Clash by Night Clash by Night Warner DVD 1952 / B&W / 1:37 flat full frame / 105 min. / Street Date July 5, 2005 / 19.97 Starring Barbara Stanwyck, Paul Douglas, Robert Ryan, Marilyn Monroe, J. Carrol Naish, Keith Andes, Silvio Minciotti Cinematography Nicholas Musuraca Art Direction Carroll Clark, Albert S. D'Agostino Film Editor George Amy Original Music Roy Webb Written by Alfred Hayes from a play by Clifford Odets Produced by Norman Krasna, Harriet Parsons, Jerry Wald Directed by Fritz Lang
	Reviewed by Glenn Erickson This low-key but above-average drama has probably been included in Warners' film noir series due to the presence of Marilyn Monroe. Clash by Night is a bona fide noir even if it lacks most of the earmarks of the style. The attitude is there, built into Clifford Odets' disenchanted characters, but the usual violence and visual excesses are missing. It's a quality production, with excellent direction from Fritz Lang and a fine mix of studio filming and Monterey locations. Synopsis: May Doyle (Barbara Stanwyck) returns to the house of her brother Joe (Keith Andes) after being on her own in the city for ten years. She's courted by Jerry D'Amato (Paul Douglas), a sincere but unexciting fisherman, but resists marrying him out of fear that she'll not be faithful. They eventually marry and have a child. Then Mae finds herself drawn to Jerry's best friend, the cynical Earl Pfeiffer (Robert Ryan). Fritz Lang tries out some honest cinematic ideas in Clash by Night starting with an unusual documentary opening before any of the characters are introduced. But we're soon in the territory of playright Clifford Odets and his stylized dialogue and stagebound love triangle. Stanwyck, Douglas and Ryan are fine at keeping the sharp talk sounding as naturalistic as possible, but we're soon aware that trouble is brewing. Nice guy Jerry just doesn't realize that his patronizing pal Earl is friendly only because he's lonely and likes to play the smart guy. Mae sees through Earl but realizes that she's drawn to powerful men who know what they want. The movie is noir because it sees no solution for the triangle. Mae talks an independent line but also wants a man of her own. Jerry is not going to suddenly become 100% self-aware and take charge of the situation. And Earl's selfishness is only going to become more evident under pressure. Warners' packaging text grossly misrepresents the movie, claiming that Mae was a 'good-time girl' back in the city when all we know is that she had an unsuccessful affair with a married politician. The film hints that she has experience, which puts her ahead of both the virginal Jerry and the romantic loser Earl, who gripes about his failed marriage to a stripper we never see. The original play was written during the Depression and probably situated all three characters lower on the moral scale. As it is, Mae talks tough but is a softie, Earl is a born misogynist, and Jerry is the kind of guy who laughs at the same stale jokes again and again. This is the core of the picture and the only part that really works, if one is attuned to the stylized dialogue. "You know what I'd like? I'd like to get unborn ..." Otherwise, Clash by Night seems rather overwrought. Lang balances the drama well and occupies himself with solving technical problems, like a beachside club shot that uses two rear-projections. Keith Andes and Marilyn Monroe run across the screen as part of a projection plate on a beach, and then appear on the right half of the screen 'live' in front of a second rear-projection plate. But the movie's action lacks a strong sense of momentum or fatality. Much of the running time is taken up by Jerry's sweet father (Silvio Minciotti) and larcenous uncle (J. Carrol Naish), and a subplot with Joe Doyle and his girlfriend Peggy that draws more attention than it should because Peggy is played by Marilyn Monroe. ("Always take the man who'll break the door down ..."). (spoiler) The worst thing Clash by Night can think of is infidelity; Mae hasn't overcome her need to stray and makes a good case for the banal misery of broken homes, or potential broken homes. The faultless Jerry is never tasked to stretch or open up - he just is. He can't even become emotional on his own and the plot requires his troublemaking uncle to provoke him to attack Earl. Jerry is sincere, but he's also a little on the infantile side, a credible character difficult to fully respect. Mae marries him out of a yearning to 'be taken care of,' something that in real life happens every day but in the movies never seems 'courageous' enough. The solution is for Mae to crawl back for forgiveness. It's the right thing to do, but it's not a satisfactory conclusion. Earl is sent packing, Mae learns her lesson at least for the present, and Jerry decides to be as he always was, trusting and basically clueless. Clash by Night also shows us a bit of something rarely seen in the movies, a projection booth in a movie theater. Things certainly changed from 1952 to 1972, when Savant was briefly the worst projectionist in film history). Because nitrate prints were still in use, Unions used safety rules to mandate full staffing, often with two projectionists in the booth. Earl Pfeiffer's booth is as clean as a surgery and he attends to his craft like a Zen master. No wonder the old studio prints we saw at UCLA were often in flawless condition. Warners' DVD of Clash by Night is in fine condition in a transfer that gives Nicholas Musuraca's excellent B&W photography an impressive showcase. Noir fans may be disappointed by the film's lack of hardboiled detectives and escapist thrills, but they might like Peter Bogdanovich's commentary, which is salted with audio bites from his own 1965 interview with Lang. They go over the same topics Lang discussed with Lotte Eisner for her film bio - working with Monroe, the rear-projection, the docu opening - but they're all good stories. An original trailer is also included. On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, Clash by Night rates: Movie: Very Good Video: Excellent Sound: Excellent Supplements: Commentary with Peter Bogdanovich, trailer Packaging: Keep case Reviewed: June 30, 2005 [Savant Main Page] [Savant Links] [Article Index] [Review Index] [Savant 5 Year Report] DVD Savant Text © Copyright 2007 Glenn Erickson Advertise With Us Review Staff | About DVD Talk | Newsletter Subscribe | Join DVD Talk Forum Copyright © DVDTalk.com All rights reserved | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use