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Far from vintage Fritz Lang, but still enjoyable in its high-strung melodramatic antics, accentuated in a needlessly symbolic way by the raging of the sea and the clouding over of the sky.

Tough girl Barbara Stanwyck returns to her hometown after ten years of being the mistress of a married man. "Home is where you come, when you run out of places", she says, characteristically". She meets and marries simple, goodhearted fisherman Paul Douglas, but is bored by ordinary married life: "Every day you get a little older, lonelier, stupider", and soon succumbs to her attraction to cynical, boozy movie projectionist Robert Ryan.

The power of 'Clash by Night' lies not in its trite plot or in its overblown imagery, but in the no-nonsense acting of Stanwyck and Ryan, tough as nails but raw at the core. They have an animal eroticism together between them that sparkles like fireworks, but they are also, alas, quite self-pitying.

Many of the bit parts are surprisingly unsavory, but then we also get the young Marilyn Monroe as the naive young girl who hopes to marry Stanwyck's hunky brother, played by Keith Andes, more often than not strutting his naked torso.

The subheading in the IMDb page for "Clash by Night" calls this film noir. Many fans of the genre may be disappointed. It does have one of the great film noir directors in Fritz Lang and stars two of the genres foremost performers in Barbara Stanwyck(DOUBLE INDEMNITY) and Robert Ryan(The Set Up). However, the style is more romantic drama than film noir. It reminds me of the filmed plays by Elia Kazan like "A Streetcar Named Desire". It even has a character screaming a name out the window. I guess the crime element is missing here but I guess infidelity would fit. The dialogue is up to the standard you'd expect a luminary like Clifford Odets to create. I was unsure if I would agree with the way the film ended but the characterization and plot were so well done, I knew that the ending would not disappoint. I was right.

Barbara Stanwyck is so good at playing rough-hewn women--characters with a cynical edge--that it's easy to take her presence here for granted. Once again, she's remarkably fine cast as a tough cookie returning to her hometown along the waterfront and eventually reuniting with her estranged brother. Meanwhile, Marilyn Monroe is fun as a sassy local girl (although her lines sound as if they were looped in post-production) and Paul Douglas is terrific as usual playing a lovestruck skipper. Tempestuous melodrama from director Fritz Lang is decent fare, with heated emotions and florid dialogue, but perhaps more subtlety and nuance would've made it a more memorable picture. **1/2 from ****

CLASH BY NIGHT is a melodrama that betrays its stageplay origins with some artful but sometimes arty dialogue that attempts to get us beneath the skin of its three main characters--and occasionally does. But it's a tribute to the acting skill of Stanwyck, Paul Douglas and Robert Ryan that their characters come alive with all their flaws and longings exposed.

Barbara is excellent as a woman who returns to a fishing village after a long time away, a bitter, defeated woman still trying to find a niche for herself. Paul Douglas does a remarkably fine job as a good-hearted man, simplistic in nature, who latches onto her only to have her betray him with the lusty Robert Ryan. Lookers on include two very interesting performers--Keith Andes and Marilyn Monroe (on her way up). Andes breathes life into the role of Barbara's disgruntled brother and should have been groomed for stardom--he had the looks and appeal of a major star.

A somewhat downbeat ending resolves the conflict--but along the way there are some very high-strung moments from Stanwyck that she plays to perfection. Marilyn Monroe demonstrates talent in a minor role.

A bit talky and stagebound in some scenes--but an interesting melodrama thanks mainly to the gripping performances of Stanwyck, Douglas and Ryan. Ryan would have made a great Stanley Kowalski in 'Streetcar' based on his drunk scene in this one. He can play a brute about as well as anyone and here he's quite an actor, matching Stanwyck's intense performance with a sturdy one of his own.

