Edward G. Robinson is all wrong as the patriarch of an Italian-American family. He was a marvelous actor -- one of my favorites. And this was not his first Italian. But the pigeon English is so overdone as to be preposterous. The makeup, with a dark mustache, is no help either.
True, other (presumably) non-Italians are in similar roles here. But they underplay. Hope Emerson, Debra Paget, and (as one of his sons) Luther Adler are among these.
Richard Conte is excellent as the son who appreciates the father's efforts and goes to jail for doing so. But think of Conte, cast slightly against ethnic type, in "Thieves Highway" and his father -- Lee J. Cobb -- there. Cobb does not affect a Vaudeville show Greek accent there and it's a shame that Robinson was directed to here.
The story is compelling but it's hard to get past this.
Susan Hayward plays Susan Hayward. In early scenes between her and Conte, he seems to be picking up her mannerisms as they spit consonants at each other.
The role she plays doesn't seem to me to have much to do with the rest of the story. Using "Thieves Highway" as a comparison again -- and I admit it is somewhat arbitrary to do so -- Valentina Cortese's character is more organic to the plot. Here, the Hayward/Conte romance is more like a separate picture than like a subplot.
True, other (presumably) non-Italians are in similar roles here. But they underplay. Hope Emerson, Debra Paget, and (as one of his sons) Luther Adler are among these.
Richard Conte is excellent as the son who appreciates the father's efforts and goes to jail for doing so. But think of Conte, cast slightly against ethnic type, in "Thieves Highway" and his father -- Lee J. Cobb -- there. Cobb does not affect a Vaudeville show Greek accent there and it's a shame that Robinson was directed to here.
The story is compelling but it's hard to get past this.
Susan Hayward plays Susan Hayward. In early scenes between her and Conte, he seems to be picking up her mannerisms as they spit consonants at each other.
The role she plays doesn't seem to me to have much to do with the rest of the story. Using "Thieves Highway" as a comparison again -- and I admit it is somewhat arbitrary to do so -- Valentina Cortese's character is more organic to the plot. Here, the Hayward/Conte romance is more like a separate picture than like a subplot.