Interesting study in the way of life of living only for worldly success and money. Zachary Scott makes the tycoon who from a humble start builds an empire but at the cost of everything human on the way. He simply refuses to take any no or objection to his ambitions seriously but grabs everything he fancies for his own and gets it - until there is Sydney Greenstreet, who turns the film into a very interesting drama, the finale towering into a frantic settlement with the inhumanity of ruthlessness.Among the others Lucille Bremer as Christa makes an intelligent impression, and Louis Hayward as the friend who sees Zachary through and tries to follow but fails to save him, makes a credible enough figure of a real best friend who fails for no fault of his, while Diana Lynn as Martha and Mallory becomes something of an enigma - it's actually she who brings Vendig's ruin but unintentionally, as her only power over him is that she resembles his first love, whom he deserted - it's not her fault.It's a very interesting story of opportunism, but like in so many of Ulmer's always most interesting films, the characters never really come alive. The acting is too stiff, and they act more like dummies than like live people, like statues in a grown up puppet play. Nevertheless, the film is still very much worth seeing for its message and lesson, as a morality of considerable weight, as people of this kind dominate and rule the world still today and make a mess of it.

This movie is sort of a bargain basement Citizen Kane. It follows the life of an ambitious opportunist who takes after women who can do him the most good. One flaw here is that Zachary Scott is not a credible womanizer--he is just not sexy or handsome enough.The movie lags and drags until Greenfield appears with his wife-- here the biggest deficit in the movie also occurs. Greenfield plays Buck Mansfield a predatory corrupt rich Southern business tycoon/plantation owner---he is perfect in the role over weight etc.. But neither him nor his wife have anything remotely resembling a Southern Accent which would have really cemented the roles--and seems like something so easy to correct. Maybe because Ulmer was foreign he didn't realize this powerful bedrock of Americana.And of course Hollywood can never let a bad guy get away--damn it.Another flaw = the props are too cheap looking. In fact, the first time I started watching it, I stopped after about 10 minutes because of this. This movie also fails as it tries to copy Citizen Kane cinematography with long black and white shadows etc...the items filmed that way were things like fake chandlers--almost like a parody.With more money...and some tuning and recasting this could have been a great classic.Still RECOMMEND--

Via flashbacks, this uneven drama tells the rags to riches story of a philanthropist. Scott is OK if somewhat one-dimensional as the ruthless social climber willing to do whatever it takes to get to the top. This is one of the better films of the legendary Ulmer, who has been championed by the likes of Peter Bogdanovich. The B-movie maestro is particularly good here in recreating the small town atmosphere of Scott's youth. Unfortunately, the script is meandering and gets too bogged down in financial dealings as Scott tries to grow his business. Wholesome Lynn and promiscuous Bremer are among the women Scott becomes romantically entangled with.

Kind of cross between Keeper of The Flame and Citizen Kane, Zachry is perfect as the ice-cold schemer who confuses love and friendship for weakness and folly. Burr is great in minor role, explaining Scott's character. But it goes on too long, and after awhile, it becomes tiresome how many people with warning are still being taken in by him. After all, Zachry's smooth, but he's no Bill Clinton. Too, Greenstreet is over-the-top in pivotal role, spoiling some of the effect. Overall, worth watching, but by no means, great.