An utterly unflinching and engaging drama though not much entertainment for the masses , dealing with a wayward woman with a past , Mae Doyle (Barbara Stanwick), who comes back to her hometown and marries a good-natured , amiable fisherman (Paul Douglas) and subsequently has a baby . Her marriage is lucky but restless , then gravitating towards her deep wishes and Mae beds his best friend (the two-fisted but sensual Robert Ryan) . While , her brother Joe (Keith Andes) fears that his girlfriend , fish cannery worker Peggy (Marilyn Monroe), follows her steps and winds up like Mae. Beautifully Outspoken!". My Guy is Afraid to Marry Me!". They called it love! But that isn't what the whole town whispered...nor the ugly name the husband gave it when he found out...too late!. Livin' in my house! Lovin' another man! Is that what you call bein' honest?. That's just givin' it a nice name! .

This classic flick contains emotion , gritty realism, triangular drama , outstanding interpretations and atmospheric scenarios in black and white well photographed by great Nicholas Musuraca who along with John Alton and John Seitz are the essential cameramen of Film Noir. All of them make this a slice-of-life tragedy that lingers in the memory . Based on Clifford Odets play , it displays a seamy storyline that is exploited to the hilt by master director Fritz Lang . RKO film production put all the force of the screen into a challenging drama of furious passions and though there are pretty, excessive dialogues , it is entertaining enough . Barbara Stanwick provides another of her strong characterizations as an impulsive , cynical woman who marries good-tempered Jerry/Paul Douglas only to find herself drawn to Jerry's friend Earl , tough Robert Ryan . Resulting to be a psychological , dark drama about fatalism , duplicity , pessimism and human passions.

The motion picture was competently directed by Fritz Lang . This great German filmmaker Fritz Lang directed masterfully all kind of genres as Noir cinema , such as ¨Big heat¨ , ¨Scarlet Street¨ and ¨Beyond a reasonable doubt¨ , Epic as ¨Nibelungs¨, suspense and drama as ¨Secret beyond the door¨, ¨Clash by night¨ , Western as ¨Rancho Notorious¨ and ¨Return of Frank James¨ and, of course , Adventure as ¨Moonfleet¨ . This good drama ¨Clash by Night¨1952 with lots of exciting and thrilling moments will appeal to Barbara Stanwick , Marilyn Monroe and Robert Ryan fans . Rating : Better than average , turning out to be a marvellous stylised drama set at a coastal village . This movie is justly recommended as one of the spotlights of Hollywood´s efforts of the early Fifties . Worthwhile watching .

Barbara Stanwyck, Paul Douglas, Robert Ryan and Marilyn Monore: wow, not a bad leading foursome of actors! I bought this because it was labeled a film noir, and I am always willing to give them a chance. Plus, with this cast, it sounded good. It turned out to be only fair because it was more of a soap opera than a noir. I guess the presence of some amoral people and a lot of wise-cracking lines made it be considered "noir."

The "amoral" people were played by Stanwyck and Ryan, of course.....who else? They are effective in those roles, too, but they should be since those two fine actors played those roles on numerous occasions. Douglas plays the simpleton good guy who gets shafted by his wife Stanwyck who has an affair with Ryan.

Monroe and her boyfriend (played by Keith Andes) have a smaller role but are just as fascinating a couple, of not ore so than the leads. The final third of this movie didn't match up the first two-thirds or this would be rated at least a 9 simply because of the great dialog in that first hour. There were so many good lines I couldn't count them all. I just wish it had stayed that way all the way thorough.

The fishing docks of San Francisco certainly was a different site, too, for a noir. To me, this should be simply classified as a "drama."

Barbara Stanwyck, Paul Douglas, Robert Ryan, Marilyn Monroe, and Keith Andes star in "Clash by Night," based on the play by Clifford Odets that flopped on Broadway. It gets the full-blown treatment on the screen, with Fritz Lang directing and a strong group of actors.

Stanwyck is a world-weary woman who comes back to her roots because "home is where you go when you run out of places," and immediately attracts male attention from both Ryan and Paul Douglas. She's instantly attracted to Ryan, and each recognizes in the other an edginess and need for excitement.

To fight these urges, which haven't brought her any joy in the past, she marries Douglas, a simple fisherman who is deeply in love with her. It's not long before she gets antsy.

