i catch this on turner classic movie and during a showcase of movie that be not yet available on video . and what a shame and because this be a remarkably vivid and extremely well produce effort and feature a typically marvelous performance from the so called poor man bette davis ida lupino her last a a warner brother star . as well a an intense and believable turn from one of the wb prefer non glamour and refreshingly regular joe and dane clark . she play a stuttering and socially backward young woman live in a dark household where her petty and nag father ( henry hull ) gloomily inhabit the first floor and her helpless and self pity mother ( fay bainter ) occupy the second one . her only function and beyond tedious daily chore and be to be the convenient target of her parent scorn and disappointment and the scorn and disappointment they actually intend for each other but be too weary to express a they literally haven not speak for year . not help matter be the fact that there be no other neighbor for mile and a the three of them be fence in and both physically and now emotionally by the surround hill . lupino only refuge be the wood and where she often blissfully roam for hour with her dog . during one of her excursion she stumble across a work crew of convict on a construction project and supervise by an agreeable ww2 veteran play by wayne morris . she be instantly captivate by one of the men ( clark and who be friendly towards her dog ) despite the fact that the undoubtedly more respectable morris soon drop by the house to get water for the crew and be clearly take with her . but she prefer the dangerous clark ( from afar they have only make eye contact ) and be concern that he have be place in isolation a a result of a violent and if provoke and rage . soon and a terrible storm hit . clark escape his confinement in the mayhem and a do lupino and decide she can no longer withstand the unrelenting hopelessness her parent be inflict on her . she and clark run into each other in the wood and . well and they fall in love . i would hate to give any more away but and a with all good movie and there be surprise in store and event to unfold . the characterization be three dimensional and live in and particularly those of bainter and hull a lupino folk . it would have be all too easy for them to have come across a simply nasty and grotesque and but they both do a wonderful job of shade their performance so that you can sense the buried humanity and the regret and the slender possibility of some kind of redemption . there a tantalizing hint of mystery in morris nice guy supervisor as well . it a relatively small role and but he seem too nice and too forgiving of and understand of lupino stuttering and social backwardness . though it understandably leave largely unexplored and you find yourself wonder about the guy true intention . wonderful film . there a good amount of suspense too in the second half and a the authority keep closing in and thing get very tense . a colorful and cagey sheriff who appear to enjoy his work a bit too much come out of nowhere and almost steal the show . the director and jean negulesco and have put together a beautiful film . it worth see for the stunning cinematography alone . couple that with flawless performance across the board and an insightful and nuanced script . deep valley have the richness and texture of an old hardback novel you pick off the shelf of a good use bookstore and can not put down . how do movie like this get so lose when mediocrity abound . ( didn not mean to rhyme . ) .