Mae Doyle returns to her hometown of Monterey, California, after 10 years on the East Coast. Joe, her fisherman brother, is unhappy to see her but accepts her back into the family home. His girlfriend, Peggy, welcomes Mae. When Joe asks Mae about the rich man whom she had been seeing, she explains that he was a married politician. He died and left her some money, but his wife and relatives sued her and won.
Mae begins to date Jerry D'Amato, a good-natured, unsophisticated fisherman with his own boat. She despises Jerry's friend Earl Pfeiffer, a bitter, dissatisfied film projectionist. In stark contrast to Mae's politician lover, who had made her feel confident in herself, Earl has a low opinion of women and makes no attempt to hide it. His wife is a vaudeville performer who is frequently away on tour, and he suspects that she is unfaithful.
Jerry asks Mae to marry him, but she warns him that she is not good for him. Mae and Earl acknowledge that an attraction exists between them, but Mae opts not to explore it. She instead chooses to accept Jerry's proposal, seeking security and hoping that she can change.
About a year later, Mae and Jerry are raising a baby girl, when a very drunk Earl shows up at their house and sleeps over. After Jerry leaves the following morning, Earl forcefully advances on Mae. She initially resists but then begins an affair with him. Jerry's uncle Vince, who bears a grudge against Mae, is aware of the affair and informs his disbelieving nephew. When Jerry confronts the couple, Mae admits that she intends to leave Jerry to be with Earl.
After a few drinks and some prodding by Vince, Jerry finds and starts strangling Earl until Mae arrives and intervenes, prompting Jerry to leave. Mae returns home to take her baby, but finds the crib empty. Earl suggests that they leave without taking the baby, but Mae refuses and instead ends the relationship. Mae goes to Jerry and convinces him to reconcile.
Clifford Odets' play Clash by Night was originally performed in 1941 as a neorealist Broadway play with Tallulah Bankhead in the lead female role. Robert Ryan, who eventually starred in the film version, was a member of the Broadway cast along with Bankhead at the start of his career.
Joan Crawford was originally scheduled to play the female lead, and her contract was to award her five percent of the film's gross, an unprecedented figure. However, Crawford was forced to withdraw because of her commitments to This Woman Is Dangerous and Sudden Fear. Barbara Stanwyck was announced in August 1951. Marilyn Monroe was cast in the role of Peggy later that month, and Stanwyck and the other stars of the film were so impressed with her work that they lobbied to grant her star billing. The film is Monroe's first to feature her name before the title.
Ryan was cast in December 1950 after renewing a contract with RKO Radio Pictures, but in an unspecified role. Burt Lancaster was rumored to be Crawford's costar, and the producers also sought Richard Carlson, Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift and Charlton Heston. The search for the male lead caused a delay in production.
Fritz Lang was announced as the director in August 1951. Lang changed the locale from Staten Island to a fishing town in California but preserved the oppressive seacoast atmosphere. However, to satisfy the demands of the Production Code, the tragic ending of the play was changed. Production began on October 8, 1951 with location filming in Monterey, California.
The title of the film, as well as that of the play, is derived from Matthew Arnold's 1851 poem "Dover Beach".
During production, the famous nude calendar photos of Monroe surfaced and reporters hounded her, creating considerable distraction for the filmmakers.
Odets, a former communist, was named by Elia Kazan before the House Un-American Activities Committee shortly before the film's release. RKO studio owner Howard Hughes, a strident anticommunist who had recently stripped communist writer Paul Jarrico of credit for The Las Vegas Story and fired 200 employees in an effort to rid the company of communist influence, was faced with a dilemma. However, a contract with Odets signed two years earlier guaranteed him screen credit, and Hughes feared that a legal battle would force a long delay in the film's release, so Odets' name remained as the credited writer.
Release
Clash by Night premiered in multiple international cities, including New York, Paris and London, on May 28, 1952.
Reception
On the review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, Clash by Night has a score of 61% based on 18 reviews. On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the film has a score of 65 out of 100 based on nine reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
Contemporary
In a review for The New York Times, critic A. H. Weiler wrote: "Mr. Odets' play never is the sum of some of its parts. It lacks conviction and distinction despite its hard-working principals. ... Miss Stanwyck is professionally realistic in the role. Paul Douglas is a physically convincing portrait of the simple, muscular and trusting Jerry. But it is difficult to take his extreme idealistic devotion."
Critic Edwin Schallert of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "'Clash by Night' possesses the slashing power of a real drama in the raw. It is contrived excellently and played with high efficiency by its cast nine-tenths of the way."
Variety called the film "a rather aimless drama of lust and passion".
Time Out describes Clash by Night as "a very Langian picture of the dangerous undercurrents in emotional relationships, excellently acted by the three principals, interestingly counterpointed by Marilyn Monroe (in her first major role) and Keith Andes as uninhibited young lovers."
References
123Heffernan, Harold (May 21, 1952). ""Clash by Night" to Carry Credit for Odets". San Antonio Express-News. p.10.
↑"Top Grossers of 1952". Variety. 189 (5): 61. January 7, 1953.
12Schwartz, Dennis (August 5, 2019). "Clash by Night". Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews. Retrieved November 7, 2022.
↑Berg, Louis (February 4, 1951). "Gentle Irishman". Los Angeles Times. p.15, This Week magazine.
↑Hopper, Hedda (December 7, 1950). "'Newspaper Story' May Star Merrill, Davis". Los Angeles Times. p.14, Part III.
123Schallert, Edwin (July 12, 1951). "Brando, Clift Sought Anew as Costars; Ladd Urges Own Setup Along". Los Angeles Times. p.9, Part III.
↑Hopper, Hedda (August 9, 1951). "Douglas, Stanwyck Set for 'Clash by Night'". Los Angeles Times. p.8, Part III.
↑Scheuer, Philip K. (August 22, 1951). "Edward Arnold Joins Myrna Loy; Dramatic Role for Blond 'Babe'". Los Angeles Times. p.7, Part II.
↑Hopper, Hedda (May 4, 1952). "Marilyn Soared to Stardom on Torrid Monroe Doctrine". Los Angeles Times. p.3, Part IV.
↑Schallert, Edwin (December 11, 1950). "Morgan Resumes Song; Harris Guest of Crosby; Lamas to Play Matador". Los Angeles Times. p.13, Part III.
↑Schallert, Edwin (November 30, 1950). "Communist Expose Due for Early Start; Alan Reed Orchestra Leader". Los Angeles Times. p.11, Part III.
↑Schallert, Edwin (May 12, 1951). "Charles Korvin to Play Power Adversary; Jagger Held Okay for 'McTeague'". Los Angeles Times. p.15.
12Schallert, Edwin (August 15, 1951). "Fritz Lang to Direct Stanywck, Paul Douglas; Lanza Film Again Slowed". Los Angeles Times. p.9, Part III.
↑Schallert, Edwin (October 4, 1951). "Edith Piaf Will Star in Kirkland Film Play; Keith Andes in Debut". Los Angeles Times. p.7, Part II.
↑Arnold, Matthew. "Dover Beach". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved July 11, 2025.
↑Bogdanovich, Peter (1969). Fritz Lang in America. Frederick A. Praeger. p.81.
