Sick Product of a Sick System

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

... and a fairly accurate depiction of how people in 1950 would have reacted to her. Too many people - then and now - believe in "the just world syndrome " in which they believe that a completely innocent person going about their business could never be victim of such a brutal crime, because if they did believe this was possible, then it could happen to them, and that is just too upsetting to people who think they have a good bead on the world and how it runs.It's interesting that director Ida Lupino tackled this difficult subject with as much reality as was possible with the production code in force, and that she also picked as the protagonist of the film a girl that looked very much like herself as a young woman - Mala Powers, only 19 when this film was made.The basic framework is that Mala's character, Ann Walton, is attacked by a complete stranger late at night in a small town while walking home from work. The whole town thus knows what happened to her, she is subject to staring and whispering, and then her boyfriend thinks the answer is to get married right away. But Ann feels dirty and doesn't want any man to touch her, and halfway thinks her beau is proposing - and wanting a quick wedding out of town - out of pity for her and to make an honest woman of her, but without the curiosity seekers that a big wedding might attract.A real telling scene is when she goes around her house, touching objects, as though she is a ghost of herself trying to remember what things were like before, and comes across a picture of herself at her first communion all decked out in white and smashes the picture, as though any purity in her died with the rape.She runs away from home - she is a grown woman so she is missing more than she is truant - and tries to pick up the pieces of her life, but still with the image of the man who attacked her haunting her. Big doses of Christianity are injected as to the cure to everything - after all this is 1950 - but I also objected to the implication of all of society's ills as being psychiatric in nature. The preacher at the end is basically saying that Ann is as mentally sick as the rapist! This was decades before society had to admit that some people are just evil and want what they want when they want it and we just need to throw away the key for the sake of the rest of us.No, I don't agree with every little thing Lupino said here, or maybe was forced to say due to the times, but it is worth watching and not that far off, at least from what victims go through in this kind of crime.

Outstanding film detailing the mental breakdown of an engaged woman who is molested while on her way home from work. The film shows what mental detachment may bring as well as the repercussions of such a terrible situation.Mala Powers was terrific in the role of the victim whose life goes complete awry after suffering such an experience. We see the stigmatization that she finds after the outrageous incident. Unable to cope, she flees her home only to find peace and tranquility on a farm and the love of a minister finding his own way after his experiences during World War 11.We see the kindness of other people, and just when things seem to be getting somewhat back on course, a very forward guy leads Powers to imagine her previous incident and therefore with near tragic consequences.This was beautifully directed by Ida Lupino and shows the goodness of people in attempting to aid a lost soul.

What an incredible film! The scene where Mala Powers' character is stalked, right before the rape, is on a par with anything Hitchcock ever did. And the line-up scene, a bit later in the film, with its quick cuts from one potentially guilty face to the next, is truly suspenseful. A nationally known critic seems to think the filmmakers presented an optimistic viewpoint about a rape victim's recovery, but I slightly disagree. I would say that Ida Lupino's direction shows much more ambiguity, and that it is not going to be easy for the main character to continue rebuilding her life in a society like ours. How is she ever going to be able to trust a man again? This is thoughtful cinema at its best. Definitely worth seeing.

The term "Rape" was unmentionable on the Screen in 1950. So here it is referred to as "Criminal Assault/Attack". If this seems silly and dated, just think of the 1980's when we had a President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, who refused to utter the word "Aids" as thousands were suffering and dying. So maybe we haven't matured that much after all.Maverick Female Film Star/Director Ida Lupino determined to break barriers and push for Women's Rights decided to approach the Taboo and deliver a Story of a previously unseen on the Screen Fear facing Females everywhere. She handled it quite well, considering, although there are some missteps and considerations given here that make this a noble, but flawed effort. The first half is the most uncompromising, with its expressionistic use of the Camera and a terrifying cat and mouse chase that ends with the aforementioned "assault".But after that the situations begin to become clichéd and comfortable ways to allow the Victim to come to grips with her Anxiety. The Hollywood Code would interfere greatly and there is one scene that is completely condescending to a Male Stereotype and Cultural Mythology as she is pawed and mashed, defends herself, and is arrested because the brute is "a nice guy". This doesn't seem to be presented as Irony, as His harsh advances are never questioned, and the Film has to be faulted for that misstep.Overall though it is and Icon of the era and is noted for its breakthrough of at least tackling the subject matter, but it probably played it just a bit too safe to be considered more than a somewhat tepid try at breaking the Paradigm.