Ostensibly concerning the dangerous flirtation between an first class passenger and a stoker on a coal powered ship at sea, this film bore only a passing resemblance to the skeleton of Eugene O'Neill's 1923 play of The Hairy Ape, which touched on the meaning of work, identity, class and sexual politics, but much of that was off-limits thanks to the Production Code, especially during wartime, (can't have men of the sea abandoning their work to seek out their doom on land at the hands of an ape or a bad girl, can we?). The more upbeat ending tacked on here with the little guy reconciling himself, however feebly and synthetically, with his fate, might be expected in that creative atmosphere. I looked for a few flashes of O'Neill's theatrical poetry, but scraps of it survived only momentarily among the denizens of the boiler room.
The performance of William Bendix was very good and occasionally touching in his anger and frustration, though I don't believe he's entirely credible as a vain strongman, despite some convincingly menacing work he did in The Glass Key and The Dark Corner. There's a vulnerability and humor in him that belies his mug's tough face and bulk. His best scene in the film came when he was jailed, and, after creating a loud hulabaloo demanding to be let out, was hosed down into submission. In his next silent scene as he emerges timidly from his cell, he expresses his diminished spirit beautifully through his beaten, wounded and fearful expression and body movement--almost an acting lesson in itself!
Susan Hayward's cold-hearted upper class tart overwhelmed the movie, though she too was at her best in those non-verbal moments when she is both repulsed and aroused as she first spies our "hero", William Bendix shoveling coal. She is also effective when she realizes later that he may kill her. The brittle veneer that marked Hayward's acting seemed to become a thicker, shinier armour worn with each succeeding movie after this critical success. In this film, as in her vulnerable work in Deadline at Dawn (1946), that hardness only partially covered her then. There was a bewitchingly pretty, mischievous quality in her too. Even though her character really deserved a darker fate than this movie gave her, at least the spell she had over Bendix was broken, even if in an unsatisfying way.
It was, as usual, good to see the character actor Roman Bohnen in the cast as Bendix's sensible shipmate who tries to help him when he becomes obsessed with Hayward. Btw, according to contemporary reviews, this movie may have been one of the reasons that the actress was able to separate from the herd of starlets in Hollywood back then. She won raves playing a misogynist's dream gal.
As others have mentioned who've seen this movie previously, I was disappointed with the washed out gray print that was allegedly restored, but that was bearable given the fact that the film stock originally used for this low budget indie film probably wasn't the greatest to begin with back in '44. The soundtrack, unfortunately, was another story. "Muddy" sound quality doesn't begin to describe it.
If you've seen this movie, won't you share your thoughts on it?