I've always had the idea of what it would be like in crime dramas for either the anti-hero or femme fatal to be on their death bed and having a flash to the life they could have had. In particular, the femme fatal being caught and seeing her life had she taken the right path. That isn't the case here, but the anti-hero does look to his own destiny, and what he finds is that he needs people unlike what he thought. He's on the run from the law, accused of robbing a bank, and after being betrayed by the woman he trusted ends up in the dream like world of a complete innocent who changes his whole way of thinking. The fantasy here is stronger than the flesh, because ultimately that pretty much saves his soul.
An extracted reel from the 1943 compilation, "Flesh and Fantasy", this was expanded, and while the new parts are obvious, when it comes together, you can see why they chose to format it the way they did. Alan Curtis is excellent as the young hero, and it takes a minute to figure out if he's guilty or innocent. Several flashbacks reveal what lead him to where he is, and often, it seems like two different films. Minna Gombell us excellent and very amusing as the chatty but hard boiled dame who picks him up and ends up being the opposite of whom he assumed her to be. The first half is rather standard on the run crime drama, obviously the flesh, but what follows is obviously the fantasy.
The second half is obviously the cut reel, and turns the story into a mix of home spun light drama to a dark view of the man's soul. Curtis ends up on the farm of elderly Frank Craven and his blind daughter, Gloria Jean, who unknowingly changes his life. He finds himself torn in this world, and in a shocking scene, attacks her with obvious rape on his mind. This is a dream like sequence which visually is breathtaking, but psychologically haunting and possibly nefarious. The two segments blend well, thanks to the fine performances and intriguing editing, and makes it all blend together beautifully.
An extracted reel from the 1943 compilation, "Flesh and Fantasy", this was expanded, and while the new parts are obvious, when it comes together, you can see why they chose to format it the way they did. Alan Curtis is excellent as the young hero, and it takes a minute to figure out if he's guilty or innocent. Several flashbacks reveal what lead him to where he is, and often, it seems like two different films. Minna Gombell us excellent and very amusing as the chatty but hard boiled dame who picks him up and ends up being the opposite of whom he assumed her to be. The first half is rather standard on the run crime drama, obviously the flesh, but what follows is obviously the fantasy.
The second half is obviously the cut reel, and turns the story into a mix of home spun light drama to a dark view of the man's soul. Curtis ends up on the farm of elderly Frank Craven and his blind daughter, Gloria Jean, who unknowingly changes his life. He finds himself torn in this world, and in a shocking scene, attacks her with obvious rape on his mind. This is a dream like sequence which visually is breathtaking, but psychologically haunting and possibly nefarious. The two segments blend well, thanks to the fine performances and intriguing editing, and makes it all blend together beautifully.