The acting is terrific, but the emotions are very big - possibly too big for the screen and more suited to the stage. Though everyone is excellent, Douglas has the sympathetic role and breaks your heart as the cuckolded husband.

Ryan is great as a volcano waiting to erupt, and Stanwyck's portrayal is ferociously honest and layered. She was 45 at the time of thee filming and obviously playing someone a good 10 years younger, but it still works.

Marilyn Monroe has a supporting role playing the girlfriend of handsome Keith Andes. He mainly shows off his physique, though he was actually a good actor who had success in TV and was also a powerful singer, playing opposite Lucille Ball on Broadway in "Wildcat."

Monroe, mostly in jeans and with a swimsuit scene, is beautiful and her acting is very natural. Later on in her career, she overpronounced her words, which worked well in comedy but less so in drama.

This is a very good movie with vigorous direction by Lang. There's just not much about it that's subtle.

This Fritz Lang film has been largely ignored though in it's way it is as psychologically astute as many of his better known works such as "Scarlett Street". In transposing a Clifford Odets play from New York to a Californian fishing community some of the more florid dialogue seems unnaturally heightened but the performances of the three principals (Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan and particularly Paul Douglas) are stunning and the emotional core of the film is so strong that an audience can feel bruised by what's on screen. The blue collar milieu is perfectly evoked, the black-and-white cinematography by Nicholas Musuraca is first-rate and even the score seems understated, adding to, rather than detracting from the dramatic effect. Essential viewing.

Fritz Lang vastly improves on Clifford Odets' play by giving it legs; also surf, sand, sky and gulls. Barbara Stanwyck returns to the fishing village that hatched her now middle-aged and aimless. Her walk down the street early in the film is of the caliber of Gary Cooper. This is a woman who has lived and breathed pain and frustration all her life, and it shows in everything she does. Stanwyck has never better than she is here, and she dominates the film, vanquishing such heavyweight co-stars as Paul Douglas, Robert Ryan, J. Carroll Naish and Marilyn Monroe. Miss Stanwyck does not so much chew the scenery as stroke it; she is magnificent in this movie, which seems almost to flow from her. As her simple, trusting husband Paul Douglas is almost as good; and Robert Ryan nearly steals the show as a sadistic loser who is somehow magnetic, pathetic and yet highly observant, all at the same time. Odets' duologue is pungent and awfully good to hear. He was better than the Barton Fink caricature of several years ago. His lines ooze well thought-out ideas of cruelty and defeat, and his characters live in real, not stage or movie time. The settings are beautifully realized and explored by a very able and mobile cameraman, as for once a house in a movie actually feels lived in, frayed at the edges as real things are. Ryan's drunk scene on the screened porch benefits greatly from the credibility of the setting. Notable too is the seaside bar, which also has a porch, where a long and crucial scene takes place. It is something to see. People are always going up and down stairs in the film, which has an at times forbidding and an at other times engaging sense of the vertical. We get a taste throughout the picture of the lives of working people in the pre-Eisenhower fifties, when television was not yet ubiquitous and women collected their laundry in wicker baskets. Lang and the entire RKO team behind him deserve special praise for their efforts in this film, which frequently has the feel of Edward Hopper without ever actually suggesting the painter's work. Clash By Night offers us one direction the movies might have gone in the postwar period, and didn't. CinemaScope and 3D would sweep the nation the next year, and color was becoming more common. Soon, a specialized arty operation like RKO, which had retained at least some of its talent in the years after Howard Hughes bought the studio, would go the way of the dodo. Not until the seventies, with Scorsese and Mean Streets, would a stylized, individualized view of the real world begin to creep once more into the American film, albeit in a much different key.

clash by night is a great example of what a difference great acting can make. those were the days! story is full of usual cliches, but stanwyck, paul douglas, robert ryan, and a young marilyn monroe: wow!!! and it shows how sexy a film can be without any "sex scenes" or even a hint of nudity.

