A bunch of contract players are cast against type in this MGM film noir obviously brought to the screen by Dory Schary without the approval of Louis B. Mayer who preferred the studio's films to be more family style entertainment. For the studios 25th anniversary, pretty much every a film was promised to be an event, and while this is good, it doesn't Meet the standards of most of the other films they released that year. Van Johnson, better known for lighter rolls, had been a hero in the war, but this was his first truly seriously Dark film. He's a cop investigating the murder of his partner, begged by wife Arlene Dahl to quit the force, but determined to find out what happened. This leads him to a nightclub singer played by Gloria De Haven who isn't as sweet as she seems on the surface and ultimately proves to be quite deadly.
This certainly ain't the good old summertime for Van Johnson on the streets of LA, that being a reference to the light-hearted musical he made that year with Judy Garland. Dahl and De Haven seem to be playing roles that were meant for the other, and that makes their characterizations quite interesting. One of several good elements in the film is that this does not sink the female roles to minor distractions. Tom Drake and Leon Ames, supporting players in the Garland musical "Meet Me In St Louis", add more elements of MGM's musical past.
These contract players are surrounded by a bunch of strange street characters that seem like they were part of characters that Schary had in mind when he work at RKO and are out of step with MGM's straight on the line decent all Americans. The film gets shockingly violent at times, and that will jolt bored viewers awake when the film starts to get slow. Location footage also helps get D MGM photography unit out onto the streets And that gives it a unique look. Special credit must go to Caleb Peterson as the shoe shiner, breaking away from stereotypes and giving a nice performance in his one scene. Fans of the MGM musical "Till the Clouds Roll By" will remember him for his rendition of "Ol Man River". Overall, this is a nice try for MGM to outstep its usual type of film even though it would take a few more tries before they had a classic in the genre with "The Asphalt Jungle".
This certainly ain't the good old summertime for Van Johnson on the streets of LA, that being a reference to the light-hearted musical he made that year with Judy Garland. Dahl and De Haven seem to be playing roles that were meant for the other, and that makes their characterizations quite interesting. One of several good elements in the film is that this does not sink the female roles to minor distractions. Tom Drake and Leon Ames, supporting players in the Garland musical "Meet Me In St Louis", add more elements of MGM's musical past.
These contract players are surrounded by a bunch of strange street characters that seem like they were part of characters that Schary had in mind when he work at RKO and are out of step with MGM's straight on the line decent all Americans. The film gets shockingly violent at times, and that will jolt bored viewers awake when the film starts to get slow. Location footage also helps get D MGM photography unit out onto the streets And that gives it a unique look. Special credit must go to Caleb Peterson as the shoe shiner, breaking away from stereotypes and giving a nice performance in his one scene. Fans of the MGM musical "Till the Clouds Roll By" will remember him for his rendition of "Ol Man River". Overall, this is a nice try for MGM to outstep its usual type of film even though it would take a few more tries before they had a classic in the genre with "The Asphalt Jungle".