Careers are in flux in this formulaic mobster drama that pays little attention to detail in its simplistic telling. Farley Granger was ebbing, Tony Quinn was moving into leads and Anne Bancroft was two decades away from Mrs. Robinson playing a knocked up teen in this slap dash dud where none of them acquit themselves well.
Thug Phil Regal (Quinn) does not shy away from violence or any other crimes to get what he wants. He only softens around ma and his kid sister (Bancroft) who finds out she is in a family way with a suave local punk Nicky Bradna (Granger). After botching a liquor store robbery an murdering the owner he gets sentenced to the chair but the bullheaded Regal makes sure he's sprung to save his sister and family from shame. Bradna ends up returning to his old ways so Phil re-frames him.
Maxwell Stone's direction comes across AWOL as he pays little attention to ambiance or getting his actors to jell with each other." Granger continues to whine in self pity dating back to his They Drive by Night Days in 48, Quinn rages moodily without the exuberance of Zorba or intimidation of Zampano and Bancroft as a gum chewing Laverne and Shirley lays the accent on heavy. There's a moment in the film that intimates incestuous feelings of bro but that is probably more to Quinn's acting style than Stone's transparent direction that allows the film to stumble along to its pat conclusion.
Thug Phil Regal (Quinn) does not shy away from violence or any other crimes to get what he wants. He only softens around ma and his kid sister (Bancroft) who finds out she is in a family way with a suave local punk Nicky Bradna (Granger). After botching a liquor store robbery an murdering the owner he gets sentenced to the chair but the bullheaded Regal makes sure he's sprung to save his sister and family from shame. Bradna ends up returning to his old ways so Phil re-frames him.
Maxwell Stone's direction comes across AWOL as he pays little attention to ambiance or getting his actors to jell with each other." Granger continues to whine in self pity dating back to his They Drive by Night Days in 48, Quinn rages moodily without the exuberance of Zorba or intimidation of Zampano and Bancroft as a gum chewing Laverne and Shirley lays the accent on heavy. There's a moment in the film that intimates incestuous feelings of bro but that is probably more to Quinn's acting style than Stone's transparent direction that allows the film to stumble along to its pat conclusion.