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.

The bitter and cynical Mae Doyle (Barbara Stanwyck) returns to the fishing village where she was raised after deceptive loves and life in New York. She meets her brother, the fisherman Joe Doyle (Keith Andes), and he lodges her in his home. Mae is courted by Jerry D'Amato (Paul Douglas), a good and naive man that owns the boat where Joe works, and he introduces his brutal friend Earl Pfeiffer (Robert Ryan), who works as theater's projectionist and is cheated by his wife. She does not like Earl and his jokes, but Jerry considers him his friend and they frequently see each other. Mae decides to accept the proposal of Jerry and they get married and one year later they have a baby girl. When the wife of Earl leaves him, he becomes depressed and Mae, who is bored with her loveless marriage, has an affair with him.

"Clash by Night" is an unpleasant drama with a bitter story and a moralist conclusion, actually a minor film of Master Fritz Lang in his career in Hollywood. Barbara Stanwyck has another magnificent performance in the role of a woman hardened by her bad sentimental and life experiences in the big city that returns home due to the lack of option. There is one quote ("When you run out of places, home is all you have left") that defines her mood. Paul Douglas plays a good honest man that nurses his old father, helps his crook alcoholic uncle and accepts the past of Mae Doyle, giving her a second chance. Robert Ryan plays a despicable rude man and disloyal friend. The affair between Mae and Earl has no chemistry and is only sexual desire. Last but not the least, it is delightful to see Marilyn Monroe playing a silly character. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil: "Só a Mulher Peca" ("Only the Woman Sins")

Why did Fritz Lang want to make this movie? Did he select the cast? "Clash by Night" was part of the recent TCM tribute to Lang, and following after the early European masterpieces, "Metropolis," and "M," one wonders how much Lang modified and compromised his early filmmaking ideals and style in resettling in Hollywood and jockey for financial support. I've not seen or read the original Odets play on which the film is based, but whatever Lang's reason for choosing it, one has to ask how the finished movie fits into Lang's output, especially the stark, powerful, stylized early pieces. A couple of features stand out: Lang always had a message-- nothing was mere observation -- that shaped the plot and characters' motivations. If Good and Evil stand out too sharply in black and white terms, Lang is still intent on sharp analysis of the turns and twists on the road to Good or Evil. Forces beyond individual characters' control are harnessed and made part of the characters motivations. Then Lang sets them on their inevitable course, and we watch, sometimes in shock or agony.

In "Clash," the imagery-- contrasting shots of sea, clouds, birds,etc, register his endorsement of the natural order of things as Good. In Metropolis, the natural order of humanity toward others was stamped out by the drive for materialism and industrial supremacy, Evil (historically predicating Nazism), symbolized always by the grinding and spouting machinery. All of the characters are tuned to a high pitch and respond with intensity. Lang's style of directing brought out the extremes -- the fortissimos-- in his actors, no matter whom he cast. Lang must have been an extraordinarily demanding director to elicit such razor-edge performances from his actors.

The fact that all the actors in "Clash" are familiar to us from other films meant Lang had to pit them against each other to an even keener degree. They are all desperate for something, whether they reveal it on the surface or not. For an actress like Stanwyck, this was an easily achieved emotional state, and she had to accept the concept of "aging" in her role. If anything, Lang forced her to keep her hard edges up a bit too much, allowing some softening only in the rather quick ending. This bit of character transformation happens only after she sees the true desperation that she's driven Paul Douglas to in the final scene in the film room.

Ah, yes, the film room. If that isn't an obvious set piece, I don't know what is. Ryan, as the third wheel, runs the projectors. Much of his dialogue is double-edged. And Ryan's character is the most desperate, the least yielding, even to Stanwyck, making his profession as a film projectionist ironic and something artificial, compared to the "natural" metier of Douglas and his father's as fishermen. They draw on the bounty of nature and so symbolize -- purposely and obviously -- pure goodness in human nature. Douglas gives a generous, sweet-tough-guy performance that is Ryan's match. Douglas never guesses what temptation he presents to his wife Stanwyck when he casually invites his best friend to stay with them. This generosity extends in particular to his overlooking faults, whether of his leeching uncle or his friend's sarcstic selfishness.

