Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Ryan play a couple of dissatisfied, bitter middle-aged people in 'Clash by Night', a film which may leave you as dissatisfied as it left me. It's a shame, because the combination of director Fritz Lang, Barbara Stanwyck, and Marilyn Monroe was intriguing. In the film, Stanwyck has returned to the fisheries in Monterey after failing to realize her big ambitions on the east coast, and Ryan is not happy in his marriage. Stanwyck rebuffs Ryan's advances because he's married, and then softens towards a nice guy (Paul Douglas). The film has several issues, starting with the characters being one-dimensional and not remotely likeable. Stanwyck is cynical, Douglas is cartoonishly simple, and Ryan is a glowering bully, who, among other things, gives us a highly racist and horrifying impression of Chinese people. The acting is overplayed and poor, particularly from Douglas and Ryan, but even Stanwyck's performance is uneven, though she has her moments. At various points all three actors break out into torrents of emotion in the least authentic way. There is also zero chemistry between Stanwyck and Ryan, and too often the dialogue or delivery is overwrought. Lang piles it on with obvious symbolism in shots of stormy clouds and the ocean pounding the shore. Everything about it seems heavy-handed, and on top of it all, the ending is unbelievable and groan-inducing.I would watch it just for the scenes with Marilyn Monroe, who is incidental to the main story, but delightful. She is unaffected and natural, as is Keith Andes, who plays her boyfriend (and Stanwyck's brother). I give one star for her, and one star for Stanwyck's better moments, and because I adore her so. After that, I have to say, whew it's tough. Not sure why this one gets as many high ratings as it does.

. . . had to write essays about how THEY thought a short story called "The Lady or the Tiger" REALLY ended. He said that he always thought that there was a Tiger behind the Green Door. It seems that CLASH BY NIGHT--also from the 1900s--has an ambiguous "Lady or Tiger" conclusion as well. Though Brutish Sardiner Jerry SAYS that Baby Gloria is sleeping, there are absolutely NO baby sounds coming from the other room below decks on this movie's soundtrack. This leaves viewers to wonder exactly WHAT greets life-long wanton strumpet Mae when this adulterous mommy ventures behind her own Green Door. Is it a preternaturally quiet babe sleeping safe and sound, as the Cuckolded Papa Jerry has suggested? Or has this bear of a man been exposed to one DANGEROUS LIAISON too many, and gone all Glenn Close over Mae's FATAL ATTRACTION? (Only this time it's not RABBIT stew simmering in the cook pot.) It's hard to guess how the Papal Reps controlling America's censor board in 1952 would have resolved this conundrum, had they not been too preoccupied molesting all the local lads.

I bought this film on the star power of a young Marilyn Monroe alone. What I purchased was a lot of overwrought acting and hand wringing from a cast headed by Barbara Stanwick. The focus of the stark storyline is Barbara Stanwicks Mae Doyle character. Suffering from bitter hard life choices, regrets, loneliness and under lying lust and passion. Upon returning home from an illicit love affair gone wrong, Mae settles for 2nd best and marries the towns local dull fisherman. She eventually has his child but then ends up committing adultery with her husbands best buddy( Robert Ryan). She even contemplates abandoning the child to be with her secret new lover. This film must have been considered pretty daring stuff during the early 1950's. Along the way there is a lot of emotional speech making, overly dramatic love scenes, and dialog that are to me in this day and age laughable. With that said, any fan of Barbra Stanwick or Marilyn Monroe should see this movie.The direction of the film by Fritz Lang is tight with location shots and sets that are completely realistic and believable. I did tire of the symbolic waves pounding the beach after every dramatic turn of the plot. The style of film-making, acting, and plot line are completely appropriate for the era of this film. I just don't see it as true Film Noir, I see it as a tepid melodrama. I must also admit I did have a strong urge to fast forward to scenes only involving Marilyn Monroe. I watched the whole film and Marilyn Monroe forcefully dominates the very few scene's she is in. I really liked the tough girlishness she was allowed to project as "Peggy". Her character is not written as the dumb blonde persona she would regretfully embody later in her career. Although her scenes are somewhat brief you cant ignore the magnetic star power she possessed. It should be noted that Marilyn was not appreciated or well liked during the production of "Clash by Night". Her co-stars did not like the press attention that she generated while on set. Particularly a jealous Robert Ryan. He bellowed on set "They never take pictures of of the rest of us".."Why do the photographers only want pictures of that blonde bitch Marilyn Monroe"?.. he later shouted to her on set,"Don't EVER call me Robert.. It's Mr. Robert Ryan to you"...Its also been said Marilyn had trouble remembering lines, and was sometimes late for filming. She also came to the set regularly with red blotches on her face and hands after having vomited from being so nervous. Barbra Stanwick later had Monroe barred from the set if "Peggy" wasn't in any of her scenes being shot that day because it was to disruptive.. Upon its release, around the same time as Monroes "nude calender" shots were surfacing "Clash by Night" was a box office success. It brought in $1.5 million dollars. Aside from mixed reviews, movie goers were curious about its provocative star. The film certainly furthered her career but it made her a few enemies in return.

Clash By Night (1952) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Melodrama about a woman (Barbara Stanwyck) returning to her hometown after leaving years earlier but never getting the riches she wanted. Once back she eventually starts dating a poor fisherman (Paul Douglas) who she eventually marries but his friend (Robert Ryan) sees that she's unhappy and goes after her. I'm really not sure how this film was sold as a noir as there are very few to zero connections. The only thing this film does offer than could be somewhat noir is the moody atmosphere but overall this is more soap opera than anything else. With that said, for the life of me I can't understand how a screenplay like the one here would get approved by all of those involved. I would go as far as to say this is one of the dumbest and most underwritten screenplays from this era and it's a real shame that some touching up wasn't done on it because the film contains some very good performances and nice direction by Lang. I think the screenplay is a major issue from the very start of the picture because we know all of the characters are soon as we meet them. We know Douglas is too good. We know Stanwyck is no good. We know not to trust Ryan as he is just abusing Douglas. We know that Douglas is going to steal Stanwyck. When then know that Douglas is going to have a broken heart. There's not a single plot point here that will throw you for a loop because everything that happens is exactly what you expect and it all happens just as you'd think it would. I can't believe that the studio didn't spend a little more time trying to clean this thing up. As bad as the screenplay is there are still plenty of reasons to check the film out. The biggest being the performances by the entire cast who manage to keep everything moving even though they're working with lesser material. I was really impressed with Douglas who was perfect as the good-hearted man. I thought he was easy to feel sorry for and the actor really made you want to see him win no matter what else happened. Stanwyck is also very good in her snake role. She's certainly good at playing the bad girl so she walks right through the role without any trouble. Ryan is very good as well as has wonderful chemistry with both Douglas and Stanwyck. We also have a side story about Stanwyck's brother (Keith Andes) and his fiancé (Marilyn Monroe) that actually contains some better moments than the main story. Monroe also comes off pretty good here as does J. Carrol Naish in his small role. Lang's direction is pretty solid throughout as he perfectly captures the moody atmosphere.