Surprisingly angry melodrama from Warner Bros. about migrant worker Ronald Reagan versus local fat cat Gene Lockhart. I've seen movies similar to this from WB and other studios before. But this one is just dripping with anger from the start, even before Lockhart does anything that bad. As a matter of fact, while I understand the bare bones black & white morality of the story and sympathize with the plight of the "heroes," it was hard to really root for them. I'm trying to put my finger on why. I think it's because most of the time in these types of movies the good guys start out trying to be reasonable and law-abiding but are forced to take action when the law isn't on their side. But here the good guys are jerks from the start who break the law, as well as their word, with little to no provocation. It just felt like an extreme position to take early on. It was almost as if they took for granted the audience's sympathies and didn't feel the need to earn them. I suppose this could be true of the time it came out but many other similarly-themed films of the period didn't handle it this way.
Of note mostly today for Ronald Reagan, icon of conservative Republicans, playing a sort of leftist character. Reagan does fine. It's not one of his stronger roles. Ann Sheridan does better and is probably the standout of the picture. She had perfected her "world-weary working class girl" character by this time. Gene Lockhart and Howard Da Silva play the heavies. These are shallow roles both men could play in their sleep. Alan Hale provides comic relief. George Tobias is annoying and one of the primary reasons it was hard for me to root for the good guys. All in all, it's an OK time-passer but ultimately forgettable.
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