“Was this a Warner programmer elevated to ‘A' status by the sheer stylistics of its own bootstraps - or was it a major social essay minimized in impact because Michael Curtiz was having too much fun with his mob scenes, fancy lighting effects and KKK-styled night-riders to notice how superficial was its Ladies' Home Journal brand of romantic fiction? So whether it's not as good as it should be, or a lot better than it has a right to be, is a question for discussion. But either way it's a typically vigorous and ultra-stylish Curtiz film, clearly designed as a latter-day I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang." --W.K.E.