If a movie has an experienced director, a well-written script, careful photography, and an able cast it ought to be good. "The Breaking Point," which follows this formula admirably, is an excellent case in point.

For their script Jerry Wald and Michael Curtiz, producer and director respectively, have adapted an incident from Ernest Hemingway's "To Have and Have Not." They have sacrificed nothing in the transition: the dialogue retains all of Hemingway's sharpness, and his simple, compact plot is still as clear and as interesting as ever.

This picture is the story of a young war veteran whose only means of supporting his family is a large, ocean-going cabin cruiser. By renting the boat, or fishing from it, he earns a living. John Garfield plays this part, while Patricia Neal portrays his necessarily overworked wife. Saying relatively little, and then only in the short and sometimes near-obscene Hemingway phrases, Garfield gives one of his best performances. Very soon after the opening he has so well accustomed himself and his audience to the character and personality called for by the script that the picture has an almost documentary effect.

Patricia Neal is equally well cast in her part; her performance is technically perfect. The script gives her no opportunity for explosive dramatics, yet she manages to express her love for her husband and family, and her continual worry about them, without having to resort to stage tricks. She walks into rooms without making entrances, she holds her voice within the small, unexciting range of normal people. Although Phyllis Thaxter overplays the "other woman" in more than one scene, the minor characters generally succeed in their primary task: they are good enough to fit smoothly into the film's supporting fabric, rather than interrupting the main theme.

Perhaps Weld and Curtiz intended that the photography not be an outstanding feature of the picture. There are no special angle shots, nothing unusual. Thus the acting and the script stand out so much more for their excellence.