lupino.

Ida Lupino looks fabulous and wears some great gowns. She plays the strong, independent, no-nonsense Petey well, there for her family for as long as it takes. Robert Alda is smooth with a hint of sleaze, perfect as Nick Tedesco.

As Sand, Bruce Bennett is good. Bennett was one of the most interesting men in show business. Under his real name of Herman Brix, he was a silver medalist for shotput in the 1928 Olympics. Going into films, Bennett enjoyed a good career in supporting roles, including Mildred Pierce's husband, and roles in "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre," "Dark Passage," "A Stolen Life," etc., and tons of TV. He died in 2007 at the age of 100. I can't imagine what it was like watching his old films and realizing that he'd outlived every single person in the movie.

Atmospheric with its nightclub scenes and fog, "The Man I Love" is a different kind of film - it looks like a noir, is part love story, and part an unusual family drama.

The plot of "The Man I Love" to me is not as important as the snappy dialog and atmosphere...the reasons to see this film. The story just meanders....and I can live with that.

Petey (Ida Lupino) comes to town to see her sisters and brother. During this time, Petey gets a job with a slick but somewhat notorious nightclub owner (Robert Alda) and he's nuts for her. But instead of responding to his many advances, she falls like a ton of bricks over a down and out pianist (Bruce Bennett/Herman Brix). Other stuff happens.

The reason to see the film is to watch and listen to Ida Lupino. She captures the camera with her radiance...and her self-assured and VERY snappy dialog. She's like a combination of a feminist with a touch of NICE femme fatale! Well worth seeing despite the story itself only being mildly interesting.

... with soundies being, basically, the music videos of the 1940s.

The film has a warning for audiences with the first line. A couple of late night semi inebriated celebrants are trying to get into a nightclub but find it is locked. A guy working on the marquee outside tells them - to paraphrase - "Don't go in there! Those people are crazy!" The noise inside is a late night jam session for crazy people only, led by lounge singer Petey Brown (Ida Lupino). This whole scene is just a set up for Petey saying she is going to California to visit her family, all who have issues, and the issues extend to the neighbors. Among the issues is a post-war baby boom, a cheating wife, a WWII veteran hospitalized with PTSD, Petey's brother looking for a way to make quick easy dough, and a young woman who does not want to leave the house (this is more like a problem commonly seen today). Involved with some of these issues is slippery nightclub owner, Nicky Toresca (Robert Alda), from whom Petey gets a job as a lounge singer on her extended visit.

A big portion of the film actually has something to do with the title - While on the west coast Petey meets a washed-up jazz musician, San Thomas (Bruce Bennett???), who is washed up exactly because he is still in love with his ex-wife, being dumped has sapped his creativity and drive, and he has taken to being a seaman on commercial lines to support himself. For some reason this emotionally and geographically unavailable person is the man of Petey's dreams. Meanwhile her boss Toresca is trying to have an affair with her and about half a dozen other women. Complications and hepcat dialogue I could barely decipher ensue.

To judge this thing on its narrative structure would be a mistake. It meanders incoherently from scene to scene and the plot seems to be held together with spit and bailing wire. But that atmosphere, those jazz musical numbers and jam sessions, that post-war boom and the women with fashions that look like something you would wear on a dare with wide shoulder pads and covered in furs with hats to match. It is like stepping into a time machine.

I'd recommend this one, but as for the plot, don't ask questions just go with it.

My favorite of the movie was the "bitch-slappin'" scene where she is on the staircase knocking some sense into neighbor Johnny's head. What a hoot and what a total surprise! And right in front of her wanna-be gangster boyfriend, Nicky! I cheered and clapped myself silly. Fine film,lots of plot twists and turns. San, the piano player, was a dour disappointment. Too stiff and unemotional for me. Looked a lot like Charleston Heston, too. Ida Lupino's gowns were simply divine and she looked simply fine in them. Great costuming for the whole cast. The neighbor's wife, Gloria, was hilarious with her anti-Mom comments that were decidedly politically incorrect. All in all, great fun.

Ida Lupino could have and should have ranked up there with the best of film actresses, she could have been up with Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck and Katharine Hepburn. Picture for picture she never got the quality roles in quantity that the other three got. But outside of Bette Davis, Ida Lupino pushed more mediocre material before the movie going public and made them accept it through the strength of her talent.

