This film was supposed to be about three characters growing up and drifting apart. It goes nowhere. There is very little insight into the characters and the plot is disjointed. Four stars for Keenan Wynn who does a great job with what he's given.
11 Reviews
A study in frustration
jaykay-1020 February 2003
Played against the festivities surrounding Mardi Gras, this drama highlights the frustrations of a doctor and priest respectively: the former because his dedicated work cannot relieve the pain and suffering that fill the world he knows; the latter because his idealistic intentions are victimized by the church's bureaucracy. Most notable in this film is an outstanding performance by Keenan Wynn as a punchdrunk former fighter, a childhood pal of the doctor and priest. Surely his finest performance, in a role that challenges him as no other had done, Wynn is heart-rending in developing a character who is trying, without success, to retain a last shred of dignity and sense of self-worth. What could easily have been over-played is handled with sensitivity and restraint. Keenan Wynn.....of all people!
Implausible From Start To Finish
Handlinghandel28 November 2004
This belongs to a small and select group of movies. These are the big-studio movies with known performers that are, nevertheless, absolutely awful. Another in this category is "The Guilt Of Janet Ames," which is at least more amusingly terrible.
Maybe Gig Young wanted to play an idealistic tough-guy doctor. Maybe Keenan Wynn wanted to show his chops playing a down-and-out fighter battling blindness. Someone must have had a reason of some sort for casting them in these roles.
The story about three boyhood friends takes place in New Orleans; yet many of the players, Wynn most noticeably, affect heavy Bronx accents. (The third friend is a Roman Catholic priest. His part seems to have been trimmed to almost nothing in the print I saw.)
Wynn seems to be wearing contact lenses that make his pupils appear cloudy. His performance isn't bad, really, but he is cast against type and in a one-dimensional role. It's a no-win situation. As is the whole movie.
Maybe Gig Young wanted to play an idealistic tough-guy doctor. Maybe Keenan Wynn wanted to show his chops playing a down-and-out fighter battling blindness. Someone must have had a reason of some sort for casting them in these roles.
The story about three boyhood friends takes place in New Orleans; yet many of the players, Wynn most noticeably, affect heavy Bronx accents. (The third friend is a Roman Catholic priest. His part seems to have been trimmed to almost nothing in the print I saw.)
Wynn seems to be wearing contact lenses that make his pupils appear cloudy. His performance isn't bad, really, but he is cast against type and in a one-dimensional role. It's a no-win situation. As is the whole movie.
Remarkable performances
susand11087 September 2018
There are some top-notch performances here, particularly by Keenan Wynn as a has-been boxer. I can't help but think Robert DeNiro watched it as he was preparing for Raging Bull. I also especially enjoyed watching Janice Rule in an early role. Script-wise, the dialogue is pretty true to life, but the plot is not as fully developed as it had the potential to be. The lighting, set decor, and cinematography are all very respectable, and the film does a great job of capturing the look and feel of New Orleans. Mardi Gras attendees sure did dress nicer back then! Not a great movie, but definitely worth your time, especially if you love NOLA like I do.
A bit of a downer...and I can see why it lost money at the box office.
planktonrules12 November 2019
"Holiday for Sinners" is a film that lost money when it was released. After watching it, I can certainly understand why. Now it's NOT because it's a bad movie...but it's incredibly grim and unpleasant.
The story is set in New Orleans and it's about three different people reaching important crossroads in their lives. Dr. Kent (Gig Young) is a burnt out doctor who is sick of working with the down and out masses and longs to leave to do research. He's somehow friends with Joe (Keenan Wynn), a down and out boxer who is bling, an alcoholic and punch drunk. And, Father Carducci (Richard Anderson) is suffering from a crisis of faith and it considering leaving the church. How do their stories all intersect, see the film...or don't.
The biggest plus about the movie is that it is actually filmed in New Orleans. Other than that and some decent acting, there isn't a lot to love about this one, as I said it's quite grim. There's even a scene with two bodies lying in the street. They've been shot and it's actually amazingly vivid and depressing. And, by the time the final credits roll, you really feel like drowning yourself in your tub! Inexplicably depressing and seemingly pointless.
The story is set in New Orleans and it's about three different people reaching important crossroads in their lives. Dr. Kent (Gig Young) is a burnt out doctor who is sick of working with the down and out masses and longs to leave to do research. He's somehow friends with Joe (Keenan Wynn), a down and out boxer who is bling, an alcoholic and punch drunk. And, Father Carducci (Richard Anderson) is suffering from a crisis of faith and it considering leaving the church. How do their stories all intersect, see the film...or don't.
The biggest plus about the movie is that it is actually filmed in New Orleans. Other than that and some decent acting, there isn't a lot to love about this one, as I said it's quite grim. There's even a scene with two bodies lying in the street. They've been shot and it's actually amazingly vivid and depressing. And, by the time the final credits roll, you really feel like drowning yourself in your tub! Inexplicably depressing and seemingly pointless.
