... as in the two male leads - 4th billed Humphrey Bogart as Paul Fabrini, and top billed George Raft as his brother Joe. This film is a (very) loose remake of 1935's "Bordertown", and it is much better IMHO, because the plot at least makes some sense. Plus Warner Brothers is all over these working class melodramas - the truck drivers pushing their bodies to the point of disaster - as in falling asleep at the wheel, the hash joints, the bosses that won't pay up, the rough and tumble along the way. Paul and Joe are partnered in truck driving, and decide to leave behind a boss that cheated them for an old friend with a trucking business - Alan Hale as Ed Carlsen. But there is trouble brewing. Ed's wife, Lana (Ida Lupino), has been carrying a torch for Joe all of these years she was married to Ed, and yet she has the dexterity to simultaneously do some serious scenery chewing. Ed can't see he disgusts her, and Joe is blind to her true feelings for him until it is too late. I won't go into all the details, let's just say nobody does a 1940 working class Lady Macbeth like Ms. Lupino. She outshines Bette Davis' performance in the 1935 film.
Why my title? Before and After? Because this is a fork in the road for Bogart and Raft. They are great in their parts here, and at least Jack Warner lets Bogart do something here in his long apprenticeship with Warner's other than play Duke Mantee AGAIN. But the winds of fortune are about to change for Bogie exactly because Raft made some very bad career decisions. He turned down "High Sierra", "The Maltese Falcon", AND "Casablanca". Bogart got the parts instead and by the time they were released he was on his way to being Hollywood legend. Raft, unfortunately, was on the road to obscurity. He would never return to the heights of his 30s career. Raft made other mistakes along the way - let's just say I read his autobiography and the alternate title should be "Don't Let This Happen To You". He picked the wrong girl to marry who then wouldn't divorce him and left him on the hook for 46 years of alimony ( they were only really married one night!). And when he wanted out of his contract with WB Jack Warner named a figure and Raft thought that HE was supposed to pay WB! Jack did not correct Raft's impression!
But hey, nobody does the tough guy who knows the score who yet has a moral core like Raft and I always enjoy his films. This one is highly recommended.
Why my title? Before and After? Because this is a fork in the road for Bogart and Raft. They are great in their parts here, and at least Jack Warner lets Bogart do something here in his long apprenticeship with Warner's other than play Duke Mantee AGAIN. But the winds of fortune are about to change for Bogie exactly because Raft made some very bad career decisions. He turned down "High Sierra", "The Maltese Falcon", AND "Casablanca". Bogart got the parts instead and by the time they were released he was on his way to being Hollywood legend. Raft, unfortunately, was on the road to obscurity. He would never return to the heights of his 30s career. Raft made other mistakes along the way - let's just say I read his autobiography and the alternate title should be "Don't Let This Happen To You". He picked the wrong girl to marry who then wouldn't divorce him and left him on the hook for 46 years of alimony ( they were only really married one night!). And when he wanted out of his contract with WB Jack Warner named a figure and Raft thought that HE was supposed to pay WB! Jack did not correct Raft's impression!
But hey, nobody does the tough guy who knows the score who yet has a moral core like Raft and I always enjoy his films. This one is highly recommended.