Spoiled rich girl Miriam Hopkins and idealistic professor Fredric March come upon George Raft and Helen Mack, and get entwined in their troubled love affair. Can the turmoil of Raft and Mack bring meaning into the stale, selfish life of Hopkins, so that she can get the oomph to win back the estranged Mr. March?
George Raft is one of the classic era actors victimized by the availability of movies in the TCM library (RKO, WB and MGM) and the utter unavailability of most of the Paramount/Univeral library. Because, while Raft did plenty of work for WB and RKO, it was after he settled into a monotone style of acting that is OK in a number of noirs, but hardly one that challenges the reputation of Raft as a dull lead.
In this film, Raft shows a truly unexpected range, as he plays a guy just out of prison who can't get a job to support his pregnant wife, and can't get a break from a system that never gives any ex-con a break. This performance is so good, that one wishes this film were some kind of undiscovered classic just waiting for its TCM premiere.
Alas, no.
Much of the film is devoted to the schemes of Miriam Hopkins, who, for whatever reason, brings zero fire to her role as a spoiled heiress looking for something more from life. Fredric March has a crud role, and does not bother too hard with making his character tolerable. And the direction is genuinely bad -- this movie creaks, which makes the decision to forgo a musical score (odd, for a film that does take its title from a famous musical number) a fairly spectacular mistake.
So, if you like George Raft -- do see. Otherwise, well...that's your choice.