Goes Nowhere
dougdoepke14 November 2009
In brief, the screenplay is a mess, lacking in both direction and point. It looks like it's supposed to follow three story threads, namely, three childhood friends still living in a seedy part of New Orleans. However, one thread, the priest, pretty much evaporates, while the other two, the ex-fighter and the doctor, simply flounder from one scene to the next, reaching a climax so abruptly awkward, they may have run out of film. If there's a governing concept to the pottage, I can't find it
Too bad, because there's a lot of talent involved. Campbell and Rule especially shine in supporting parts, even though Wynn spreads on the punch-drunk fighter pretty thick. What really puzzles me, however, is the talent behind the scenes. Writer Bezzerides is responsible for some of the best noirs of the time, e.g. On Dangerous Ground (1952), Thieves' Highway (1949); at the same time, producer John Houseman was a long-time prestige producer and collaborator with Orson Welles. Given these proved track records, what's on screen here stacks up as a genuine puzzlement. There must be an inside story and I suspect it has something to do with the studio, MGM, which was a late comer to B-movie b&w and not much good at it, anyway. Whatever the reason, at least this odd misfire plays off the colorful background of New Orleans Mardi Gras, which is about the only reason to watch.
Too bad, because there's a lot of talent involved. Campbell and Rule especially shine in supporting parts, even though Wynn spreads on the punch-drunk fighter pretty thick. What really puzzles me, however, is the talent behind the scenes. Writer Bezzerides is responsible for some of the best noirs of the time, e.g. On Dangerous Ground (1952), Thieves' Highway (1949); at the same time, producer John Houseman was a long-time prestige producer and collaborator with Orson Welles. Given these proved track records, what's on screen here stacks up as a genuine puzzlement. There must be an inside story and I suspect it has something to do with the studio, MGM, which was a late comer to B-movie b&w and not much good at it, anyway. Whatever the reason, at least this odd misfire plays off the colorful background of New Orleans Mardi Gras, which is about the only reason to watch.
No "Bad and the Beautiful"! In fact, just all bad!
JohnHowardReid14 September 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Producer: John Houseman. Copyright 2 June 1952 by Loew's Inc. A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picture. New York opening at the Palace: 19 September 1952. U.S. release: July 1952. U.K. release date not recorded. Australian release: 10 September 1952. 6,487 feet. 72 minutes.
SYNOPSIS: Important decisions, which will determine the course of their lives, must be made within 24 hours by a young doctor, a Catholic priest, and a former prize-fighter who is almost blind. Setting: Mardi Gras in New Orleans. — Copyright summary.
NOTES: Houseman's second film as a producer, this one immediately precedes The Bad and the Beautiful.
COMMENT: Dull, dreary and distinctly unpleasant, this "B"-grader has nothing to recommend it except some occasional flashes of inventiveness in direction and photography and one or two capable performances (Ralph Dumke, Will Wright).
The central character, irritatingly over-acted by Keenan Wynn, is easily the most unlikable we have ever encountered in a motion picture.
The other principals can do nothing with their roles as they are hamstrung by a script that fails to engage the remotest trace of sympathy or interest in the audience and seems to consist almost entirely of talk, talk, talk as Gig Young and Richard Anderson lay their boring souls bare.
Despite the Mardi Gras setting, large sets and plenty of extras, production values are minimal.
SYNOPSIS: Important decisions, which will determine the course of their lives, must be made within 24 hours by a young doctor, a Catholic priest, and a former prize-fighter who is almost blind. Setting: Mardi Gras in New Orleans. — Copyright summary.
NOTES: Houseman's second film as a producer, this one immediately precedes The Bad and the Beautiful.
COMMENT: Dull, dreary and distinctly unpleasant, this "B"-grader has nothing to recommend it except some occasional flashes of inventiveness in direction and photography and one or two capable performances (Ralph Dumke, Will Wright).
The central character, irritatingly over-acted by Keenan Wynn, is easily the most unlikable we have ever encountered in a motion picture.
The other principals can do nothing with their roles as they are hamstrung by a script that fails to engage the remotest trace of sympathy or interest in the audience and seems to consist almost entirely of talk, talk, talk as Gig Young and Richard Anderson lay their boring souls bare.
Despite the Mardi Gras setting, large sets and plenty of extras, production values are minimal.
A mess of a film!
hemisphere65-120 November 2021
Richard Anderson may have given the best performance in the movie, but his seemingly major character simply disappears for most of the story.
Young is as bad as usual, but Campbell was pretty good. Wynn was over the top.
Young is as bad as usual, but Campbell was pretty good. Wynn was over the top.
