This one may not be a certified classic, but I absolutely loved it. I've always had a fondness for hostage dramas and siege stories, something about people trapped together in desperate circumstances makes for intimate and intense storytelling and this one really delivers.
The stage is carefully set with Leslie Howard, the world weary wanderer stumbling upon a lonely roadside cafe where he inflames the imagination, and passions, of a young Bette Davis. She dreams of the larger world but her father and grandfather keep her in check and she suffers the advances of the loutish hired hand. Also thrown into this mundane situation are Paul Harvey and Genevieve Tobin as a bickering wealthy couple on their way to Phoenix. The drama explodes with the arrival of Humphrey Bogart and his cronies, on the run for robbery and murder. They all spend the night in the cafe as Bogart holds them hostage as he waits to rendezvous with his girlfriend and the rest of the gang.
The conversation is fantastic as Howard cleverly exposes the hopes, fears and failings of all concerned. The best bits are when Tobin, who came off as a shrewish rich wife, reveals how she wasted her life marrying into a loveless marriage to please her family, and there is some racial commentary when a black member of Bogart's gang mocks Harvey's black chauffeur for serving white people. Even Bogart, who exudes a cruelty and meanness we'd expect from a gangster, reveals a tender vulnerability after being pressed by Howard for a "favor". Wonderful stuff.
I must also mention the set, mostly inside the diner, but with the fake scenery and matte paintings in the background, it has a haunted and surreal atmosphere which enhances the tension.
The stage is carefully set with Leslie Howard, the world weary wanderer stumbling upon a lonely roadside cafe where he inflames the imagination, and passions, of a young Bette Davis. She dreams of the larger world but her father and grandfather keep her in check and she suffers the advances of the loutish hired hand. Also thrown into this mundane situation are Paul Harvey and Genevieve Tobin as a bickering wealthy couple on their way to Phoenix. The drama explodes with the arrival of Humphrey Bogart and his cronies, on the run for robbery and murder. They all spend the night in the cafe as Bogart holds them hostage as he waits to rendezvous with his girlfriend and the rest of the gang.
The conversation is fantastic as Howard cleverly exposes the hopes, fears and failings of all concerned. The best bits are when Tobin, who came off as a shrewish rich wife, reveals how she wasted her life marrying into a loveless marriage to please her family, and there is some racial commentary when a black member of Bogart's gang mocks Harvey's black chauffeur for serving white people. Even Bogart, who exudes a cruelty and meanness we'd expect from a gangster, reveals a tender vulnerability after being pressed by Howard for a "favor". Wonderful stuff.
I must also mention the set, mostly inside the diner, but with the fake scenery and matte paintings in the background, it has a haunted and surreal atmosphere which enhances the tension.