An escaped convict, injured during a robbery, falls in love with the woman who nurses him back to health, but their relationship seems doomed from the beginning.
A key film noir of the 40s, this was Nicholas Ray's first film as a director (1949), and the freshness of his expressionist-documentary style is still apparent and gripping.
– Dave Kehr,
Chicago Reader,
1 Jan 2000
fresh:
Although it -- like others -- is misguided in its sympathies for a youthful crook, this crime-and-compassion melodrama has the virtues of vigor and restraint.
– Bosley Crowther,
New York Times,
20 May 2003
fresh:
Passionate, lyrical, and imaginative, it's a remarkably assured debut, from the astonishing opening helicopter shot that follows the escaped convicts' car to freedom, to the final, inexorably tragic climax.
– Geoff Andrew,
Time Out,
24 Jun 2006
fresh:
There's no attempt at sugarcoating a happy ending, and yarn moves towards its inevitable, tragic climax without compromise.