Reminiscent of a John Garfield film

I think this is a terrific film. Steve Cochran and Ruth Roman give very affecting performances, and the story, of redemption, is kind of touching. There are inconsistencies, to be sure, and the tidy ending has been criticized, but overall, I think it's a pretty good "B+" film. It's the first time I've seen Cochran play a nice guy, and he does it well. The scenes at the beginning, just after he gets out of prison, are well done. He wanders around in a daze, looking at the wonders of modern life in amazement (power windows on cars, women's fashions, etc.). He went into prison at age 13, is now 32, and, naturally enough, has the emotions and social experiences of an adolescent. Cochran conveys this sense of a kid trapped in an adult's body quite effectively. An innocent cut loose in a hard-boiled world. It shows that he was capable of more than being just the heavy. You think of Cochran in movies like "White Heat,' and the Danny Kaye films, where he's a really frightening guy. Nice to know that bad guys have their sweeter sides, too!

I couldn't help but think that had this been made 10 years earlier, John Garfield and Priscilla Lane would have been the leads here. The film is quite similar to a number of Garfield movies, particularly "Dust Be My Destiny." The same theme of an innocent couple on the road, trying to go straight, and struggling to find their way in the world. Garfield was a master at portraying tough-but-vulnerable outcasts, and this part would have fit him like a glove. Priscilla Lane had a softer persona than Ruth Roman does here, but both actresses would have been good in that part. Some reviewers think Roman finds her good side a little too quickly, but it is a 90-minute film, and they didn't have all day. I think her metamorphosis is fairly believable, as lots of folks start off on the wrong track, and eventually find their way back.

I've always been a sucker for films about innocent, basically good characters who are forced into situations beyond their control, and of how they cope with an often unfriendly, hostile world. The ex-convict theme is a good one, and there are a number of excellent films along these lines. The Garfield ones, in particular. It's one reason I've always liked the James Whale- Boris Karloff Frankenstein films, where the Monster is betrayed and abandoned, and left to fend for himself in an unfeeling world. He is also a mental adolescent, and deals with the world in a manner not unlike that of the protagonists in these social noir films.
In "Frankenstein," when he escapes from the laboratory, and stumbles into the world, and in "Bride of Frankenstein," where he wanders the countryside, just looking for a friend. I guess we can all identify with that stuff.

I'd be interested to see Cochran in another good-guy part, though I don't know if he made many of those. He was so effective as a heavy, as with his "Big Ed" in "White Heat," and the thug in "Highway 301," that I guess he was stuck with that persona. He must have been a charmer, though, as the ladies in Hollywood sure liked him-- Merle Oberon, and many others. Seems fair, as he got bumped off in so many movies.