Clash by Night

Synopsis: The bitter and cynical Mae Doyle returns to the fishing village where she was raised after deceptive loves and life in New York. She meets her brother, the fisherman Joe Doyle, and he lodges her in his home. Mae is courted by Jerry D'Amato, a good and naive man that owns the boat where Joe works, and he introduces his brutal friend Earl Pfeiffer, who works as theater's projectionist and is cheated by his wife. She does not like Earl and his jokes, but Jerry considers him his friend and they frequently see each other. Mae decides to accept the proposal of Jerry and they get married and one year later they have a baby girl. When the wife of Earl leaves him, he becomes depressed and Mae, who is bored with her loveless marriage, has an affair with him.
Director(s): Fritz Lang
Production: WARNER BROTHERS PICTURES
 
IMDB:
7.2
Rotten Tomatoes:
73%
APPROVED
Year:
1952
105 min
431 Views


Okay, boys, let's get her unloaded.

Sooner the quicker.

Go to cannery, go to farm,

go to picking grape.

Everywhere I go, bosses says no.

Jerry is gonna be mad when he

come off his boat and find you here.

- So he's mad.

- Old man ought to sleep late in the morning.

Is old, 68?

Is old, 68?

No good for work no more?

Chop them up, old men,

chop them up like bait.

Coffee. And a brandy.

Better make it whiskey, lady.

I thought when I heard music it was you.

Now, come on home, Papa. Let's go home.

- Oh, home.

- No, no, no.

What's home? Sit thinking.

No wife, no music. It's nothing, home.

- Why don't you take up golf.

- Why don't you shut up.

Now, come on home, Papa,

and don't make no trouble.

Come on, now.

Now look what you did.

Oh, excuse, it's a mistake.

Oh, you're always making mistakes.

I'm sorry, miss.

If you'd stay home like I told you,

nothing would happen.

Hey, ain't you Mae Doyle?

Yes.

Papa, you remember Mae.

Mae Doyle, Joe's sister.

I guess you don't

remember me, huh, Mae?

I don't remember a lot of things.

Guess I took on a little beef.

Jerry D'Amato.

Joe works on my boat.

- In the morning?

- Only when I have a cold.

- How much?

- A dollar even.

You coming home to stay?

- For a while.

- There ain't nothing like home, is there?

That's what they say.

Nephew, I didn't have me eyes closed

a second when... he's out of the house.

- All right, Uncle Vince.

- I'm trying to get a few winks.

- I'm so worn out.

- I know.

- Come on, Papa.

- I'm worn out taking care of him.

I said to myself, my nephew

would be hopping mad.

Blaming me as usual.

The old gent gets tanked and...

- Hi, Peggy.

- Hey.

I thought you...

I thought you weren't gonna eat

any more chocolate.

- You'll spread.

- So I'll spread.

- Don't, Joe.

- Why not?

I feel icky.

Mr. Homan went

in the warehouse today.

Found two girls asleep in the sacks.

- Did he holler?

- Murder.

Well, when a man pays your day's wages,

you owe him a day's work.

Irene came into work with a...

Irene came into work with a black eye.

That fellow she married when she was

working the fruit canneries...

...came down last night.

Wanted her to go back upstate

and live with him again.

And when she wouldn't,

he just beat her up awful.

- You should see her eye.

- Well, he's her husband.

So what?

I suppose you'd beat me up too

if I was your wife.

Sure, regular.

Let me see you try.

Just let me see any man try.

What would you do?

Scratch my eyes out?

Just try it. You'll find out.

- Tough, ain't you?

- Yeah.

- We should've had you in the 3rd Division.

- Let go.

Sure.

When I want you to kiss me,

I'll let you know. By special messenger.

Aren't you going to

welcome me home, Joe?

Welcome home.

It's been a long time, hasn't it?

Ten years.

Can 10 years go that fast?

House looks nice.

She looks nice too.

Peggy, my sister, Mae.

- Hi.

- Hi.

Funny, coming home

and finding the door locked...

...and not having a key to it anymore.

I remember the house as bigger.

It isn't very big, is it?

It's big enough.

Is there any coffee? Mae must be tired.

On the stove.

Why didn't you come home before?

Why didn't I go to China?

Some things you do,

some things you don't.

The way you wrote,

I thought you'd come back rich.

- Where's it parked?

- What?

The car with the chauffeur

and the rich husband.

There isn't any car. There isn't

any husband, rich, poor, indifferent.

Ain't that what you left town for?

I left town because I...

...left town.

What do you want, Joe, my life's history?

Here it is in four words:

Big ideas, small results.

The guy you wrote Ma

you were gonna marry.

I neglected to write

that he was already married.

Does it sound sordid?

All right, it sounds sordid.

He died, left me some money.

But they took it to court.

His wife, his brothers.

I almost drowned in outraged relatives.

Mae Doyle, 10 years later.

It's your life.

Yes, that's what's so funny.

It's really mine.

Well, do I go or stay?

It's your house too.

You can use Ma's old room.

Mae, I'll help you unpack.

You watch the coffee. Come on.

Joe said you lived in New York.

For a while.

- I don't think I'd like New York.

- Why?

I don't know. I'd be scared.

Nice. Did you get this in New York?

No, a drug store in Kansas City.

How old are you, Peg?

Twenty.

Twenty, the age of miracles.

- Here's your coffee, Mae.

- Oh, thanks, Joe.

- Do you want anything?

- A Cadillac.

Know what I'd really like?

A trailer.

Just go over the whole country

seeing places.

Where would you bring up the kids,

in the back seat?

Who said I'd have kids?

- You'd have kids.

- Yeah?

- Joe wants me to marry him.

- I gathered that.

But I hate people bossing me.

You marry a fella,

the first thing he does is boss you.

He can be real sweet sometimes.

But I don't wanna have to work

in a cannery if I got married.

Does Joe want you to work?

You know fellas.

They say a lot of things.

But wait till there's a bad catch

and money's short.

I'd go right back in the cannery.

I'd be stuck good.

You're very pretty, Peggy.

The boys whistle a lot.

I'm real glad you came back home, Mae.

Are you?

- Am I what?

- Glad you're home.

Home is where you come

when you run out of places.

I sure was surprised when

I walked into Angelo's...

...and there your sister was,

sitting at the bar.

- What's she gonna do now she's home?

Rate this script:3.5 / 2 votes

Alfred Hayes

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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