It would be unfair to review this 1939 movie using todays ways of thinking & writing,
SO I will say I did not mind the over acting by the supporting players---Lee J.Cobb,Sam Levine & the young lady playing Sam Levine's wife.
I also did not mind the sexist & racial overtones in some of the lines. This was the way they spoke in 1939, they did not think that the lines were sexist or racial.
However I did mind the change of the ending.
Cifford Odets wrote a drama with a tragic ending. Lewis Meltzer & three others wrote the screenplay & made the ending a typical Hollywood happy ending. SPOILER ALERT in the play BOTH Joe & Lorna die,, In fact I had thought one did die in the film. This change SPOILED the entire meaning of the play. I cant remember how long ago it was when I last saw this.
William Holden was very good in his first major screen role,(he even looked younger than his 21 years. Barbara Stanwyck is excellent as Lorna, I did not mind too much that she was not as trampish as in the play. Lee J.Cobb plays Joe's father looking 30 years older than his actual 27 years. Adolph Menjou is equally good as the manager Tom Moody.
The play was a dramatic tragedy BUT the resulting film directed by Rouben Mamoulian is an somewhat interesting but well made failure.
Ratings **1/2 (out of 4)71 points (out of 100) IMDb 6 (out of 10_
SO I will say I did not mind the over acting by the supporting players---Lee J.Cobb,Sam Levine & the young lady playing Sam Levine's wife.
I also did not mind the sexist & racial overtones in some of the lines. This was the way they spoke in 1939, they did not think that the lines were sexist or racial.
However I did mind the change of the ending.
Cifford Odets wrote a drama with a tragic ending. Lewis Meltzer & three others wrote the screenplay & made the ending a typical Hollywood happy ending. SPOILER ALERT in the play BOTH Joe & Lorna die,, In fact I had thought one did die in the film. This change SPOILED the entire meaning of the play. I cant remember how long ago it was when I last saw this.
William Holden was very good in his first major screen role,(he even looked younger than his 21 years. Barbara Stanwyck is excellent as Lorna, I did not mind too much that she was not as trampish as in the play. Lee J.Cobb plays Joe's father looking 30 years older than his actual 27 years. Adolph Menjou is equally good as the manager Tom Moody.
The play was a dramatic tragedy BUT the resulting film directed by Rouben Mamoulian is an somewhat interesting but well made failure.
Ratings **1/2 (out of 4)71 points (out of 100) IMDb 6 (out of 10_