Back Street

Set in Cincinnati around the turn of the twentieth century, Back Street follows Ray Smith, a spirited shop girl who falls for Walter Saxel, a banker already promised to a woman of higher social standing. A missed meeting keeps them apart, and when their paths cross again years later in New York, Walter is married with a son. Ray becomes his mistress, accepting a life of brief meetings, social disapproval and long periods alone as she waits for the time he can spare her.

Robert Stevenson directed the film, the first of fourteen features he made in chronological order, followed by Jane Eyre in 1943. Bruce Manning and Felix Jackson wrote the screenplay. Margaret Sullavan plays Ray opposite Charles Boyer as Walter, with Richard Carlson, Frank McHugh, Tim Holt and Frank Jenks among the twenty credited cast members. Universal Pictures produced the eighty-nine-minute drama, released in February 1941.

On IMDb the film holds a rating of 6.7 from roughly 740 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 7.3 from a much smaller sample of 13 votes. A critics' rating of 7.1 from five reviews places it close to the audience scores, suggesting a generally consistent response across both groups.