This movie was a bit unusual because it starts off strictly like a musical the first 20 minutes. It had me puzzled; I didn't think I had rented a musical. Well, it wasn't, as it turned out, even though music was a central element in the story. The rest of the film was a combination of drama, film noir and melodrama. At least that's the way I saw it and, yeah, I was glad to see IMDb confirm my description when I got to the title page here to post the review.

The only time the movie bogged down was when it became a little too melodramatic in a few spots. Betty Field ("Kay" )was usually in those scenes, playing a woman with a chip on her shoulder. As I watched her, I thought, "Wow, this woman is tailor-made for film noirs. She could have been another Marie Windsor." Sadly, she wasn't, but she was in a good number of movie and television shows. Still, I think noir would have been the best vehicle for her.

Priscilla Lane plays the female opposite: the wholesome-looking good gal ("Character") who just wants the band to click and for everybody to be happy. Heck, that's what the band in general wants, but "Jigger" is the guy who keeps putting a monkey-wrench into the deal and seems to be the band member whom everyone looks to for leadership.

Richard Worf plays "Jigger," and he's so-so as an actor. The fact he never made it big is understandable. There's a smoothness to his delivery that's missing. His changed his career from acting to directing in 1945 and did better at that. Obviously the same can be said for another member of the band in this story: "Nickie," played by Elia Kazan, who classic film fans know as a very famous director.

When all is said-and-done, actors Lane and Lloyd Nolan ("Del") seemed to be the most "real" in this film, and those two were the ones who had the best careers of this cast, particularly Nolan. Jack Carson and Howard da Silva are also in this movie and they're "known" actors, too.

My favorite part of the movie was a very short scene with about 15 minutes left with "Jigger" was in the hospital and he was hallucinating. The innovative camera-work was terrific, right out of Dali painting. Kudos to director Anatole Litvak for some good closeup shots and interesting camera angles and use of light, in that scene and others in the film. This movie is very well photographed. Ernie Haller was the cinematographer. Haller's resume includes some very famous films.

The odd mix of genres makes this intriguing movie I'm glad I checked out, and I recommended to fellow classic film fans.

Interesting film by director Anatole Litvak creating film-noir with a musical.

Two future excellent directors, Richard Whorf, who bore a strong resemblance to Robert Taylor, and Elia Kazan star. Kazan was also in Litvak's 1940 film "City for Conquest."

The picture has an excellent cast. A group of musicians led by Jigger (Whorf) meet up with gangster Lloyd Nolan while hitching a ride on a train. Nolan likes them when they don't turn him in despite the fact that he holds them up for $5.00!

He brings them to a Road House where the group perform. We have some great musical settings here and the various montage depiction is excellent.

The film is extremely well paced. There is never a dull moment. He moves beautifully from film noir to musical and back to film noir again.

In addition, there is a terrific performance by Bette Field as a Road House girl in love with Nolan, who spurns her. Whorf is hopelessly in love with her and her rejection of him leads to his mental breakdown. How ironic that 16 years after this film, Nolan and Field both appeared in the 1957 film "Peyton Place" but had no scenes together. Field is both catty and quite vicious in this film. It's her viciousness that shall prove to be her undoing.

Jack Carson toots his horn and is wed in the film to Priscilla Lane. One major flaw of the film is their lack of emotional outburst when it is revealed that their baby boy has died.

That could be the drunken malapropism for the seemingly sadomasochistic character played by Betty Field, tested here for the equally crazy role of Cassie in "King's Row", and one of the most unforgettable psychotic femme fatals prior to Ann Savage in "Detour". Once you see her overly teased hair, melodramatic acting, and every bit of evil within her, you'll never forget her. Barbara Stanwyck in "Double Indemnity", Jane Greer in "Out of the Past" and Lizabeth Scott in "Dead Reckoning" owe everything to this performance, because once they saw it, they probably agreed that to tone down the insinuations of psychosis in their characters which was the best way to play it because Field is entirely over the top.

Of course, the Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer song will attract your attention from the moment a black group of jail inmates begins to sing it and band member Richard Whorf decides to take it on as his theme. This is film noir right at the very beginning of the genre, not an early experiment like "I am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang" or accidental noir like "Fury" and "You Only Live Once", but one of the first in a series of dark films that took to the sleazy side of life. This is about a blues group that travel by box car, are held up on a train, and end up friendly with their friendly neighbor thief (Lloyd Nolan) who sends them to his shanty honky-tonk run by the hard as nails Howard da Silva where they meet the unforgettable Field. There's also the battle trumpet player Jack Carson and his wife Priscilla Lane as well as other assorted dark characters. Mabel Todd (of "Hollywood Hotel" and "Varsity Show") has a musical specialty here that is zany and unforgettable.

Beyond the music here (one of the few actual musical noirs made),this is a story of how ambition can destroy and how desperate it can make those down on their luck determined to make the big time. The same year's more light-hearted "Birth of the Blues" can't even be compared to this. The violent ending is one of the most brutal post-code finales in film history.