Great closing shot but little else. Good luck sticking with it that long. Going in I expected that this early Nicholas Ray effort would probe the themes of youth anguish and alienation present in his classic "REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE" and I suppose it does, but in such an episodic, dramatically stillborn way, it's hard to believe it's even from the same director. The movie keeps backpedaling, flashing back, robbing itself of any momentum. In his opening courtroom remarks, Bogart instructs the jury that the criminal past of the young man on trial for murdering a cop doesn't matter, it's completely irrelevant. Then he proceeds to spend the next hour recounting the youth's cliched life story in long-winded detail, playing up his hard knocks upbringing in gooey, unbelievable fashion. Congratulations to the jury members for staying awake; I sure couldn't.<br /><br />The movie is really just a showcase for the good-looking, young up and comer John Derek, as the heartthrob hoodlum. The camera likes him and he's an ok actor (he would later go on to be more effective in some B level westerns and crime stories) but he lacks depth and often comes across as plastic, doll-like. He's certainly no James Dean. Bogart is really the only other actor here of any note, and he mostly goes through the motions, realizing he can only do so much with a routine script.<br /><br />One of those socially conscious pictures that is just too polite and well intentioned for its own good. Very minor and forgettable. Quite a disappointment from the great Nicholas Ray who made such an impression with movies like "THEY LIVE BY NIGHT", "IN A LONELY PLACE", and "PARTY GIRL".