IMDb RATING
7.2/10
7.8K
YOUR RATING
The public defender's secretary and an ex-convict get married and try to make a life together, but a series of disasters sends their lives spiraling out of control.The public defender's secretary and an ex-convict get married and try to make a life together, but a series of disasters sends their lives spiraling out of control.The public defender's secretary and an ex-convict get married and try to make a life together, but a series of disasters sends their lives spiraling out of control.
Charles 'Chic' Sale
- Ethan
- (as Chic Sale)
Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams
- Rogers
- (as Guinn Williams)
Earl Askam
- Corridor Guard
- (uncredited)
Hooper Atchley
- Teletype Operator
- (uncredited)
Allen Black
- Baby Taylor
- (uncredited)
Stanley Blystone
- Rafferty - Guard
- (uncredited)
Ward Bond
- Casey - Guard
- (uncredited)
Wade Boteler
- Pat - Policeman with Package
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWhile his previous film Fury (1936) -- his first American film -- had gone down well with critics, the Hollywood brass were unsure what to make of Fritz Lang and his politicized films. To the rescue came his Fury star Sylvia Sidney, who loved working with him and urged her producer Walter Wanger to consider him for the directing job on this film. Ironically, Lang gained a reputation on this film for being difficult to work with, resulting in his not working for another 18 months.
- GoofsAt about the 30 minute mark, Eddie is looking out the window of the flophouse with a cigarette between the fingers of his right hand. A man enters, telling him that there's a phone call for him. Eddie flicks the cigarette out the window, but the next shot shows him running down the stairs with it still between the fingers of his right hand where it remains for the entire phone conversation until he drops it to the floor.
- Quotes
Joan Graham: Anywhere's our home. On the road. Out there on a cold star. Anywhere's our home.
- ConnectionsEdited into Dillinger (1945)
Featured review
Not a movie to see if you're feeling depressed. Arguably, this is the darkest entry in the doomed lovers genre, and also one of the most affecting. Three-time loser Eddie (Fonda) and his pregnant wife (Sidney) are on the run after killing a priest, and after Eddie has tried his best to go straight in the face of a hostile, uncaring society. As the fog closes in, the tender couple tries to make their way to the border and freedom. What they get instead is freedom of a different kind.
Anyone doubting that cinema is basically a medium of manipulation needs to examine this grim masterpiece of early noir. From an irresistibly tearful Sidney to an unyielding fate to a relentlessly bleak photography, we're caught up in Lang's carefully crafted artistic vision. The parts fit together inexorably, driving the lovers and us toward an inevitable conclusion. The only visual missing is an onrushing train. In my book, the movie's one of the purest examples of how visual artistry can overcome plot contrivance, for there are an unfortunate number of the latter.
Too bad the sad-faced Sidney is largely forgotten. It's really her marvelously expressive range that registers the tragedy and moves the audience. Far from glamorous, her talent remains nonetheless unusually poignant. All in all, the movie's in the same league as the transcendent They Live By Night (1947), and stands as possibly the polar opposite of the giddy Bonnie And Clyde (1967). In my little book, it's Lang's most compelling American film, despite the relative obscurity.
Anyone doubting that cinema is basically a medium of manipulation needs to examine this grim masterpiece of early noir. From an irresistibly tearful Sidney to an unyielding fate to a relentlessly bleak photography, we're caught up in Lang's carefully crafted artistic vision. The parts fit together inexorably, driving the lovers and us toward an inevitable conclusion. The only visual missing is an onrushing train. In my book, the movie's one of the purest examples of how visual artistry can overcome plot contrivance, for there are an unfortunate number of the latter.
Too bad the sad-faced Sidney is largely forgotten. It's really her marvelously expressive range that registers the tragedy and moves the audience. Far from glamorous, her talent remains nonetheless unusually poignant. All in all, the movie's in the same league as the transcendent They Live By Night (1947), and stands as possibly the polar opposite of the giddy Bonnie And Clyde (1967). In my little book, it's Lang's most compelling American film, despite the relative obscurity.
- dougdoepke
- Jul 1, 2011
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Three Time Loser
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $575,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 26 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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