Rossen was assigned with giving Irwin Shaw’s anti-fascist allegory for the stage a softer, happier, less Leftist and less Jewish cinematic treatment. John Garfield appears in his most merciless role as a small time Brooklyn gangster extorting money from fishermen in exchange for “protection.” Playing the restless daughter of one of his quarry, Garfield’s Sea Wolf co-star Ida Lupino is seduced by his volatile energy and promises of an exotic escape from her claustrophobic routines while unwittingly becoming a useful accomplice. Within the obscuring atmosphere enhanced by master cinematographer James Wong Howe and an oddly comic chord in the darkest moments, the film imparts an unusual amount of familial warmth to the noir fog.