The Man I Love is a great example of such. Other than her it features a good cast of competent second string performers. Even Robert Alda cast as the mobbed up club owner got his real stardom on Broadway in four years with Guys And Dolls. He figures prominently in the lives of Ida and her sisters.

Ida plays Peta Brown, a nightclub singer going home to Los Angeles where her two sisters and brother live and all in close proximity, like in the same building. In one way or another their lives connect with Alda. Andrea King works for Alda and spends a lot of time fending off passes. She has to work because her husband, John Ridgely, is in the VA Hospital recovering from shell shock from World War II. Martha Vickers has a hankering for neighbor Don McGuire who is the father of twin babies. McGuire's married to wild child Dolores Moran who Alda hires for his chorus also because he's got designs. Vickers is also married to Warren Douglas. Finally Jimmy Dodd the little brother is working for Alda in some unnamed capacity. Alda has him doing a bit of dirty business that brings everything to a head in the climax.

Through all of this Ida finds time for a little romance with former piano prodigy Bruce Bennett whose a bit of drunken lout and carrying a statue of liberty size torch for his ex-wife who was a prominent socialite, a would be Paris Hilton. Why Ida's bothering with him is totally beyond me.

But Ida's arrival seems to sort out all the problems except for one individual who winds up dead. And I'll give you one hint, if you're thinking the dead one is Robert Alda, it's not.

On the strength of her considerable abilities, Ida Lupino makes The Man I Love rise to the level of mediocrity. It would get a far lower rating from me if she wasn't in the film.

This superb film shows Ida Lupino in top form, oozing enough torment and emotion to knock you out cold. She almost does that to shy, retiring Bruce Bennett, who does a magnificent job of playing San Thomas, a famous blues pianist who 'suddenly disappeared because his wife left him', but now turns up just in time for Ida to fall head over heels for him. The great, hulking Bennett, who had once been in real life an Olympic silver medallist (and whom Ida calls affectionately her 'big lug') is just about the best choice old pro director Raoul Walsh could possibly have made for the role. His innate, brooding melancholy gives the film the picquancy and authenticity a mere performance alone could never have achieved. The chemistry between Bennett and Lupino is so hot you could fry an egg on it in ten seconds. The dialogue really crackles. Bennett: 'Isn't life difficult enough without getting it mixed up with memories?' Lupino: 'I don't know. I don't go back far enough yet.' The film is full of fabulous music, not least the Gershwin theme song 'The Man I Love', sung by Ida with such style your jaw drops and your heart stops. The film is a must for music lovers of the better popular music of the late forties, and the artists who are seen performing. Bennett really plays the piano himself, which is a greater surprise even than seeing Dan Duryea play in one of his crime thrillers. Some of those Hollywood actors certainly knew how to let rip on the keyboard. The whole film sizzles and zizzles. Robert Alda plays an odious serial seducer who owns a nightclub where Ida sings. She hates him. Here is what she says on one occasion when he walks in. Ida: 'Do you always come in without knocking? You almost scared me right out of my new hair dye.' A lot of the wit has unexpected twists like that, which emphasizes the intense individualism of Ida. She is a real role model for the Independent Woman, and the shocking scene where she violently slaps a man repeatedly in the face as if she were a hired thug is so incredible, because it is done so nonchalantly and naturally, that you can imagine her easily playing a female Al Capone in a female gangster film. But of course Ida has the proverbial heart of gold, though she gives it away too easily. What a brilliant woman Ida Lupino was, one of the few high intellects in Hollywood, director of several controversial films which tackled head on taboo subjects like disability and bigamy. She could set the screen on fire whether she was behind or in front of the camera. But did I say camera? She didn't even need one! All she had to do was breathe, and a fresh wind swept through Hollywood. All she had to do was look at a lens, and it melted. This film also features fine performances by Andrea King as a good gal and Dolores Moran as a bad gal, and some fine singing from Tony Romano. I've seen it twice, that's not enough.

The Man I Love is directed by Raoul Walsh and adapted to screenplay by Jo Pagano and Catherine Turney from Maritta M. Wolff's novel. It stars Ida Lupino, Robert Alda, Andrea King, Martha Vickers, Bruce Bennett, Alan Hale and Dolores Moran. Cinematography is by Sidney Hickox.

