The apartment""s exterior streets were populated by thugs - and strict societal forces (i.e., a strong police presence o enforce laws and ever-watchful social reformers).A policeman walked by the front of their shabby, humble abode and with his hands on his hips, suspiciously spied upon the Kid (Jackie Coogan), who was sitting on the curb.When Bud arrives home, his limping father Ace Stamper (Pat Hingle) is leading a celebration in the kitchen - hired workhands from the Stamper oil fields are boisterously eating venison and drinking "home brew" beer.By this time, oft-nominated Huston had already directed some of the finest films ever made in the 40s:The Maltese Falcon (1941),Key Largo (1948)andThe Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)(he won an Oscar for Best Director and Best Screenplay), and in the next year he would direct the classicThe African Queen (1951).(And this film marked the third and final time that Tourneur worked with cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca.