Producer: John Houseman. Copyright 2 June 1952 by Loew's Inc. A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picture. New York opening at the Palace: 19 September 1952. U.S. release: July 1952. U.K. release date not recorded. Australian release: 10 September 1952. 6,487 feet. 72 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Important decisions, which will determine the course of their lives, must be made within 24 hours by a young doctor, a Catholic priest, and a former prize-fighter who is almost blind. Setting: Mardi Gras in New Orleans. — Copyright summary.
NOTES: Houseman's second film as a producer, this one immediately precedes The Bad and the Beautiful.
COMMENT: Dull, dreary and distinctly unpleasant, this "B"-grader has nothing to recommend it except some occasional flashes of inventiveness in direction and photography and one or two capable performances (Ralph Dumke, Will Wright).
The central character, irritatingly over-acted by Keenan Wynn, is easily the most unlikable we have ever encountered in a motion picture.
The other principals can do nothing with their roles as they are hamstrung by a script that fails to engage the remotest trace of sympathy or interest in the audience and seems to consist almost entirely of talk, talk, talk as Gig Young and Richard Anderson lay their boring souls bare.
Despite the Mardi Gras setting, large sets and plenty of extras, production values are minimal.
SYNOPSIS: Important decisions, which will determine the course of their lives, must be made within 24 hours by a young doctor, a Catholic priest, and a former prize-fighter who is almost blind. Setting: Mardi Gras in New Orleans. — Copyright summary.
NOTES: Houseman's second film as a producer, this one immediately precedes The Bad and the Beautiful.
COMMENT: Dull, dreary and distinctly unpleasant, this "B"-grader has nothing to recommend it except some occasional flashes of inventiveness in direction and photography and one or two capable performances (Ralph Dumke, Will Wright).
The central character, irritatingly over-acted by Keenan Wynn, is easily the most unlikable we have ever encountered in a motion picture.
The other principals can do nothing with their roles as they are hamstrung by a script that fails to engage the remotest trace of sympathy or interest in the audience and seems to consist almost entirely of talk, talk, talk as Gig Young and Richard Anderson lay their boring souls bare.
Despite the Mardi Gras setting, large sets and plenty of extras, production values are minimal.