B picture with an astoundingly adult screenplay
drichter-14 November 2015
From a naturalistic Hamilton Basso novel, Days Before Lent, this is an adult melodrama about three childhood friends, a doctor, a priest, and a boxer,who develop in very different directions, but all leading to a dead end. The priest (Richard Anderson) wants to create a clinic for the poor but is frustrated by the church hierarchy, the doctor (Gig Young) wants to leave his hardscrabble practice and join a research team in India but discovers that he would have to leave his aristocratic fiancée (Janice Rule) back in New Orleans, and the battered boxer, a has-been who is going blind (Keenan Wynn), is merely trying to survive from drink to drink. The performances are more than merely competent, Keenan Wynn's in particular, but the delight is in the urbane and intelligent dialogue by Albert Bezzerides. The melodrama unfolds against Mardi Gras in New Orleans, but very little of what happens is peculiar to that unique city (even the breakfast pastries are called doughnuts rather than beignets).
Love everything French Quarter/French Quarter
gkeith_15 November 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Observations: I have been to FQ/NOLA seven times, 1978 to July 2013. I was looking in this movie for places similar to 2013, from 1952 -- a time block of 61 years.
First of all, Cafe du Midi is Cafe du Monde IRL, and it escaped Hurricane Katrina. Katrina only took out Cafe du Monde's electricity, and it closed for a few months to replace its aging kitchen appliances. Indeed, all the bad national publicity scared tons of tourists away from the French Quarter. I was in Cafe du Monde this summer!
Second, I was in Jackson Square and St. Louis Cathedral this June and July, 2013. The church was called St. Cyrian or St. Cyprian in this movie. I went in there to escape the summer heat. The church had great air conditioning. It had beautiful interiors. Later this summer, the funeral of famous Lindy Boggs was held there. She used to have a lovely home on Bourbon Street, not far from this church . . . In the War of 1812 and Battle of New Orleans, General Andrew Jackson drilled his army troops on the courtyard grounds of this cathedral. You can see the famous statue of Andrew Jackson in this movie, in front of the famous cathedral. Of course, Andrew Jackson became President of the United States. At any rate, church services are still held there, it has a choir and religious item gift shop, etc.
I draw pictures in the French Quarter, and this summer I did my second drawing of St. Louis Cathedral.
Dr.'s home looked next door to this cathedral, on a shabby street. There is no shabby housing next to this cathedral. Any New Orleans physician would certainly live in a much nicer neighborhood than depicted in this movie. Wealthy people like Mrs. Boggs actually live in several ornate mansions on touristy streets behind this famous cathedral.
Holiday? Not for the gamblers or card players. Not for the priest. Not for the ex-boxer. Looks like the doc is too busy doing doc things. Yes, Joe wears a costume. Sinners? The guy who owes Joe the money, plus his two goons/henchmen. They are all despicable.
I liked the parades. The music seemed like it would not be so popular in today's Mardi Gras parades. I like today's zydeco music in New Orleans. The costumes at the ball looked wonderful.
First of all, Cafe du Midi is Cafe du Monde IRL, and it escaped Hurricane Katrina. Katrina only took out Cafe du Monde's electricity, and it closed for a few months to replace its aging kitchen appliances. Indeed, all the bad national publicity scared tons of tourists away from the French Quarter. I was in Cafe du Monde this summer!
Second, I was in Jackson Square and St. Louis Cathedral this June and July, 2013. The church was called St. Cyrian or St. Cyprian in this movie. I went in there to escape the summer heat. The church had great air conditioning. It had beautiful interiors. Later this summer, the funeral of famous Lindy Boggs was held there. She used to have a lovely home on Bourbon Street, not far from this church . . . In the War of 1812 and Battle of New Orleans, General Andrew Jackson drilled his army troops on the courtyard grounds of this cathedral. You can see the famous statue of Andrew Jackson in this movie, in front of the famous cathedral. Of course, Andrew Jackson became President of the United States. At any rate, church services are still held there, it has a choir and religious item gift shop, etc.
I draw pictures in the French Quarter, and this summer I did my second drawing of St. Louis Cathedral.
Dr.'s home looked next door to this cathedral, on a shabby street. There is no shabby housing next to this cathedral. Any New Orleans physician would certainly live in a much nicer neighborhood than depicted in this movie. Wealthy people like Mrs. Boggs actually live in several ornate mansions on touristy streets behind this famous cathedral.
Holiday? Not for the gamblers or card players. Not for the priest. Not for the ex-boxer. Looks like the doc is too busy doing doc things. Yes, Joe wears a costume. Sinners? The guy who owes Joe the money, plus his two goons/henchmen. They are all despicable.
I liked the parades. The music seemed like it would not be so popular in today's Mardi Gras parades. I like today's zydeco music in New Orleans. The costumes at the ball looked wonderful.
Not bad for a not that usual scheme.
searchanddestroy-119 September 2023
But I think that Keenan Wynn is the main thing to remember from this movie, the most interesting. For the rest, the characters study is not always exciting, just a common drama which has many difficulties to find its marks. Not bad, but not more. Gerald Mayer is a director whose films have never excited me that much, mostly dramas such as this one. I suppose he wished to be too much intellectual, and his movies were not distributed, released in France; so no one knows his filmography from this side of the Atlantic, except maybe DIAL 1119. The most worth from him. That's my opinion. This one is not a junk, just a common drama.
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