The Man I Love

Raoul Walsh's 1946 film begins with Petey Brown, a nightclub singer, visiting her family. Back home she finds her siblings and a neighbour's wife entangled in various ways with a shady club owner. Ida Lupino's Petey is unusual among the women characters of the period. She takes shelter with nobody, waits for no rescue, and defends her own interest openly when she needs to. The film's strength comes from that; the plot is scattered but the character's stance is fixed. Generically it sits between noir and musical melodrama. The nightclub scenes and the jazz pianist character offer a slice of the musical world of the forties. It is among the most atmospheric of Warner's productions from this stretch. Who it's for: those who love forties Hollywood melodrama and Ida Lupino. Who it's not for: viewers who want a tightly built plot; the film tries to carry several stories at once and finishes none of them.