Clash by Night 1952

     This film is based on an original 1941 Broadway production.  Mae Doyle has been living in New York.  Her life didn’t go as she planned and she comes home to the fishing village she left behind.  Her younger brother Joe has been living in the family home and he’s surprised to see that Mae has returned.  Jerry D’Amato has a large fishing boat and he makes a good living off the catch.  Joe has been working on Jerry’s boat.  Jerry falls in love with Mae right away.  He’s not the kind of guy that Mae usually likes.  He’s steady, honest and he isn’t a player.  Earl is Jerry’s friend and Mae doesn’t like him.  He’s everything she used to chase.  Mae decides to accept Jerry’s proposal and a year later they have baby girl Gloria.  Earl has been married but his wife divorces him.

      Boredom and what you have always done start to come back if you don’t chase it away.  The grass on the other side of the fence looks a lot greener than the weed patch where you’re living.  Sometimes you can get your smarts back and adjust yourself to the good life that you are living.  There is a lot of emotional rawness in this film and I was surprised about it because of the time period.  3 ½* (I liked this movie) 

105 min, Drama directed by Fritz Lang with Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan, Paul Douglas, Marilyn Monroe, J. Carrol Naish, Silvio Minciotti, Keith Andes.

Note:  Imdb 7.2 out of 10, 73% critic 71% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 4.4* out of 5*, TCM Leonard Maltin 3* out of 4* user 4* out of 5*.

Special Note:  Filmed in Monterey, California.  During the production of this film Barbara Stanwyck was in the process of divorcing Robert Taylor.  Director Fritz Lang noticed Barbara was not having any diva tantrums?  She was devastated emotionally by her divorce.  Despite this being one of her first starring roles, Marilyn Monroe was constantly missing her lines.  Her acting coach stood behind director Lang and she would tell Marilyn if her scene was good enough.  Lang was upset because Marilyn should be listening to his direction instead.  During this time period, it was common for people to walk into the theater after the beginning.  Then, they would stay until the part where they came in was shown again.  The Broadway production ran for 49 performances at the Belasco Theatre.  Robert Ryan played the Joe Doyle character, Tallulah Bankhead had the role of Mae and Lee J. Cobb was Jerry.  Earl’s car is a 1949 Plymouth Special Deluxe convertible coupe.  Fully restored, the car would be worth up to $50,000 in 2016.  There is another film with the same title from 1959.