So said The N.Y. Times in reviewing OUT OF THE FOG and I absolutely agree with their verdict.
JOHN GARFIELD has seldom played a nastier character than he does here as a shake-down hood getting every penny out of his racketeering business from Brooklyn fishermen THOMAS MITCHELL and JOHN QUALEN, and playing around with Mitchell's daughter, IDA LUPINO.
None of the characters are likable, so there's really no one to root for. Ida Lupino's sudden infatuation with the lowdown heel and her willingness to go along with his plans makes no sense when she's clearly a daughter concerned about her father's welfare. Qualen plays a cowardly follower who can never make up his mind about anything (and does it well, by the way). And Thomas Mitchell is a stubborn old man who is finally able to turn the tables on Garfield in an unexpected way.
But the script is one-dimensional gangster stuff with some very good actors given some very banal material to work with. Based on an Irwin Shaw play, it's old-fashioned in concept and tedious in execution even though the director is Anatole Litvak who clearly didn't have his heart in this story.
Garfield and Lupino are fine actors who've done much better work in other films. Both of them are guilty of some heavy overacting here, especially Lupino whenever she loses her temper.
JOHN GARFIELD has seldom played a nastier character than he does here as a shake-down hood getting every penny out of his racketeering business from Brooklyn fishermen THOMAS MITCHELL and JOHN QUALEN, and playing around with Mitchell's daughter, IDA LUPINO.
None of the characters are likable, so there's really no one to root for. Ida Lupino's sudden infatuation with the lowdown heel and her willingness to go along with his plans makes no sense when she's clearly a daughter concerned about her father's welfare. Qualen plays a cowardly follower who can never make up his mind about anything (and does it well, by the way). And Thomas Mitchell is a stubborn old man who is finally able to turn the tables on Garfield in an unexpected way.
But the script is one-dimensional gangster stuff with some very good actors given some very banal material to work with. Based on an Irwin Shaw play, it's old-fashioned in concept and tedious in execution even though the director is Anatole Litvak who clearly didn't have his heart in this story.
Garfield and Lupino are fine actors who've done much better work in other films. Both of them are guilty of some heavy overacting here, especially Lupino whenever she loses her temper.