This is How Movies Should Be Made

Pretty Good

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Ruth Roman (Catherine), Steve Cochran (Bill Clark), Lurene Tuttle (Mrs Dawson), Ray Teal (Mr Dawson), Morris Ankrum (Hugh Wagner), John Kellogg (Monroe), Lee Patrick (Janet Higgins), Hugh Sanders (Conover), Stuart Randall (Frank Higgins), Bobby Hyatt (Johnny), Harry Antrim (warden), Walter Sande (sheriff).Director: FELIX E. FEIST. Screenwriters: Art Cohn, Guy Endore, based on the story "Spring Kill" by Guy Endore. Film editor: Alan Crosland Jr. Cinematographer: Robert Burks. Music director: Ray Heindorf. Music composer: Daniele Amfitheatrof. Art director: Charles H. Clarke. Producer: Henry Blanke.Copyright 18 September 1951 by Warner Brothers Pictures, Inc. New York opening at the Holiday: 8 August 1951. U.S. release: 22 September 1951. U.K. release: 25 February 1952. Australian release: 14 March 1952. 8,174 feet. 90 minutes.SYNOPSIS: After serving 18 years for the murder of his father, an embittered man of 31 falls in love with a prostitute and is involved in the shooting of a policeman.COMMENT: Well written, neatly directed, competently acted and superbly photographed melodrama. Though there is very little action, the screenplay holds the interest, achieving its impact with sharply realistic dialogue and suspenseful situations.OTHER VIEWS: This melodrama begins quite promisingly, with some neat observation of settings such as the shabby dance-hall and roadside cafés. But the material is unduly familiar — and the ending is unlikely. — Monthly Film Bulletin.

A man is released after 18 years for killing his father, and falls right into hot water again when he meets a dodgy dancehall dame. Starts out strong and fizzles out. In the early stages, it's classic noir, with an intriguing femme fatale, appealing stylization, a rough edge and some good on-the-lam scenes. Then Ruth Roman's character takes a rather unbelievable turn and the film becomes a pretty dull melodrama. Once in a while an interesting facet will surface, but it's a big dropoff from the movie's early promise. Other films have pulled off this kind of shift quite nicely: ON DANGEROUS GROUND and ONE WAY STREET come to mind. But here it feels like the air being drained from a tire. Steve Cochran is pretty good throughout, and Roman is excellent up until the change (when she goes from blonde to brunette). While the movie never gets bad, it does get disappointing. The ending is a little too convenient as well.

I can't think of any other film from the pre-Moon Is Blue period that deals with so many tough social issues (without, of course, QUITE breeching the Production Code): prostitution, rape, pimping, and even premarital sex. Steve Cochran is excellent as a brooding ex-con on the run from a crime he didn't commit. Outstanding atmosphere, photography, and screenplay. Even the scenes in the lettuce fields are outstanding!

This film screened at the American Cinematheque's Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood on April 7, 1999. It was described in the American Cinematheque schedule as follows:"TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY 1951, Warners, 90 min. Steve Cochran's an ex-con who's never been with a woman. Ruth Roman is a dime-a-dance dame with no use for sappy men. A hotel room, a dirty cop, a gunshot - the perfect jump-off for a fugitives-on-the-run love story. This virtually unknown noir is Felix Feist's masterwork, packed with revelatory set-pieces. Cochran was never more vulnerable, Roman never sexier. Imagine GUN CRAZY scripted by Steinbeck - it's that good."I just saw this film, and I agree with every word of the above description.