John Drew Barrymore gives a stultifyingly sulky performance in the Joseph Losey noir-wannabe indie 'The Big Night' (1951). A less successful precursor to the expat-director's weepy social melodrama 'Time Without Pity' (UK, 1957, 3 stars), the premise of which also has to do with the self-esteem-impaired son of a seemingly weak-willed father getting into a jam through his own emotional/intellectual immaturity only to have his sniveling fat pulled out of the fire by the stronger-than-perceived failed role model-- oh, the daddy issues Mr. Losey must have had-- TBN plays out as a second-rate juvenile-delinquent flick with Sam Fuller-sized aspirations. In other words, even taken as pulp, its psychologically limited framework prevents it from gelling very well with its harder edged, more aesthetically sophisticated aspects (seedy-nightlife backdrop, tough-mugged supporting cast, stark urban photography, etc.). I suppose stories such as these are supposed to represent some larger systemic dysfunction within our patriarchal civilization(s) in general, but in both Losey examples cited here it's nearly impossible to get past the totally unsympathetic characterizations of hapless, helpless, pout-mouthed junior (in Barrymore's case bearing a startling resemblance to Herbie the malcontented elf from Rankin/Bass's 'Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer'), whose actions and thoughts are as ill-informed as they are indictable. MGM's DVD-R offers a sharp, clean b&w print with clear sound. No extras. Feature merits 2-plus stars, presentation/price 3-plus.