Loved by some, not so by others, Walsh's film is pretty much a soap opera meller with some faint noir shadings. The plot, that has more holes than a bullet riddled bucket, sees Lupino's torch singer return home for the holidays and complications arise in the love and lust department - for her, her family, and the ruthless nightclub owner played by Alda.

There's a mature look at womanhood and masculinity in the post war years, with a poignancy factor boosted by it being set around the Christmas holidays. As usual Lupino is as watchable as ever - in fact into the bargain she's very sultry here as well - and there's some nifty noirish dialogue.

However, as the story is intent on reflecting upon damaged love across the board, there's a distinct lack of fatalism or bitter cynicism to be found, thus explaining why many have be forced to put it in the soapy meller category. This is good film making, but for entertainment purpose it helps if you go into it not expecting a hidden film noir gem, but a pic of unhappy people wandering aimlessly in a melodramatic fog. 6/10

Ida Lupino was a magnificent actress who fulfilled the promise of intelligence and talent that always seemed to burn in her eyes by demonstrating her creative moxie as a director. Unfortunately, her career in front of the camera often found her in cast off looking pot-boilers (she got to rummage through what was rejected by Davis, Crawford, and whoever else might be hot at the moment).

This noir-ish romantic weepy with a bad nicotine cough was typical of the sows ears she tried to make fit like silk. Filmed in 1945....and not widely released til early in 1947...it is filled with competent but rather second string talent...many of whom never quite made it to the top rung. Bruce Bennett (who deserves great credit for being one of the few actors to survive being cast as Tarzan without forever being typed and stymied) does his usual low key but very sincere turn as Ida's Piano whiz turned world weary seaman (don't ask). Robert Alda is effectively smarmy as the dame hungry club owner...after Ida and just about every other female with a pulse...it is a shame that playing George Gershwin (in "Rhapsody in Blue") and having this meaty part in a film based around one of the Gershwin's greatest standards didn't lead to bigger and better film roles.

The world weary atmosphere of jaded postwar funk that lingers over the film like a cloud of smoke and stale perfume is More persuasive than the rather clunky script...( you have to give the writers credit for gaul however...the final clinch lines are lifted almost verbatim from "Now Voyager" and "Casablanca"...and tend to make this end up looking more shallow and tacky than it is).

The musical sequences are great...and Ida seems ideally suited for the role of a jam session diva...even if she did have to borrow a voice for the part. The atmosphere of electric bluesy ambiance was seldom captured better on film until Garland nailed it to perfection wailing about "the Man that got away" in 1954.

Unfortunately several numbers are missing from the print shown on TCM (which runs only 89 minutes...and is in DREADFUL shape...with many scratches, spices, breaks, and reals where the images look like something from a cheap public domain dupe of a dupe).

Here's hoping someone in the Warner Brother's Library does some digging...finds the original negative...and restores this..because Ida deserved the very best...even if she seldom got it.

I had never been an big Ida Lupino fan until I recently saw THE MAN I LOVE. The film was fun, frothy and, ultimately, forgettable, but Ida was terrific. As the eldest of four siblings, she holds the clan, as well as the film, together with her tough, wisecracking, heart of gold persona. Even while lip syncing the title song, Ida makes an impression. Check out her reading of the lines, "From which I'll never roam, Who would, would you?" She really nails it.

THE MAN I LOVE is a fun way to pass an evening but Ida Lupino is a revelation.

A lone spark of love amongst seedy nightclubs, intense stares, pithy and acerbic retorts, dark smoky rooms, femme fetales, stoic, mysterious strangers and shady criminals - Love it!

Despite having all the trappings of a classic film noir, this is really a melodrama drenched in American post-war disillusionment. That juxtapositioning of what is essentially a romance within a hard-boiled alien landscape highlights the anxieties, the feeling of hopelessness and fear of the unknown which prevailed as the new normal replaced the routine of wartime.

The story itself is actually fairly simple, not too dissimilar to any old daytime soap. Transforming that prosaic story into such a majestic movie is however a work of genius. The direction by macho maestro Raoul Walsh, Sid Hickox's imaginative photography and a snappy script almost verging on but not quite cliched makes this a must for any fans of classic 1940s Hollywood. The real highlight however is acting - it's a joy to watch such a masterclass.

