great closing shot but little else . good luck stick with it that long . go in i expect that this early nicholas ray effort would probe the theme of youth anguish and alienation present in his classic rebel without a cause and i suppose it do and but in such an episodic and dramatically stillborn way and it hard to believe it even from the same director . the movie keep backpedal and flash back and rob itself of any momentum . in his opening courtroom remark and bogart instruct the jury that the criminal past of the young man on trial for murder a cop doesn not matter and it completely irrelevant . then he proceed to spend the next hour recount the youth cliched life story in long winded detail and play up his hard knock upbringing in gooey and unbelievable fashion . congratulation to the jury member for stay awake while i sure couldn not . the movie be really just a showcase for the good look and young up and comer john derek and a the heartthrob hoodlum . the camera like him and he an ok actor ( he would later go on to be more effective in some b level western and crime story ) but he lack depth and often come across a plastic and doll like . he certainly no james dean . bogart be really the only other actor here of any note and and he mostly go through the motion and realize he can only do so much with a routine script . one of those socially conscious picture that be just too polite and well intentioned for it own good . very minor and forgettable . quite a disappointment from the great nicholas ray who make such an impression with movie like they live by night and in a lonely place and and party girl .