The Man Who Walked Alone

PRC was a very tiny studio with the lowest of budgets. One big way they saved money was to pay their writers practically nothing for their scripts--and it's painfully obvious in "The Man Who Walked Alone". While I enjoyed the leading man, Dave O'Brien, he just couldn't make up for a script that was written for peanuts.

The film begins with O'Brien trying to thumb for a ride--and with no success. So, in desperation, he tries what an annoying farmer tells him--and jumps into the road at the next car. Well, it causes a minor accident and instant hatred erupts between the lady driver and O'Brien....and it was a cliché that the two would soon fall in love. But, in the meantime, some kooky things occur and they go to jail TWICE and yet they somehow have gone from hating the sight of each other to making eyes at each other--something that made no sense at all. In fact, the writer seemed to toss in many story elements--few that worked and the plot just seemed forced and quite contrived. None of it was believable or made sense--and I really couldn't wait for this ultra-cheapie to end.

Dave "Tex" O'Brien has been one of my favorites for a long time. He is best known for his cowboy roles, and/or his hapless character in the "Pete Smith" shorts, but here he proved once and for all that He Was An Actor.

Kay Aldridge, best known for "Nyoka," proves to be adorable in her city-slicker role. She was not only lovely, with an expressive face, but she showed herself perfect as a poor little rich girl, who is pressured by her family and their wealth, and always urged to do the right thing -- which is what other people tell her, not what she decides.

There is an excellent cast, including Smith Ballew in a role of the type I've never seen him in before, and he too showed a side of himself that should have had casting directors lining up. Well, he did OK as a recording artist, so maybe that was enough for him. But, to me, he should have been in more movies.

Walter Catlett, Vivian Oakland, Guinn Williams and so many others helped make this PRC production one of the best ever to come from that studio, and absolutely worthy of any studio.

There is one other performer needing special attention: Nancy June Robinson played the precocious little sister, and she was a stand-out! I have seen very few actors her age who were so natural, so expressive, so controlled, yet she made only two movies, according to IMDb. What a shame!

Christy Cabanne, that veteran, was both director and one of the writers, and he deserves mountains of praise for both roles. The other writer, Robert Lee Johnson, and Cabanne produced a charming and often downright funny script, well performed at every level by some of the best character actors in Hollywood.

Frankly, this is not what I would expect from PRC, and perhaps shame on me, for it is thoroughgoing entertainment, produced near the end of World War II, showing some of the costs of that war, and presenting a lot of very likable people we'd enjoy knowing even better.

There is a print at YouTube with a few glitches (and those obnoxious YouTube commercials!) but "The Man Who Walked Alone" is such a joy, a real treasure, you probably won't notice anything but the movie itself.

This movie is something of a find. With so many movies made at the time, many were bound to slip under the radar. This one did, sadly. The story is engaging from the start and never droops. It's a total joy. Considering it was made by one of the smaller studios, the sets looked good and the story was excellent. But really it's the acting by the two little known leads that makes this so watchable. Dave O'Brien, playing the kind of role that would normally have to gone to Cary Grant or Joel McCrea, proves he was as good as anyone at playing screw ball comedy. Kay Aldridge is stunningly beautiful as the female lead that would normally have gone to Claudette Colbert or Jean Arthur and is a revelation. Miss Aldridge bares more than a passing resemblance to Vivien Leigh, and at times sounds like her. Which is no bad thing considering how good Vivien Leigh was. She and Dave O'Brien have great chemistry together in this. The rest of the cast are just as good and I would recommend this movie to anyone to watch.

Dave O'Brien is Marion: Just home from the war, he carries his uniform in a suitcase instead of wearing it. Kay Aldridge is Willie, a rich girl on the road alone and keeping a low profile. He's hitchhiking; she reluctantly picks him up. Marion tells Willie she's got idle rich written all over her—and she assumes he's out of uniform because he's a deserter. It's the old hate at first sight setup.

Things develop, of course, and O'Brien and Aldridge make a great pair, even though not much surprises about the way their relationship turns and progresses. Together and separately, both stars look fine and appear very much at home in this easy going romance that includes plenty of laughs, some fun supporting characters, and a happy portion of patriotic sentiment.

Walter Catlett is very funny as Wiggins the butler—we first meet him in his lodge outfit, complete with cocked hat and epaulettes, arriving home from a "meeting" somewhat tipsy. Fourteen-year-old Nancy June Robinson is also hilarious as the precocious little sister out to get herself an education.

Overall, it's no classic but really sweet. O'Brien is just about right as a sort of Everyman, circa 1945—returning home from the war to a home he doesn't really know. A slight tale, yes…but warm and hopeful.

One startling and hilarious scene: Having run out of gas and walked to a station, O'Brien arrives back at the car with a gallon of gas in a jar…a clear glass jar like you would buy cider in. He pours the gas into the tank….then casually tosses the empty jar aside into the ditch.

This film is an amazing display of genius in story telling through motion pictures. Christy Cabanne wrote and directed this quiet masterpiece. This is one of those movies where no changes could be wanted in its structuring. The scenes follow at a perfect pace, not slow, and not too fast. The chosen actors bring to life the parts they were intended for. All were well chosen...especially Kay Aldridge who at last gets to show a fuller scope of her acting talent. The script has been composed with an intelligence that is far higher than most scripts. The interplay of banter has a natural tone common only to something composed with a high IQ. I would love to comment on the subtle representations in the film but this would end up a set of spoilers for one of the great achievements in an unusual story made believable in this superior production.