I have to confess what drew me to watching this were those sultry sexy stills of Dolores Moran and in the actual film she certainly doesn't disappoint. But like all the characters, her performance is thoroughly three dimensional with real and credible backstory. We learn exactly why she's the floozy she is. From the boring sister, Hawkeye's sleazy dad, the washed out musician to the young neighbour looking for something to give his life a purpose, everyone is real. The star who shines the brightest however is Ida Lupino. Not just because she's unbelievably gorgeous you cannot take your eyes off her. Quite simply, it's one of the best examples of acting I've ever seen.

This isn't the most conventional love story you'll ever see but a love story it is. What makes this romance so outstanding is its realism, its mood and its atmosphere.

I saw this movie and feel it is truly one of the all American classics along with Body & Soul and The Helen Morgan Story. Ida Lupino was magnificent in the role as well as Robert Alda. Bruce Bennett was well cast as the piano man and if nothing else, The Man I Love by Ira and George Gershwin is the most beautiful song ever written. The music is outstanding and the simple lyric by Ira Gershwin compliments this most haunting refrain.

I had the opportunity to become friends with George Gershwin's sister, Frances who performed at Carnegie Hall singing her brother's memorable song Embraceable You. I sent her a tape of my version of The Man I Love and after her death, her maid LaLa said she played it every night for one year. This was the highest compliment for me. I have always been an avid fan of the Gershwin Brothers and as a professional cabaret singer, I have included many of their beautiful songs in my shows. God Bless All of Them. They have gifted the world with the most beautiful music.

The prospect of a cheesy lounge singer about to croon through a schmaltzy ballad is an appropriate cue to send me reaching for the fast forward button, swiftly heading on to the real nitty gritty.

With the wonderful Ida Lupino cast as a sassy singer and Bruce Bennett as a jaundiced jazz pianist, the musical numbers (including a decent jazz instrumental) prove to be the glue which hold this movie together.

Much of the narrative unfolds in the club run by handsome and he knows it, Robert Alda. Vile and vacuous in equal measure, for him, every dame is just another dame in an ocean of just another dames.

Ultimately, 'The Man I Love' plays out as a reflective mood piece, rather than a high octane razzle of gunfire and flying fists. A story of fractured fortunes, broken (or at best strained) relationships and unfulfilled dreams. Characters scarred by bitter memories and the frustration of striving for something that was always tantalizingly out of reach. Even the presence of recently born twins and the arrival of Christmas, does little to raise the barometer, leaving festive cheer at a premium.

With Ida's two sisters (Andrea King and Martha Vickers) dodgy brother (John Ridgely) plus neighbours (Dolores Moran and Don McGuire) all having issues to confront, the movie takes on the persona of an ensemble piece, with lives becoming inextricably intertwined. Though there are pockets of joy and redemption, a pervasively portentous, low key tone prevails, with the spectre of personal heartbreak never far away.

I've watched a number of Raoul Walsh features and they generally live up to his reputation for directing very masculine, action-packed films. This movie is probably a rarity in his career focusing as it does on relationships and more than that revolving the plot around a strong and sympathetic female leading character.

It also takes its thematic tone from the great Gershwin brothers song which as well as giving the movie its title, reappears frequently in the course of its running time, in so doing informing the viewer that the subject of unrequited love will play a major part in what transpires. Ida Lupino is the confident young cabaret singer who comes back to town to visit her siblings and their partners over the Christmas and New Year period. As well as trying to sort out their lives, she also has to deal with the sleazy attentions of a sharp-dressed, wealthy night-club owner, played by Robert Alda, at whose place she sings for her supper.

Then she bumps into her dream man, Bruce Bennett's moody but gifted pianist and it would seem that they could make sweet music together, if only he could get over his recently divorced ex-wife. Thus Lupino is both the pursued and pursuer. There are also sub-plots involving her sister trying to rebuild her marriage to her battle-scarred husband, a hard-working family friend next door whose wife is cheating on him and Lupino's feckless kid brother, keen to please his boss Alda but who finds his loyalties conflicted when he's ordered to clear up the boss's mess after he gets tangled with said floozy wife. It's not giving too much away I think to say that most of these situations don't play out well for the participants.

I have to say right here that my opinion of Lupino has fallen markedly since I learned that she turned informer in the Blacklist Era, but can't deny she holds the movie together with a bravura performance. I also liked Bennett as her world-weary quarry and actually would have liked him to have had more screen time. Sure the ending is a little like "Casablanca" in reverse, indeed I'm sure I've heard some of the dialogue here before in the Bogart / Bergman classic but as they say, if you're going to steal, you might as well steal from the best.

