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.

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Plot Keywords:

loveless marriage | anger | rumor | gossip | pier | 

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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 | Romance

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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

This movie was shot while Barbara Stanwyck was in the process of divorcing Robert Taylor. The movie 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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Goofs

When Mae, Jerry and Earl go out to to a club after the movie, the amount of beer in Mae's mug keeps changing between shots, as does the amount of foam in everyone's beer.

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Quotes

Earl Pfeiffer: Are you happy?
Mae Doyle D'Amato: I'm happy.
Earl Pfeiffer: No, you're not. You're just like me. You're born and you'd like to get unborn. That's why I drink that shellac, to get unborn.

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Crazy Credits

and introducing Keith Andes

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Connections

Featured in Marilyn Monroe: Beyond the Legend (1987)

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Soundtracks

I Hear a Rhapsody
Sung by Tony Martin
Written by George Fragos (uncredited), Jack Baker (uncredited) and Dick Gasparre (uncredited)

User Reviews

An interesting picture with a strong underlying sense of menace

Clearly made as a "women's picture", it is not a great movie, but it has some fine performances. The dialog varies from strong to slightly self-conscious. But what's interesting about this film is the persistent, underlying sense of menace. The triangle situation is familiar, and perhaps the presence of Stanwyck and Robert Ryan make one suspect that something deadly is going to happen. But because of the intended audience, the bulk of the violence is emotional, psychological violence. I think it is director Lang's touch that makes this stuff so scary. It's hard to shake the fear that the consequences will finally come any moment, and that they will be fatal, final.