Raoul Walsh's The Man I Love has been unjustly neglected, but a recent revival in London prompted Peter Lloyd to note: “One of Walsh's least known films, this ‘discourse on desire, money, and temptation,' as one critic called it, deserves rescue from its apparently anachronistic place in the filmography. Its subject is a love affair between a singer (the superb Ida Lupino) and a pianist in the ambiance of post-war nightlife, shot by Walsh with all the stylistic hallmarks of the film noir. It features some excellent music by Gershwin, which adds to the fatalistic mood of the movie.”
“The character of Petey, exceptionally portrayed by Ida Lupino, is in the great tradition of gutsy Walsh women. She's tough (she slaps Don McGuire silly in a scene towards the end of the film), she's been around, and she is quite familiar with the school of hard knocks. She is also generous, loving and impulsive - a very appealing character.... The honesty and directness of the Lupino character and the intelligent thoughtful nature of the film's central relationship (which is partly and beautifully expressed through the lingering spiritualized close-ups of Lupino) is the greatest, but far from only, strength of this film. This lower class milieu is peopled with a diverse set of characters all of whom are fully realized and individualized.” --Robert E. Smith