Starring: Robert Taylor, Cyd Charisse, Lee Cobb

Director: Nicholas Ray (US)

Genre: Romance, Drama

Availability: Movies! TV Network

Watch Quality   A

The colors are rich and the picture quality is gorgeous.  The music and sound are perfectly reproduced.  The only drawback is the commercials.

Plot Summary 

Showgirl Vicki Gaye vowed never to fall in love, but then she met Tommy Farrell, lawyer to the Chicago mob.  He's married, he's condescending towards her, he walks with a limp.  Still she loves him and believes that he is a good man.  Can she save him from the mob, his wife, and his own demons?

Star Power   B-

Charisse is a veteran of 1950s musicals, while Taylor was a star of the time.  Cobb had a good career in crime and police films.  They all turn in compelling performances in this movie, with a kind of post-noir style.

Chill Factor   A

Charisse's dances at various plot points reveal her inner character in a series of sensual statements.  The romance between the two is all the more captivating for its impossibility.  Your date will sizzle with the danger and the romance.

Mental Health Check   C+

The violence and cruelty in this film is direct and jarring, spoken about plainly, committed suddenly.  It is disturbing and yet the odd nostalgia for the 1930s in which the film is set tempers the anxiety a bit by putting some distance between the characters and the audience. 

Overall Grade   A-

This movie does many things brilliantly, but has some obvious flaws.  The transitions between weeks, months, even years are abrupt and at times hard to follow.  The action sequences feel rushed.  In the end however, the movie draws you into a thrilling world of corruption in which only love can offer refuge.