Sorry, this movie sucks

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

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

Preminger points allow this film a much higher than deserved rating. It's a dull sleeper from the start. The acting is wooden and not believable. People just don't behave like that and the dialogue would have been phony even it's day. The film hasn't aged badly, it's just bad and always was. I tried and tried to like the film and gave it every angle but it's not there. This is a poorly scripted and poorly acted film. There are some nice scenes and lighting is interesting. But it's got nothing beyond that.

(Flash Review)The protagonist, Eric, should enter politics as he can sweet talk anyone, make falsehoods quickly believable and be so persuasive and persistent that people go along with his desires. By chance Eric ends up in a small town and is short on money....an honesty. While attempting to pursue an attractive waitress, he concocts a plan to acquire a large financial sum and escape town with her and start a new chapter in his life. Eric later finds himself trying to tap dance out of his scheme as new wrenches are thrown into the mix. How many lies will he tell and how many people will he mislead? Will his ultimate scheme workout or will he be lucky to get out of town? This was a quality Film Noir that clipped along at a nice rate with a clever screen play and quality acting. Entertaining to see how the story plays out with amusing period dialog.

Penniless con-man Eric Stanton (Dana Andrews) gets thrown off the bus in the seaside town of Walton between L.A. and San Francisco. He is taken with sultry waitress Stella (Linda Darnell). He joins forces with spiritualist con-men Professor Madley and his assistant Joe Ellis. They have been trying to scam the town in spite of the powerful disbelieving spinster Clara Mills (Anne Revere) and her younger sister June (Alice Faye). The Mills lost their father and Madley pretends to have a public seance to contact the late Mr. Mills. Eric needs money to marry Stella and decides to get it out of June in a quickie marriage. He is terribly jealous of Stella's flirtations with other men.This is a noir directed by Otto Preminger coming a year after Laura. The dialog and performances are hard-boiled. The movie is pulpy goodness. The character June would work better as a young innocent. Alice Faye is playing a spinster and it's hard to see her falling for his simple self-assured flirtations. She has more worldliness than the role seems to suggest. Apparently, she didn't like the movie and left Hollywood for awhile over it. This has many of the trappings of good noir. Perminger's early prowess is on display.

No need to repeat the plot. The screen really pulsates when Darnell appears. That opening shot of her in a big hat and cheap dress, hiking up her skirt tells us all we need to know. Too bad the rest is a disappointment. According to IMDb, a number of production folks were unhappy with the final cut by head honcho Zanuck. Maybe that's why the story lacks focus, meandering from one character to another to no particular purpose. Nor do I see anything like Preminger's usual languid, moody style in the results. Instead, the scenes merely accumulate without building. For example, Carradine's phony spiritualist looks promising, but is quickly dropped. And why is King Kong's Cabot stuck in a brief part that any number of no-names could have handled, unless a number of his scenes were cut.It doesn't help that Andrews plays one of the most dislikable central characters (Eric Stanton) in noir. In my book, there's nothing redeeming about his fast-talking operator at any level, which makes the sugary June's (Faye) abject devotion all the more unbelievable. Noir protagonists are generally a moral mix that makes them more interesting than the usual one-dimensional hero of the period. Just as importantly, they manage a redeeming quality at some level. Stanton, however, is a heel through and through. As a result, the movie fails to provide a crucial center of gravity to identify with. But, whatever the reason and despite some good scenes usually involving Darnell, the movie remains a meandering disappointment.