Movie Diary 5/30/2022

The Man I Love (Raoul Walsh, 1946). Huge amount of plot for Ida Lupino: She plays a songbird who travels to the West Coast to visit sisters, begins to work for wolfish nightclub boss Robert Alda, falls for brooding pianist Bruce Bennett, and tries to save her brother (Warren Douglas, who has a curious, modern presence) from a life of working for Alda’s crook. Lots of touches that fit the director, especially about working-class lives, plus a certain amount of sexual frankness. A subplot about Lupino’s brother-in-law, who has PTSD from the war, is handled without sentimentality. Lots of odd people in this movie (and some scenes missing?), and some lumpiness in the storytelling – yet weirdly compelling.