Even 1942 audiences must have wondered what Walter Huston and Borrah Minevitch and His Harmonica Rascals were doing in the same movie!
A dated, misguided mishmash of soapsuds (a paroled convict goes home incognito to meet his estranged wife and children who think he died), ghastly musical numbers (the theme song is indeed haunting, but after 15 renditions you'll wince), star-vehicle (Warners' ill-advised attempt to turn Gloria Warren into the next Deanna Durbin? Not!), and cornball melodramatics (the waterlogged ending is a corker).
All of the above notwithstanding, the luminous performances by Walter Huston and Kay Francis provide fleeting moments of genuine emotion, and the supporting cast -- Sidney Blackmer, Una O'Connor, and the always likable Frankie Thomas -- is first-rate. A pity they weren't rewarded with a first-rate script.
A dated, misguided mishmash of soapsuds (a paroled convict goes home incognito to meet his estranged wife and children who think he died), ghastly musical numbers (the theme song is indeed haunting, but after 15 renditions you'll wince), star-vehicle (Warners' ill-advised attempt to turn Gloria Warren into the next Deanna Durbin? Not!), and cornball melodramatics (the waterlogged ending is a corker).
All of the above notwithstanding, the luminous performances by Walter Huston and Kay Francis provide fleeting moments of genuine emotion, and the supporting cast -- Sidney Blackmer, Una O'Connor, and the always likable Frankie Thomas -- is first-rate. A pity they weren't rewarded with a first-rate script.