That was an excellent one.

Simply Perfect

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

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

It's difficult to believe, but even by this Early Date of 1949 the Cynicism and Doom Laden Tropes of Film-Noir were becoming unacceptable for the Safe and Conservative Studio Heads. Sam Fuller's Script was stripped of its edginess and coated with a sweetness Ending. Neither Fuller nor Director Douglas Sirk were pleased and voiced Their disapproval loudly.But the Power of Low-Rung, untested Writers and Directors was Minimal. So what remains is a Soapy Triangle with enough Artistic Insight to be passable and somewhat enjoyable, but hardly Pure Film-Noir and the impact is diluted and disappointing.Cornel Wilde as the Parole Officer and Patricia Knight have and unexpected collision of Love's vice like grip and its ability to change People drastically. John Barangay as the Ex-Lover is Bland and really doesn't do much to attract audiences to His vile villainy but is good enough. Wilde, not the best Actor in the World does have a Physical Presence and was Drop Dead Handsome. Knight was as Stiff as They Come and had a limited Career and tries mightily here but was betrayed by Her Talent and got by on Her slightly Off-Beat Beauty.Overall, Worth a Watch for Sirk and Fuller, but must be Footnoted as mishandled by Studio Interference. Film-Noir Fans and Fuller Cultists might be disappointed. A Film-Noir only in a Wide Definition of the Genre.

Remember in "Caged" when Eleanor Parker gets probation but is obviously going to be heading back to prison? That "after prison" story is pretty much what befalls parolee Patricia Knight in this engrossing film noir about a paroled murderess who falls in love with her parole officer (Cornel Wilde) and unintentionally leads him down the path towards his possible own doom. At first, it is business only, but as nature takes its course, sparks fly and Wilde falls under her spell. It is obvious that she longs to reform, but circumstances and the shady characters from her past cause situations to explode beyond her control, and leads to violence which sends Knight and Wilde on the run into hiding.There's a slight bit of family drama concerning Wilde's blind mother (Esther Minicotti, best remembered as the manipulative mother in "Marty") who is totally sympathetic here. The glamorous Knight has an uncanny resemblance to such film noir vets as Lauren Bacall, Veronica Lake, Lizabeth Scott, and in particularly the more obscure K.T. Stevens. See the same year's "Port of New York" to see what I mean in referring to Ms. Stevens. Ironically, even though I'd never heard of Ms. Knight, I found her to be quite good. The last reel was pretty much re-done by Warner Brothers two years later for a film noir called "Tomorrow is Another Day". This is probably the only non-soap opera of director Douglas Sirk's career, and one of his few away from Universal. If you can get past the implausibility of parole officer Wilde risking his career (which includes political ambitions) for a murderess like Knight, then you will actually find yourself enjoying this movie as much as I did.

I chose to watch this film because it was written by Sam Fuller--and Fuller was a freakin' genius at making exceptional small-budget films. However, as you'll notice from the IMDb trivia that Fuller's original tough-as-nails ending was changed--and a cheap clichéd ending was added. And, after watching it, I would agree that the ending was terrible--but what occurred before that wasn't a whole lot better.The film begins with a lady getting paroled. She'd murdered someone and her parole officer (Cornell Wilde) insists she cannot see her old boyfriend as a condition of parole. However, the next day she's caught with him. Instead of violating her parole, he instead treats her very, very strangely. Like a total sap, he brings her and another parolee home to meet his family and have dinner with them! Soon, he hires her to look after his blind mother--and she's practically part of the family. You wonder if any officer could ever have been that stupid or have such poor personal boundaries! You assume that any parole officer behaving like he does during the film would be immediately fired! Throughout much of the film, it's obvious she's playing her parole officer and secretly meets with the old boyfriend. Eventually, however, it's uncertain--could she be falling in love with Wilde? You sure as heck know he's falling for her! This is a film where you very seriously have to suspend your sense of disbelief--otherwise the plot simply won't make any sense. After all, Wilde's character is absolutely unbelievable...and as the film progresses, he gets worse and worse! As for me, I wasn't able to suspend my belief THIS much! I am not sure how much of this was due to Fuller and how much was due to studio meddling, but it was a problematic script from the outset. It MIGHT have worked if Wilde had played a dishonest p.o. from the outset--not the super-officer he was supposed to be. The one redeeming value the film has is the great dialog--very gritty and enjoyable for fans of film noir (except for the inexplicable line about 'getting a crook' and moving to California). But the story just didn't make any sense and it clearly could have used a re-write or just an entirely new plot--and an ending that is believable. The story could have worked, but instead of tense film noir it sometimes closer resembled "Dumb and Dumber"! Could a supposedly smart man act dumb over a 'dame'? Sure--but the film just didn't sell the idea well at all.

A parole officer falls for one of his charges, but is she playing him for a sucker? Not so much a noir as a noir-esque romantic melodrama, and not up to the level of the best from either director Douglas Sirk or writer Sam Fuller. The story could have gone one of two ways, and it chose the less interesting path (from what I've read, this might have been a studio decision). However, Cornel Wilde and Patricia Knight (actual spouses at the time) handle their performances quite well, and play off each other with conviction and chemistry. The script has some nice touches, the photography is pretty sharp, and the supporting roles are good. It's certainly a watchable movie, just rather bland... and it wraps up far too easily.