Ida Lupino wasn’t a star for everyone’s taste, mine included, but if you’re a fan you’ll love this little small town drama – it’s kind of film noir but not really. She plays a singer who arrives in a small town bar/bowling alley and is lusted after owner Richard Widmark (another giggling villain although his villainy isn’t obvious straight away) and his best friend, manager Cornel Wilde (in the sort of part normally played by Victor Mature).
The plot has Wilde and Lupino fall in love (some implied pre marital sex) despite Celeste Holm pining over Wilde – and Widmark thinking that Lupino is his. The last act depends on us buying Widmark is so jealous that he frames Wilde for a crime and torments the couple.
There’s lots of Lupino: she gets to be sultry, sing some famous tunes, wear a swim suit and evening dresses, have men paw over her, be charismatic. Great atmosphere – did the US really have road houses that combined bowling alleys and nightclubs? It sounds weird.
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