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Leftist filmmakers crafted a highly unusual mix of unusually no-holds barred portrayal of poor, working-class people facing longerm unemployment, with sugarry, impossibly idealized romance between the couple played by Fontaine and Stevens. Fontaine is a bit too upper class and much too well groomed to be believable in her role, and the ever-sweet and consumed by love character she plays becomes unbelievable as well. The theme music is repeated endlessly throughout the film, and it's a bit too much too.

John Barry proves himself a talented director in his staging of ensemble scenes, which feature agressive, fast-talking extended family, talking over each other in a way rare in Hollywood movies. Some of his staging of the actors and how they are photographed is creative too. Too bad his American directing career was cut short by the blacklist.

That's Jane Greer singing the movie's theme song in a mid-movie scene, though she's unrecognizable blurred and way in the background.

Unfortunately the version of the film uploaded currently by a YouTube user is murky, low resolution, just barely watchable, but as of now, it seems to be the only version of the film on YouTube.

This mediocre film mostly wastes the comic talents of the cast. It's instructive to compare the terrific comic performances of Bracken, Vallee, and Hutton in Preston Stuges films, and their so-so or worse performances here -- few laughs, no wit. Vallee especially is a completely charmless oaf in this film, while he is very funny and charming in a very similar role in The Palm Beach Story. Eric Blore is completely wasted, given almost nothing to do and is photographed in partial shadow in a couple of shots.

There are a couple of good songs, Murder She Says, a Hutton classic with lyrics by Frank Loesser, and Let's Get Lost, a pleasant ballad that has had a modest life beyond this film.

Mary Martin does a good job with her songs, she's energetic and sings as well as she did in her later Broadway shows. But she's a bit weak on charisma and star quality. Dick Powell is competent, but seems bored. It's no wonder that both stars were dropped by Paramount or visa versa soon after this movie. Of course that worked out great, as Martin and Powell did their best work in the years that followed.

Interesting that one of the reviewers here mentioned this movie might have been orignially written as a Crosby-Hope Road picture. I can really understand that that might have been the case.

James Dunn is way too old as a romantic partner for very young Monna Freeman, who is barely old enough to carry off her age and sophistication shifting role. Even in the 1940's I'll bet more than a few eyebrows were raised at the age inappropriateness; he looks almost old enough to be her grandfather. And June Duprez is too young to be the mother of a 20 year old girl; Duprez was 28 at the time.

Despite their age inappropriateness, all three are convincing in their acting. British Duprez does an excellent American accent. But the film's story is Hollywood moralistic nonsense - Catholic conservative, audience bait. And it suffers from having to adhere to Breen office censorship -- Ziggy's mother is obviously meant to be a prostitute and perhaps Ziggy as well, but they can't more than barely hint at that, and it weakens the story.

Also a minus - The Dunn character's stereotyical and theatrically phony Irish mother.