O Destino Bate à Porta

It is wrong to compare this film with Visconti's masterpiece three years earlier, although they are both made on the same story. They are two totally different films. They start on an equal basis, but while Visconti concentrates on sticking to hard core realism and staying firmly on the ground with basics all the way, this film soon grows more romantic as a real noir feature and then turns into extensive complications of court procedures with two lawyers involved, one smarter than the other and both with agenda of their own. It is impossible to say which one is better, I haven't read book, but I presume both films follow the book rather accurately although they diverge into their own elaborations of the case. It's a great film with great actors and great music, the cinematography is superb, there can be no complaints, but the question is who makes the better performance, Lana Turner or John Garfield. They are both at their best, while my favorite actually is Cecil Kellaway as the adorable old fool Nick. Who could ever have the heart to kill such a nice and totally amiable guy?