This is an engrossing drama, well-shot in Cinemascope black and white, and never got the recognition it deserved. It was never on VHS or DVD, perhaps because of the basically unknown stars and unusual subject matter. A 10-year-old disabled boy (Michel Ray) blames an innocent man for the death of another on the beach. Soon the boy's widowed mother (Cornell Borchers) falls for a neighbor (George Nader), who is a friend of the accused. Ray, of mixed parentage, is striking as the embittered kid, Nader is a bit wooden as ususal, but like another reviewer noted, Borchers is outstanding as a character with no love life (her husband had died 5 years before in the car accident that injured the boy). A key scene is when she breaks down completely after Ray spurns her attention for Nader's, a heartbreaking, true-to-life portrayal. She more than faintly resembles Ingrid Bergman in appearance and voice, a Lithuanian actress who made a handful of 1950s films; this was her last American picture just before retiring.
Review of Flood Tide
