Losey keeps everything to a disarming cool, downplaying psychological irregularities with elliptical cuts and treating exaggerated genre clichés with a straight face. The film crystallizes the contradictory tug between materialism and humility, anxiety and hope, and faith and distrust that defined the US consciousness in the early postwar years.
so great to have hope and something that you crave and will chase, and keep chasing no matter what comes in the way. Certainly brings up a lot of my memories of experiences in the U.S., especially the days in the small town. Believing is powerful.