Despite several of the genre's quintessential elements (director Fritz Lang, director of photography Nicholas Musuraca, Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Ryan), this is not a film noir in the strict sense of the word and, in fact, as was the case with DILLINGER (1945), it made for a rather baffling choice to be included in Warners' "Film Noir Collection Vol. 2"! Actually, it's one of Lang's least typical films, though his beloved theme of Man being unable to escape his Fate does in fact play a major part in the proceedings.
In any case, CLASH BY NIGHT remains full of interest throughout and the melodramatic flourishes of the (familiar) 'love triangle' plot - adapted from a stage play by Clifford Odets (hence the tendency to overstate its points from time to time) - seem to have inspired the cast and crew to give it their all: one simply can't ignore the excellent performances (including a wonderfully disarming turn from Marilyn Monroe, not yet a star) and the typically great, hard-boiled (if often, necessarily, theatrical) dialogue (my favorites are two lines delivered, in his uniquely contemptible fashion, by Ryan - having had enough of a tediously uneventful night-out at the local tavern, he exclaims: "Excuse me while I shake this dump upside down!"; and describing the failed relationship with his estranged wife with the delicious "Sometimes I'd like to stick her full of pins...just to see if blood runs out!"). Still, when all is said and done, perhaps the film's mostly notable for its remarkable documentary-style depiction of the fishing community (Monterey, California) in which it is set.
In any case, CLASH BY NIGHT remains full of interest throughout and the melodramatic flourishes of the (familiar) 'love triangle' plot - adapted from a stage play by Clifford Odets (hence the tendency to overstate its points from time to time) - seem to have inspired the cast and crew to give it their all: one simply can't ignore the excellent performances (including a wonderfully disarming turn from Marilyn Monroe, not yet a star) and the typically great, hard-boiled (if often, necessarily, theatrical) dialogue (my favorites are two lines delivered, in his uniquely contemptible fashion, by Ryan - having had enough of a tediously uneventful night-out at the local tavern, he exclaims: "Excuse me while I shake this dump upside down!"; and describing the failed relationship with his estranged wife with the delicious "Sometimes I'd like to stick her full of pins...just to see if blood runs out!"). Still, when all is said and done, perhaps the film's mostly notable for its remarkable documentary-style depiction of the fishing community (Monterey, California) in which it is set.