Directed by Lewis Milestone
Sam (Van Heflin) accidentally stops in the town where he grew up, a town that he hasn't seen since he left 18 years before. He meets Toni (Lizabeth Scott), a woman fresh out of prison, and looks up an old acquaintance Walter O'Neil (Kirk Douglas) who is now the district attorney. He soon discovers that his old friends, including Martha Ivers (Barbara Stanwyck), the woman with whom he had planned to run away when they were teens, aren't too happy to see him.
Martha and Walter are now married. She doesn't seem terribly happy or in love with Walter. She seems more interested in Sam and is concerned (as is Walter) that he has returned to town to blackmail them. Toni is caught of the middle of all this just as Sam is caught in the middle of the unhappily married couple.
Part of what I like most about this movie are two of the triangles of notable characters. The first is made up of Sam, Martha, and Walter. She is attracted Sam and Walter is attracted to and frustrated by Martha. Walter also sees Sam as a rival and a threat to his well being and his marriage to Martha.
The second triangle is composed of Martha, Sam, and Toni. Both women are interested in Sam and to one degree or another feel threatened by the presence of the other woman. The scene where Martha walks in on Sam and Toni unexpectedly is particularly good. She catches them off guard as Toni is showing off and taking off her new outfit for Sam. The two women may both be interested in the same man but that is where the similarities end.
It is worth noting that this is Kirk Douglas' first movie. He is very good playing a role very different from the ones that he would frequently be cast as in future films. I think all the actors are very good. All in all I liked this movie. It is far from perfect. I would need more context before I would classify it at a must see movie.
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