It is my prayer that after you see this film, you do not have that repetitive music theme going through your head overnight. The music even appears over a jukebox in a dive bar as a song and is completely unmemorable. If that isn't ridiculous repetition, the site of John Ericsson constantly climbing up the giant power plant that he is apparently afraid of over and over will have you rolling your eyes over and over as well. At one point, he is seen climbing up it late at night with femme fatale Mari Blanchard behind him, apparently trying to help him over his fear of heights as a result of a memory of having witnessed someone killed on it earlier on.
In the 1930s and early 40s, Warner Brothers film a similar version of this story three times, and at least they had a decent script and memorable actors. Edward G Robinson appeared in two of those versions ("Tiger Shark" and "Manpower"), the last of which is now considered a classic thanks to the presence of George Raft and Marlene Dietrich in creating a truly memorable triangle. Ironically, Alan Hale Jr. appears in this film, pretty much playing the same role that his father Alan Hale Sr. played in that version.
The general story has Erickson coming onto the crew of Charles McGraw and basically being seduced by his gal, the trampy Mari Blanchard, and when everything is revealed, becoming the attempted victim of McGraw's wrath. The men in this job seem to be interested in doing nothing but drinking and fighting and the violence of the film is overwhelming and unpleasant. Blanchard's character to has no real motivation and that makes her actions truly unbelievable.
As a result of pretty much the same set being used over and over, even though this is filmed outdoors, it feels very static. I would not call this film a remake of the other three unrelated films at Warner Brothers, but I wouldn't put it past the desperate Allied Artists to do what they could to rush out a thriller like this and change the details without doing anything really to come up with a decent script.
In the 1930s and early 40s, Warner Brothers film a similar version of this story three times, and at least they had a decent script and memorable actors. Edward G Robinson appeared in two of those versions ("Tiger Shark" and "Manpower"), the last of which is now considered a classic thanks to the presence of George Raft and Marlene Dietrich in creating a truly memorable triangle. Ironically, Alan Hale Jr. appears in this film, pretty much playing the same role that his father Alan Hale Sr. played in that version.
The general story has Erickson coming onto the crew of Charles McGraw and basically being seduced by his gal, the trampy Mari Blanchard, and when everything is revealed, becoming the attempted victim of McGraw's wrath. The men in this job seem to be interested in doing nothing but drinking and fighting and the violence of the film is overwhelming and unpleasant. Blanchard's character to has no real motivation and that makes her actions truly unbelievable.
As a result of pretty much the same set being used over and over, even though this is filmed outdoors, it feels very static. I would not call this film a remake of the other three unrelated films at Warner Brothers, but I wouldn't put it past the desperate Allied Artists to do what they could to rush out a thriller like this and change the details without doing anything really to come up with a decent script.