All in all this, is a thoughtful and effective examination of a group of disparate people struggling with their lives in the immediate post-war era. As Lupino's determined march towards the camera in the closing shot makes clear, all you can do sometimes is play the hand you're dealt and make the best of it. This may may not exactly be a grand slam or royal flush of a movie, but the pairs of hearts which are played out here make this movie something of a diamond in the rough.

Petey Brown (Ida Lupino) is a singer in a New York City nightclub. She's homesick and returns to visit her siblings in California. Her sister Sally (Andrea King) is a waitress at a club owned by sleazy hood Nicky Toresca (Robert Alda). The extended family and their neighbor have various issues. Petey falls for former jazz pianist great San Thomas (Bruce Bennett).

There are a few too many characters and the melodrama gets a bit muddled. In the end, it's Lupino's ballsy ditch-slapping that saves it. With fewer characters, the remaining ones can have more shine. Lupino could do more and they could concentrate on the sisters' relationship. A simpler narrative could make this a more compelling character study about sisters.

This is a relatively unknown Warner Bros. movie, that really shows off the skills of Ido Lupino, even in 1947, a tough independent spirited woman. Bruce Bennett, plays his best role outside of early Tarzan style films, and the entire mood of the film would stand up even today. In a lot of ways, not the Hollywood merry go around that film after film became in the late 1940s. I highly recommend it to movie fans, and to music fans, the soundtrack, and nightclub scenes are great.

The title role in 'The Man I Love' is played by handsome, upright but unavailable Bruce Bennett; yet another indignity inflicted upon Ida Lupino by the male sex in this bleak melodrama with enough plot for half a dozen other movies in which she nevertheless gets to wear a succession of fabulous outfits and hairstyles.

Raoul Walsh takes a break from rugged outdoor action to guide the convolutions of this overpowering femme drama towards one of those grand, dramatically satisfying endings that in actuality resolve nothing.

This atmospheric drama is Warners film making at near its best. Part family drama, part nightclub story with many touches of noir thrown in this is a fine example of what could be termed a factory film from Hollywood's golden age. That is meant to be a compliment, by having all the necessary components on salary...actors, directors and technicians the studios were able to turn out fine entertainments like this consistently.

As far as this particular picture goes it contains what might be Ida Lupino's best performance she's saucy, funny but still able to do the heavy lifting dramatics that the role requires at times. Plus she looks sensational, her clothes are amazing she wears them with great style and dig the forties slang they sling around.

Also quite good is Robert Alda as a sleazy nightclub owner and Dolores Moran as an incredibly beautiful but very foolish tramp across the hall. The film's only real weak spot is Bruce Bennett a handsome but bland leading man who is miscast as a man of mystery that Ida finds irresistible, that's the problem he is very easily resistible. If the part had been cast with an actor with a more charismatic presence like Kirk Douglas or Robert Mitchum it would have made the picture even stronger.

This was the inspiration for Scorsese's New York, New York and while the story differs it's easy to see his influences with the atmosphere here. A fine film overall anchored by great work from one of the best and most undervalued of actresses Ida Lupino.

Well, it's definitely the best film that I've seen set in Long Beach! And I agree with the majority of IMDB reviewers who call it Ida L's best performance, although I would add that it should share pride of place with "High Sierra", also directed by Raoul Walsh. This leads me to muse on how versatile a director Walsh is. This hard bitten guy, so at home in the gangster, western and war pic genres, aint half bad at chick flics. Indeed, the best scenes of this film revolve around the joys and miseries (mostly the later) of its three main female characters. It is here where Catherine Turney's dialogue from Maritta Wolff's novel is at its sharpest and most insightful. Conversely, when the gals share the screen with Robert Alda's paint by the numbers ladies man/ thug, Bruce Bennet's rather dull, sad sack jazz pianist and Don McGuire's eternally jealous husband Turney's writing gets kinda noir cliche and mushy. So let's give this film a generous B minus for its fine, jazzy score, the performances of Lupino and Dolores Moran and a nice Alan Hale turn as a kindly if lecherous nightclub manager.

PS...When Bennet plays the piano he looks eerily like Hoagy Carmichael.