Perry Kate Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Seraherrera The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

Cody One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

classicsoncall Sometimes one viewing is all it takes, I'm moving this title immediately to my list of best films no one's ever heard of. Not so much for the story itself, but for the dialog and terrific nighttime street scenes of downtown Cat-tail with all those great marquees. I'll get to them in a minute. There's also some great era touches that you have to pay attention for, and if you do you'll be rewarded with a hefty dose of reality on how things were during a time gone by.One of those took place early in the story. Did you catch the gas station guy lamenting the fact of all those vehicles passing him by to get to Cat-tail, stopping only if they needed a bit of fuel to make it the rest of the way? One of the customers bought a PINT of gas for 6 CENTS!!! Even con-girl Skeeter (Betty Brewer) filled up her gas can for a wallet busting twelve cents so her folks could make it the rest of the way. Usually we don't see the good old days portrayed this way.Staying another minute at that gas station - how about Danny's response to Lola (Ann Sheridan) when she turns down his offer to wash the car - he's willing then to touch up her bumpers! You've got to wonder how the film makers got that one past the Code enforcers.Well there's a whole bunch of stuff like this going on, so much so it took me almost twice as long to watch the movie compared to it's hour and a half run time, what with all the re-winds and stopping to take notes for this review. There's one scene I actually had to replay four times to see if I got it right. It's toward the end of the picture when Steve Talbot (Ronald Reagan) tucks in the drunken Nick Garcos (George Tobias) for the night. After leaving the room and locking the door, Nick calls Steve's name, and when Steve turns to answer, they're in the same room together again! Check it out.Oh yeah, about the main drag in Cat-tail. Seeing as how they put this together, someone was pretty creative in naming the joints up and down the strip. You had places going by The Goons, Little Zombie, Jook Alley, Shook Shack, Muckeye's and Horsies Hot Shot. Sheridan's character did her 'juke girl' gig at Muckeye's, where it looked like a fair number of fellas were willing to touch up her bumpers. The fact that future President Reagan got to close out the story in a smooch with the 'oomph' girl shouldn't have come as a surprise considering all that went before.It surprises me then that the film doesn't score a bit higher on this board. Okay, it is a bit formulaic, and if presented as a Western it would probably classify as run of the mill. But with all the cool stuff going on, I guess it just struck me in a way that a lot of films coming out of the era fail to do. Or maybe it had to do with one of those good luck Jo-Mo's Willie Best was peddling. It sure did the trick for me.

utgard14 Surprisingly angry melodrama from Warner Bros. about migrant worker Ronald Reagan versus local fat cat Gene Lockhart. I've seen movies similar to this from WB and other studios before. But this one is just dripping with anger from the start, even before Lockhart does anything that bad. As a matter of fact, while I understand the bare bones black & white morality of the story and sympathize with the plight of the "heroes," it was hard to really root for them. I'm trying to put my finger on why. I think it's because most of the time in these types of movies the good guys start out trying to be reasonable and law-abiding but are forced to take action when the law isn't on their side. But here the good guys are jerks from the start who break the law, as well as their word, with little to no provocation. It just felt like an extreme position to take early on. It was almost as if they took for granted the audience's sympathies and didn't feel the need to earn them. I suppose this could be true of the time it came out but many other similarly-themed films of the period didn't handle it this way.Of note mostly today for Ronald Reagan, icon of conservative Republicans, playing a sort of leftist character. Reagan does fine. It's not one of his stronger roles. Ann Sheridan does better and is probably the standout of the picture. She had perfected her "world-weary working class girl" character by this time. Gene Lockhart and Howard Da Silva play the heavies. These are shallow roles both men could play in their sleep. Alan Hale provides comic relief. George Tobias is annoying and one of the primary reasons it was hard for me to root for the good guys. All in all, it's an OK time-passer but ultimately forgettable.

