Destiny

In the 1940s, someone at Universal was obsessed with using the title "Destiny". It was the original title for "The Wolf Man". It was also supposedly an alternate title for "Son of Dracula". It then became the title for an episode in the anthology "Flesh and Fantasy", until the story proved too long so it was dropped for that film. The story was then taken and expanded and that's the version we get for a neat little noir-ish thriller.

It's one of those interesting forgotten films that is much better than you would anticipate. Alan Curtis does a great job as the handsome ex-con named Cliff Banks, who has more bad luck than an early 21st century democrat. He struggles with trusting people because each time he has, he's ended up being screwed. He finally stumbles upon a blind woman, Jane (a delightful Gloria Jean), and her father Clem (the always-dependable Frank Craven), who show him the good and generous side of human beings.

"Destiny" is a little uneven and top-heavy with early flashbacks. It gains tremendously with a very dark, key sequence in the end that is genuinely brutal and that literally scares Cliff straight. As a whole, the film does a great job of depicting innocence and how an innocent and good man can be forced to be dis-trusting of people, though he doesn't really want to be. The film is imaginative and the characters are interesting and the film can be viewed as a companion piece to its brother in fantasy, "Flesh and Fantasy". Tough to find, but rewarding. Another hit by Universal.