Knock on Any Door

Nick Romano must be the ideal name for a flawed Ray hero-victim. As embodied to vulnerable, narcissistic perfection by John Derek (long before he took up with Bo), he's the centre of a fascinating, slightly askew mix of social document and romantic agony. The basic material may be determinist melodrama - slum boy with deck stacked against him winds up on Death Row despite the efforts of a liberal lawyer (Bogart, whose Santana company made the film). But it's hard hitting in its own right, tautly crafted, and repeatedly stabbed through with Ray's impulsive generosity and anguish towards his characters.