CinemaSerf
09 July 2022
Dana Andrews is "Hod" - a professional architect who much prefers his life as a lobster fisherman. This causes a bit of hassle with his fiancée "Ann" (Jean Peters), who is worried about the dangers of this maritime career. She is a social worker, and when she brings the young orphan "Donny" (Dean Stockwell) to hopefully find a permanent home in their small Maine town, the boy and "Hod" - and his colleague "Joe" (Cesar Romero) become fast friends. Henry King has created a good framework for this well paced and engaging story that takes a sensitive look at a young boy looking for roots, whilst offering us a gently simmering, lively, romance with some characterful performances - including the usually reliable Anne Revere ("Mary"). The last ten minutes are quite an exciting watch - the back-shot storm sequence is quite well integrated into the action, and folks gets well and truly soaked!