dougdoepke Surprisingly vigorous programmer showing why Warner Bros. was the blue-collar studio of record. Had the occasional goofy humor and contrived climax been improved this could have been a sleeper. Reagan is lively and likable as the quick thinking ex-farmer-- no wooden soldier here. Whorf and Sheridan are appropriately intense, helping to inject a gritty feel. Reagan's friendship with Whorf is more interesting than the predictable romance with Sheridan. Whorf, an opportunist, splits from his hoboing buddy by siding with the crooked wholesaler (Lockhart) because he sees a lucrative future with a powerful employer. Reagan, on the other hand, is an idealist, willing to risk his future to help the victimized farmer (Tobias). In my book, the dynamic between them makes up the movie's core because it often presents a real-life choice.A number of nice touches. The bar scenes are atmospheric and staffed beyond programmer expectation. In fact, the settings as a whole from the hobo jungle to the honky-tonk street show genuine care—note even the "Madden" labels in the background of Madden's (Lockhart's) office. I suspect that producer Hal Wallis, a leading Hollywood producer, had a lot to do with this level of detail for what amounts to a very unglamorous production. Note too how the wholesalers collude to cheat the farmers. I expect that resonated with audiences still recovering from the Great Depression. All in all, the movie's much better than its rather misleading title suggests. (In passing—note presence of voluptuous Faye Emerson {Murph} who later achieved New York celebrity by marrying one of the Roosevelt sons and scandalizing early TV with a series of plunging neckline guest-show appearances. Also, for uncompromisingly fierce look at trucking and wholesalers, catch noir classic Thieves' Highway {1949}).

krorie Ronald Reagan and Ann Sheridan connected in ways similar to William Powell and Myrna Loy and Spencer Tracy and Kathryn Hepburn. Their crowning achievement was to appear as somewhat star crossed lovers in the Hollywood classic "King's Row," undoubtedly Ronald Reagan's best moments on the big screen. Since this film, "Juke Girl" was released the same year, understandably it was basically ignored in favor of the much grander screen adaptation of a popular novel. An other feature of this film that perhaps leads to its virtual neglect today is the title, which sounds like one of the tawdry passion pit flicks of the 1950's. A possible surprise for today's viewer is the political stance taken by actor Reagan in "Juke Girl" for the migrant workers and small farmers against the corruption of the local business interests, much different that the position taken by President Reagan years later. But then this picture was made many years before Reagan would become enamored of Nancy Davis and make her his second wife. She turned Reagan around in more ways than one.The story is a good one, though a bit bottom heavy in that much of the excitement and action, including a murder, comes near the end. Steve Talbot (Reagan) and his best buddy, Danny Frazier (Richard Whorf), are hoboing across the country (the Depression was just winding down in 1942 because of World War II) looking for work of any kind with Steve preferring farm labor when they get involved with local labor unrest in a nowhere place called Cat Tail, Florida.Just before reaching the small, farming community, a girl called Skeeter (Betty Brewer) befriends them and takes a particular liking to Steve. Her place in the story is somewhat vague other than to add a bit of humor and a down-home quality to the film. Steve and Danny hook up with the juke girl of the title, Lola Mears (Sheridan), and her co-entertainer, Murph (Faye Emerson). Steve falls for Lola but Lola puts up a tough, don't tread on me veneer when obviously inside, her heart turns to mush when Steve is near.Looking for jobs brings them into contact with the local boss, Henry Madden (Gene Lockhart), who virtually runs the town, except surprisingly not the law. Madden's henchman, Cully (Howard Da Silva), takes a dislike to Steve and Danny from the beginning and attempts to bully them around. Danny ultimately throws in with Madden while Steve throws in with a local farmer, Nick Garcos, the Greek (George Tobias), being exploited by Madden. Thus Steve and Danny become rivals and friendly enemies. A foreman for Madden, "Yip" (Alan Hale), befriends both Steve and Danny. Eventually, Lola throws in with Steve and Nick and the fun begins.The acting is first rate. The two leads give their usual fine performances, with such great character actors as Donald MacBride, Fuzzy Knight, Eddy Waller, aka Nugget Clark, Guy Wilkerson, aka Panhandle Perkins, Glenn Strange, aka the Frankenstein monster, and even William Hopper, aka Paul Drake, helping out in bit parts. Ann Sheridan is given an opportunity to sing and dance which is always a treat. Of special note is the talented comedian, Willie Best, as a street vendor peddling lucky rabbit feet called Jo-Mo.The crisp black and white photography by Bert Glennon captures the look and feel of the Depression in Florida. A few of the shots are reminiscent of those by Gregg Toland in John Ford's masterpiece, "The Grapes of Wrath," not surprising since Glennon assisted Ford from time to time with his cinematography.