Legendary French actor Jean Gabin made his Hollywood debut in this 1942 noir directed by Archie Mayo (The Petrified Forest). Gabin plays a longshoreman who may have killed a man.

He then falls for a woman (Ida Lupino) he saves from committing suicide. His old friend, Tiny, shows up and tries to drive a wedge between the couple.

It’s a character-based noir, with a screenplay by John O’Hara. Fritz Lang contributed uncredited scenes, and Salvador Dali provided the drunken hallucination scene.

Grade: A-

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