Barbara Stanwyck, Paul Douglas, Robert Ryan, Marilyn Monroe, and Keith Andes star in "Clash by Night," based on the play by Clifford Odets that flopped on Broadway. It gets the full-blown treatment on the screen, with Fritz Lang directing and a strong group of actors. Stanwyck is a world-weary woman who comes back to her roots because "home is where you go when you run out of places," and immediately attracts male attention from both Ryan and Paul Douglas. She's instantly attracted to Ryan, and each recognizes in the other an edginess and need for excitement. To fight these urges, which haven't brought her any joy in the past, she marries Douglas, a simple fisherman who is deeply in love with her. It's not long before she gets antsy.
The acting is terrific, but the emotions are very big - possibly too big for the screen and more suited to the stage. Though everyone is excellent, Douglas has the sympathetic role and breaks your heart as the cuckolded husband. Ryan is great as a volcano waiting to erupt, and Stanwyck's portrayal is ferociously honest and layered. She was 45 at the time of thee filming and obviously playing someone a good 10 years younger, but it still works.
Marilyn Monroe has a supporting role playing the girlfriend of handsome Keith Andes. He mainly shows off his physique, though he was actually a good actor who had success in TV and was also a powerful singer, playing opposite Lucille Ball on Broadway in "Wildcat." Monroe, mostly in jeans and with a swimsuit scene, is beautiful and her acting is very natural. Later on in her career, she overpronounced her words, which worked well in comedy but less so in drama.
This is a very good movie with vigorous direction by Lang. There's just not much about it that's subtle.
The acting is terrific, but the emotions are very big - possibly too big for the screen and more suited to the stage. Though everyone is excellent, Douglas has the sympathetic role and breaks your heart as the cuckolded husband. Ryan is great as a volcano waiting to erupt, and Stanwyck's portrayal is ferociously honest and layered. She was 45 at the time of thee filming and obviously playing someone a good 10 years younger, but it still works.
Marilyn Monroe has a supporting role playing the girlfriend of handsome Keith Andes. He mainly shows off his physique, though he was actually a good actor who had success in TV and was also a powerful singer, playing opposite Lucille Ball on Broadway in "Wildcat." Monroe, mostly in jeans and with a swimsuit scene, is beautiful and her acting is very natural. Later on in her career, she overpronounced her words, which worked well in comedy but less so in drama.
This is a very good movie with vigorous direction by Lang. There's just not much about it that's subtle.