Clash by Night (1952)

Mae Doyle comes back to her hometown a cynical woman. Her brother Joe fears that his love, fish cannery worker Peggy, may wind up like Mae. Mae marries Jerry and has a baby; she is happy but restless, drawn to Jerry's friend Earl.

Director:

Fritz Lang

Writers:

Alfred Hayes (screenplay), Clifford Odets (play)

Stars:

Barbara Stanwyck, Paul Douglas, Robert Ryan

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Barbara Stanwyck	...	Mae Doyle D'Amato
Paul Douglas	...	Jerry D'Amato
Robert Ryan	...	Earl Pfeiffer
Marilyn Monroe	...	Peggy
J. Carrol Naish	...	Uncle Vince
Silvio Minciotti	...	Papa D'Amato
Keith Andes	...	Joe Doyle

Storyline

The bitter and cynical Mae Doyle 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, and he lodges her in his home. Mae is courted by Jerry D'Amato, a good and naive man that owns the boat where Joe works, and he introduces his brutal friend Earl Pfeiffer, 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.

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Plot Keywords:

baby | cannery | loveless marriage | projectionist | fishing | 

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Taglines:

Livin' in my house! Lovin' another man! Is that what you call bein' honest? That's just givin' it a nice name!

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Genres:

Drama | Film-Noir

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

4 August 1952 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Le démon s'éveille la nuit

Filming Locations:

Monterey, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures, Wald/Krasna Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was Barbara Stanwyck's first movie as a single woman, which also featured the rising young star Marilyn Monroe. Barbara gave a good performance in one of her most memorable films. Despite her emotional devastation, the crew noted Barbara's lack of a diva tantrum, Fritz Lang later said, "She's fantastic, unbelievable, and I liked her tremendously. When Marilyn missed her lines---which she did constantly---Barbara never said a word."

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Quotes

[after watching the movie, Mae and Jerry are visiting earl in the projection booth]
Earl Pfeiffer: Like the show?
Mae Doyle D'Amato: She's beautiful.
Earl Pfeiffer: Who? That celluloid angel you just saw? They oughta cut her up a little bit - she'd look more interesting.
Jerry D'Amato: Cut her up?
Earl Pfeiffer: Didn't you ever wanna cut up a beautiful dame?
Jerry D'Amato: No.
Earl Pfeiffer: Jeremiah, you're a simple man.

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Crazy Credits

and introducing Keith Andes

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Connections

Featured in Love Wanders in the Night (1981)

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Soundtracks

"Don't Cry"
Music by Sunny Skylar (uncredited)

User Reviews

Not Really A Noir, But A Decent Drama With A Different Setting

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."