Clash By Night

A Stanwyck field day, in the kind of role she could do with her eyes closed, but because it's well-directed by Fritz Lang, the actress can let go with the snarls, venom, and wounded savagery we've come to expect and love. CLASH is a California cousin of Williams's STREETCAR but Stanwyck's Mae is tougher than Blanche; she's returned home a fallen woman to lick her big-city wounds, and Stanwyck gives it the commonness that Tallulah Bankhead had been too elegant for on Broadway. The story is essentially an Odets kitchen-sink triangle, with dangerous Ryan as resident trouble--he's terrific--and Douglas as the cuckholded spouse. The latter is the weak part of the triang...