Directed by Frank Tuttle
Returning war correspondent Jim Duncan is revered by all the folks in his small hometown. His mother knows he’s actually a liar and a swindler whose worst traits are intractable…as does Jim himself, forever making and breaking promises. The uncommon story, which dispenses with the redemptive power of “love,” was actually ahead of its time, featuring a fractured antihero better suited to the disaffected 1970s. The same template was finally given magnificent expression in Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977).
Universal Pictures. Producer: Mark Hellinger. Screenwriter: Richard Brooks. Cinematographer: Tony Gaudio. Editor: Edward Curtiss. Cast: Sonny Tufts, Ann Blyth, Ruth Warrick, William Gargan, Mary Nash. 16mm, Black and White, 86 min.