Shot mostly on one set, the film follows the adventures of a group of regulars at Nick’s ‘Pacific Street Saloon, Restaurant and Entertainment Palace’ in San Francisco. A sign outside tells people to come in as they are. At the center is the wealthy Joe (James Cagney), who has given up working to hold court at William Bendix’s bar. He desires to live “a civilized life” without hurting anyone and believes the real truth in people is found in their dreams of themselves, not the hard facts of their actual existence.A new action-packed climax was substituted with Cagney beating the daylights out of Blick and Nick throwing him out onto the street. The film was a miserable failure at the box office. A Playhouse 90 The Time of Your Life (1958 TV drama) ten years later starring Jackie Gleason as Joe earned critical acclaim, with Jack Klugman as Nick, Dick York as Tom, Betsy Palmer as Kitty, and James Barton reprising his role as Kit Carson.
