Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Ryan play a couple of dissatisfied, bitter middle-aged people in 'Clash by Night', a film which may leave you as dissatisfied as it left me. It's a shame, because the combination of director Fritz Lang, Barbara Stanwyck, and Marilyn Monroe was intriguing. In the film, Stanwyck has returned to the fisheries in Monterey after failing to realize her big ambitions on the east coast, and Ryan is not happy in his marriage. Stanwyck rebuffs Ryan's advances because he's married, and then softens towards a nice guy (Paul Douglas). The film has several issues, starting with the characters being one-dimensional and not remotely likeable. Stanwyck is cynical, Douglas is cartoonishly simple, and Ryan is a glowering bully, who, among other things, gives us a highly racist and horrifying impression of Chinese people. The acting is overplayed and poor, particularly from Douglas and Ryan, but even Stanwyck's performance is uneven, though she has her moments. At various points all three actors break out into torrents of emotion in the least authentic way. There is also zero chemistry between Stanwyck and Ryan, and too often the dialogue or delivery is overwrought. Lang piles it on with obvious symbolism in shots of stormy clouds and the ocean pounding the shore. Everything about it seems heavy-handed, and on top of it all, the ending is unbelievable and groan-inducing.I would watch it just for the scenes with Marilyn Monroe, who is incidental to the main story, but delightful. She is unaffected and natural, as is Keith Andes, who plays her boyfriend (and Stanwyck's brother). I give one star for her, and one star for Stanwyck's better moments, and because I adore her so. After that, I have to say, whew it's tough. Not sure why this one gets as many high ratings as it does.

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.Although considered a film noir, and coming from Fritz Lang (who has made many noir films), I would not really put it in that category. No cops, no gangsters, no crime. The characters (at least some) are a bit seedy, but it's really more of a bad romance told in a stage-play style.Barbara Stanwyck is great as always, and this was a bit of a breakout role for Marilyn Monroe (though her part is quite small). Having Stanwyck, Monroe and Fritz Lang on the same film is quite a feat. Unfortunately, it is not the best work from any of them.

Set in Monterey, California, this movie's opening sequence with its early-morning shots of people at work quickly illustrates the importance of the fishing industry to the local economy and crashing waves signal the turmoil that follows when one of the town's residents returns after an absence of ten years. Emotions run high in this tale of betrayal, adultery and selfishness whilst the passions of its characters ensure that violence, or the threat of it, is never far away.When Mae Doyle (Barbara Stanwyck) returns to Monterey, she says it's because "home is where you come when you run out of places" and describes her life in four words "big ideas, small results". Deeply cynical and disillusioned after years in the big city, she comes back to her old home where her younger brother Joe (Keith Andes) is less than thrilled to welcome her back and after a couple of weeks, she starts a relationship with Joe's boss Jerry D'Amato (Paul Douglas). On their first date, fishing boat owner Jerry, introduces Mae to his good friend Earl Pfeiffer (Robert Ryan) who's a movie projectionist. He's immediately attracted to Mae but she says she doesn't like him.Good-natured Jerry and the more sophisticated Mae decide to get married despite her admission that she doesn't love him. She marries mainly for the security and stability she thinks it'll give her and when she also becomes a mother, Jerry's extremely happy. The restlessness that had always been a part of Mae's character starts to trouble her again when she gets bored with her married life and soon after, starts an affair with Earl. He's a hard-drinking woman-hater who's recently divorced his wife who was a touring burlesque performer. When Jerry's told about the affair, he challenges his wife and his friend face-to-face and Mae says she wants to stay with Earl but the events that follow, make the final outcome uncertain right up to the story's dramatic conclusion.Loneliness or the fear of it plays a significant part in the relationships of the main characters as it's an implied factor when Mae hooks up with Earl and then later, when Jerry wants to take her back, she says "everyone is lonely, lost". Earl, on another occasion says "help me Mae, I'm dying of loneliness" and Jerry, after recognising his father's loneliness, says to Mae "I suppose that's what everyone's afraid of, getting old and lonely". The link between powerful passions and violence is also referred to as Joe makes it clear to his girlfriend Peggy (Marilyn Monroe) that he considers it perfectly acceptable for a man to give his wife a black eye if necessary and even more powerfully, when the extremely mild-mannered Jerry becomes determined to strangle Earl to death.The opening sequence of this movie is very effective and the grim realism of the melodrama that follows adds greatly to its power and authenticity. The quality of the acting is also generally good with Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Ryan standing out and Marilyn Monroe making a strong impression in one of her earliest dramatic roles as the very spirited Peggy.

Tough cookie Barbara Stanwyck finds little piece of mind after returning home from the big city to the Monterrey seashore and marrying a mild-mannered fisherman. Before long, restlessness leads her into a tawdry affair with kindred spirit Robert Ryan, a hard drinking loner and one of her trusting husband's best friends. The entire cast of characters may be troubled and/or confused, but thankfully the same shortcomings don't extend behind the camera. From a stage drama that could easily have been played as shabby melodrama, Fritz Lang directed a memorable tragedy of human misconduct, crowded with unspoken passions and permeated by a climate of impending menace.