The role of the father, as a link to the Old Country and its solid gold ways is well-placed. His speech at the wedding puts his character in a nutshell: God made love, God made wine, God made friends, let everyone enjoy them, or some such pithy message. For a filmmaker like Lang, and other transplanted Europeans, the sacrifice of deep roots of their heritage and language could only be compensated for by an equally deep absorption of the customs and values of the New Country. Emigré geniuses like Lang, Wilder, or von Stroheim, never left anything behind, they reabsorbed and refashioned their material through their sharp perception of human nature in this new context. I think that is why we feel this movie to be beyond mere melodrama. I couldn't stop watching it -- the characters caught me in their predicament: they reach a universal dimension in the very simplicity and obviousness of their situations and temptations. Lang's role was to push them to that level recognition in themselves.

Even the seemingly secondary characters like Stanwyck's brother and his girlfriend, the latter played surprisingly and delightfully by a young Marilyn Monroe, give strong performances. Marilyn already shows her subtlety and emotional vulnerability. Her spontaneous response to Stanwyck's return to her brother's apartment at the beginning revealed a genuine charm, and she provided a needed sparkle in this otherwise grim film.

So why see "Clash"? Even a secondary work by a master bears his mark, and to see the mark and its features in the context of film history is still a worthwhile effort.

Of Four ****, three ***.

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.

In a recent biography of Barbara Stanwyck we are told that Stanwyck overcame her natural conservatism to do this adaption of a Clifford Odets play. Many changes were made to overcome not only Stanwyck's qualms, but those of RKO studio owner Howard Hughes about the work of the left leaning Odets.

Clash By Night was one of Odets's lesser works, in fact it was a flop on Broadway only running 49 performances in the 1941-1942 season. The original play takes place on Staten Island and all of Odets's left wing views are taken out of the film and it becomes a standard triangle drama.

On Broadway the roles played by Stanwyck, Paul Douglas, and Robert Ryan were originated by Tallulah Bankhead, Lee J. Cobb, and Joseph Schildkraut. One look at that original cast and you know the interpretations had to be different. Robert Ryan was also in the Broadway play in the part of Stanwyck's younger brother played in the film by Keith Andes.

Stanwyck has returned home to a fishing village, a woman who's been around the block more than a few times. Honest fisherman Paul Douglas offers her security and she marries him for it. But his bad boy friend Robert Ryan offers her more than that.

Marilyn Monroe has a key supporting role as Andes' wife. She was just starting to get some real notice and she was also starting to become one royal pain to work with. The story goes she flubbed a scene with Stanwyck many times and Stanwyck took it all quite philosophically saying that when you had a body like her's you didn't need to act. Marilyn did eventually get it right though and her performance is important her as her husband fears the bad ways of his sister might just rub off on her.

Fritz Lang directed the film, Monroe must have driven that particular set drillmaster nuts. Still he did get good performances out of his cast with a script diluted of all social significance.

Maybe the dilution is what turned a bad play into a good film.

Great film. A big film full of brooding with simmering passions and crashing waves. Barbara Stanwyck is startlingly good in the central role as she takes us with her on her domestic roller coaster ride. Will she, won't she? What is it all about? Robert Ryan does well in an equally difficult role, somewhere between rock bottom loser and confident romantic lover. Paul Douglas seems to struggle at first as the humble good guy as he verges on the buffoon, but recovers and get stronger with the changing of his role. The fishing and factory scenes are tremendous and add much to the backbone of the story, illustrating the precarious security it provides those struggling to survive each other. Monroe shines in a minor role and is as irresistible as ever despite some unflattering clothes. This is not a noir and nor is it an early Lang classic but it is what it is, a very powerful and well told (and shot) melodrama of the highest order.

