A strange mess of a film.

This is another well intentioned late Preminger that's wonky as fuck, veering from a genuinely insane and terrifying intro (that's sometimes played for laughs) to extended bouts of pure melodrama. It sounds unfair, and it's been spouted so often about the dude, but someone needed to take the keys away from grandpa.

His heart is in the right place, and he really swung for the fences. More of a foul ball than a strike, but the kind of foul ball that smacked this viewer on the forehead and gave him brain damage. It takes place in an alternate fucking universe. It's sad to think about the films that didn't get green lit because Paramount's slate was full of all these shitty Preminger movies.

The flashbacks are very strange, sometimes employing surrealism, clashing wildly with the rest of the film. The execution of the movie is so awkward, frequently coming off as super cheap. The sound is sometimes really terrible. The ending totally shits the bed, a bed that had already been peed in.

The cast is fine, but exaggerated. They do their best, but Preminger subverts their efforts at every turn. Glad to see Fred Williamson in a different sorta role for him. Ken Howard doesn't do much for me. Preminger is always foisting James fuckin' Coco upon us. Liza's inherent charisma isn't totally doused here, but definitely dulled a bit.

A very unusual misfire. I need to give it some props for audacity and having a good heart though.