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, Robert Ryan, Paul Douglas

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.

---

Plot Keywords:

loveless marriage | anger | rumor | gossip | pier | 

---

Taglines:

Beautifully Outspoken!

---

Genres:

Drama | Film-Noir | Romance

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

6 June 1952 (USA)

Also Known As:

Vor dem neuen Tag

Filming Locations:

RKO Studios - 780 N. Gower Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, 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

Robert Ryan also worked in the original 1941 Broadway production, which ran for 49 performances at the Belasco Theatre. He played Joe Doyle's character, played in the movie by Keith Andes.

---

Goofs

At the beach Earl asks Mae...."Where did you get those blue, blue eyes?" Barbara Stanwyck in fact had brown eyes.

---

Quotes

Uncle Vince: People talk, don't they? They got long tongues.

---

Crazy Credits

and introducing Keith Andes

---

Connections

Featured in Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light (2006)

---

Soundtracks

Blues No.8
(uncredited)
Music by Leith Stevens and Dave Torbett

User Reviews

Not really film noir.

The subheading in the IMDb page for "Clash by Night" calls this film noir. Many fans of the genre may be disappointed. It does have one of the great film noir directors in Fritz Lang and stars two of the genres foremost performers in Barbara Stanwyck(DOUBLE INDEMNITY) and Robert Ryan(The Set Up). However, the style is more romantic drama than film noir. It reminds me of the filmed plays by Elia Kazan like "A Streetcar Named Desire". It even has a character screaming a name out the window. I guess the crime element is missing here but I guess infidelity would fit. The dialogue is up to the standard you'd expect a luminary like Clifford Odets to create. I was unsure if I would agree with the way the film ended but the characterization and plot were so well done, I knew that the ending would not disappoint. I was right.