A rather maudlin little manipulation of a film, not sure of what it wants to be, almost like a silent film with dialog, and in spite of its attempts to be edgy is boring and messy. Hugo Haas wrote, directed and starred in this social drama about a street entertainer (Haas) down on his luck who turned down the opportunity to sell his dog for $500 and ends up homeless, needing to sell his anyway. The dancing dog entertains at a rich kids party, the bratty kid wants the dog for himself, and the kid's father tries to buy it (like every rich kids father tries to do in real life), and when he goes back to make an offer for the dog, the kids mothers buys it for $50, which sets up a local streetwalker (Francesca De Scaffa) and her boyfriend/pimp (Kent Carlton) to arrange to rob the rich man's house. Only Haas's nice girl neighbor (June Shelley) seems to care about him, although apartment manager Burt Mustin does appear to regret having to evict him.
This is one of a dozen Haas films that she wrote, directed and starred in where he plays a big hearted man who ends up in a difficult situation, but the problem with his characters, in spite of their big hearts, they really aren't that likable. Seems that every conversation they have is about them, and what they do for others, and that makes his characters far too into themselves and not very interesting. As usual in these filns, there is the proverbial bad girl under the thumb of some sleazy man, and these one dimensional characters are just far too cliched.
Another issue with the film is that the main plotline is extremely cloying, and it becomes emotionally manipulative and extremely aggravating much of the time. John Vosper and Tracy Roberts as the wealthy parents of the bratty kid get an award for one of the worst sets of parents ever in films the way they indulge their son. Vosper is closer to the kid's grandfather's age. It's obvious too that this kid would quickly get bored with the dog so his demands to make Haas give up his dog is an extremely unpleasant scene to watch. At times, Haas seems to be trying to emulate silent star Emil Jannings, so the mix of moods within the film becomes irritating to watch. A few shadowy moments do give this a film noir feel to it, and there's one funny moment when the rude butler is called an old fool to Haas right in front of his face. But overall, the film is a real mess, and one of the most depressing movies of the 50's.
This is one of a dozen Haas films that she wrote, directed and starred in where he plays a big hearted man who ends up in a difficult situation, but the problem with his characters, in spite of their big hearts, they really aren't that likable. Seems that every conversation they have is about them, and what they do for others, and that makes his characters far too into themselves and not very interesting. As usual in these filns, there is the proverbial bad girl under the thumb of some sleazy man, and these one dimensional characters are just far too cliched.
Another issue with the film is that the main plotline is extremely cloying, and it becomes emotionally manipulative and extremely aggravating much of the time. John Vosper and Tracy Roberts as the wealthy parents of the bratty kid get an award for one of the worst sets of parents ever in films the way they indulge their son. Vosper is closer to the kid's grandfather's age. It's obvious too that this kid would quickly get bored with the dog so his demands to make Haas give up his dog is an extremely unpleasant scene to watch. At times, Haas seems to be trying to emulate silent star Emil Jannings, so the mix of moods within the film becomes irritating to watch. A few shadowy moments do give this a film noir feel to it, and there's one funny moment when the rude butler is called an old fool to Haas right in front of his face. But overall, the film is a real mess, and one of the most depressing movies of the 50's.