Tough cookie Barbara Stanwyck finds little piece of mind after returning home from the big city to the Monterrey seashore and marrying a mild-mannered fisherman. Before long, restlessness leads her into a tawdry affair with kindred spirit Robert Ryan, a hard drinking loner and one of her trusting husband's best friends. The entire cast of characters may be troubled and/or confused, but thankfully the same shortcomings don't extend behind the camera. From a stage drama that could easily have been played as shabby melodrama, Fritz Lang directed a memorable tragedy of human misconduct, crowded with unspoken passions and permeated by a climate of impending menace.

Despite several of the genre's quintessential elements (director Fritz Lang, director of photography Nicholas Musuraca, Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Ryan), this is not a film noir in the strict sense of the word and, in fact, as was the case with DILLINGER (1945), it made for a rather baffling choice to be included in Warners' "Film Noir Collection Vol. 2"! Actually, it's one of Lang's least typical films, though his beloved theme of Man being unable to escape his Fate does in fact play a major part in the proceedings.

In any case, CLASH BY NIGHT remains full of interest throughout and the melodramatic flourishes of the (familiar) 'love triangle' plot - adapted from a stage play by Clifford Odets (hence the tendency to overstate its points from time to time) - seem to have inspired the cast and crew to give it their all: one simply can't ignore the excellent performances (including a wonderfully disarming turn from Marilyn Monroe, not yet a star) and the typically great, hard-boiled (if often, necessarily, theatrical) dialogue (my favorites are two lines delivered, in his uniquely contemptible fashion, by Ryan - having had enough of a tediously uneventful night-out at the local tavern, he exclaims: "Excuse me while I shake this dump upside down!"; and describing the failed relationship with his estranged wife with the delicious "Sometimes I'd like to stick her full of pins...just to see if blood runs out!"). Still, when all is said and done, perhaps the film's mostly notable for its remarkable documentary-style depiction of the fishing community (Monterey, California) in which it is set.

Powerful mixture of strengths - written by Odets, acted by Stanwyck and Ryan (Douglas is good, too). It seems limited by its faithfulness to the apparently successful stage version, though. Lang as director doesn't do much cinematic ally. I'd like to know why he was so restrained. Some nice on location boating sequences in the bay, but it's mostly an actors' film, and these are very good actors.

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Considering the film was directed by Fritz Lang and starred Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan and Paul Douglas, it should have been a better film. The problem is that while the overall plot of boredom and adultery is pretty interesting, the development of the characters left a lot to be desired. Despite this NOT being a film about crime of any sort, the dialog and way it was delivered sounded exactly like a pulp magazine or Film Noir flick. And while this was interesting for a short time, it just wasn't appropriate to the story. The fishing villages along the West Coast and this dialog,...together?! Also, the characters, with the exception of Paul Douglas, were awfully one-dimensional and despicable. Even though Douglas was indeed lonely, it was painfully obvious by the way she talked and treated everyone that Stanwyck was a self-absorbed tramp! And the same can definitely be said for Robert Ryan and even Douglas' uncle, played by J. Caroll Nash. I just couldn't stand them and it was ridiculous that any of these people could pass as anything other than scum--exactly the type people who nice people like Paul Douglas NEVER would have consorted with or called friends. Had the "bad" characters been bad but in a toned-down and realistic way, the movie would have been so much better. Subtle characterizations and better dialog would have lifted this movie above mediocrity. Robert Ryan was a filthy-minded drunk,...period. Stanwyck was a tramp who had run out of options but still as a tramp down deep,...period. And, Nash was a selfish sponge who wasn't worth a plug nickel,...period. No other side to their characters were revealed (except for Stanwyck who underwent some sort of bizarre conversion at the end).

And speaking of the end, the ending just seemed almost impossible to believe. Had Stanwyck shown ANY hint of being capable of loving, then it might have worked. But having this selfish woman "come to her senses" just rang hollow. Instead, the movie could have ended in many other ways that would have been more satisfying--such as a murder-suicide or something with real "punch". As it was, it ended with a whimper.