| Complete credited cast: | |||
| Barbara Stanwyck | ... | ||
| Paul Douglas | ... | ||
| Robert Ryan | ... | ||
| Marilyn Monroe | ... | ||
| J. Carrol Naish | ... | ||
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Silvio Minciotti | ... |
Papa D'Amato
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| Keith Andes | ... | ||
The bitter and cynical Mae Doyle returns to the fishing village where she was raised after deceptive loves and life in New York. She meets her brother, the fisherman Joe Doyle, and he lodges her in his home. Mae is courted by Jerry D'Amato, a good and naive man that owns the boat where Joe works, and he introduces his brutal friend Earl Pfeiffer, who works as theater's projectionist and is cheated by his wife. She does not like Earl and his jokes, but Jerry considers him his friend and they frequently see each other. Mae decides to accept the proposal of Jerry and they get married and one year later they have a baby girl. When the wife of Earl leaves him, he becomes depressed and Mae, who is bored with her loveless marriage, has an affair with him. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Barbara Stanwyck is so good at playing rough-hewn women, characters with a cynical edge, that it's easy to take her presence here for granted. Once again, she is remarkably good as a tough cookie returning to her hometown along the waterfront and eventually reuniting with her estranged brother. Marilyn Monroe is also good as a sassy local girl-- although her lines sound as if they were looped in post-production--and Paul Douglas is terrific as a lovestruck skipper. Tempestuous melodrama is decent fare; it has heated emotions and florid dialogue, but perhaps more subtlety and nuance would've made it a more memorable picture. **1/2 from ****