This is a delightful movie about love, but without being corny. A man falls in love with a whore. Who knows why? It just happens and the next thing he knows he's in it way over his head and he can't get out and does not want to because he is in love. The problem is: she can't handle it because her life is a disaster and she can give just so much; remember: she's a whore who's been with lots of men and she has a life style which this man is forcing her to re-evaluate, and that can be scary. When they first meet, she's working in a bar and she's happy. She becomes miserable after he injects himself into her life, which he can't help because he is in love and he believes he's helping. On top of that, she has a bi-racial son who is practically a street urchin and is pregnant with another man's child, yet the man stays. His selflessness is admirable but when examined objectively, such as by his commanding officer (the man is in the Navy) it becomes apparent that his actions do not seem prudent. He even wants to leave the Navy, which is his life, and marry her. This movie shows to what lengths some people will go to escape loneliness. In the case of the Navy man, he's willing to marry a hard care whore; for the whore she'll settle for the next trick without any questions asked. That she runs away is not surprising. After all, how can a whore be a player if she's married? Marcia Mason gives one of the great performances as the whore. She is emotionally hard and vulnerable at the same time without coming off as contrived. James Caan is excellent as the Navy man who comes into the whore's life. This movie is excellent.

I find this the best movie I have ever seen...the emotion, the acting, the content, the story......all excellent and moving beyond words. James Caan is just the best ever in this, his acting is perfect, as is all the actors in this movie...truly, it is a joy to watch over and over and you have to watch it a few times to get the real benefit of all that if offered beneath the words.Truly an act of unconditional love as never seen before. The person who wrote this has a soul of gold.If you ever want to know what true love is all about and what it entails...see this film, because you will be in no doubt afterwards.

Granted there are some literary devices which are a tad far-fetched that simply have to be accepted to allow this story to work - for one, the cavalier way in which Baggs is treated while his papers are 'lost', and for so long. None the less, this is, in the end an affecting and inspiring tale. Perhaps one of the reasons for its dubious reception here is that in this extremely cynical and selfish age people have difficulty accepting a tale about someone who assumes so much grief in order to help people ("It makes me feel good," says Baggs, simply and disarmingly.) Perhaps the world would be a better place if we could all be more like the guileless Boatswain, played by James Caan in a good-guy departure from his usual tough guy parts. Of particular note is the fine job Eli Wallach does with the minor part of Baggs' nemesis Forshay. It's a memorable moment when Baggs, asking Forshay, as he is drummed out of the service without benefits or pension, "Where are you going? Home?", hears Forshay reply "THIS was home." The combination of sadness, bitterness, and fear of the future that Wallach puts into these three words is testimony to his power as an actor. A bit of judicious editing might have been called for, as the movie was a tad long (cutting Paul Williams' execrable songs would have been a good place to start), but none the less it's a feel-good movie that rises above its gritty setting.

Veteran sailor meets and walks the plank for a 2 bit, drunken slut with a welfare child who lives in a hovel that was so nasty a rat wouldn't slip inside and take a dump. Plus, the hooker was pregnant from an unknown source. If swabbie marries the worthless drunk it'll make him feel good. Feel good. Can anybody spell moron? All it will do is make certain the tramp stays on the dole so taxpayers will have something to donate their money to. This jerk couldn't wait to ruin his life. I suppose this film was striving to convey the message "this poor old soul just needs a helping hand". What they both needed was a boot up their butts: this picture was dull and lifeless; the characters were all losers and fools.