 |
| Marla English and Ben Cooper |
A STRANGE ADVENTURE (1956). Director: William Witney.
Colorized.
Harold Norton (Ben Cooper) works in his mother's motel, where he falls under the spell of pretty alleged singer Lynn Novak (Marla English of
Voodoo Woman). Two members of her combo arrive in town -- Al (Jan Merlin) and eternally sniffling Phil (Nick Adams) -- but they are actually there to pull off a robbery. Harold innocently winds up driving a getaway car, and the whole group hides out at a snowed-in mountain cabin where a brother and sister team (Joan Evans of
The Walking Target and Peter Miller of
The Delinquents) stay to do research for the electric company (?) Then it becomes a tense battle of wits between them and Harold on one side, the nasty Al and Phil on the other, with Lynn playing both sides against the middle.
 |
| Nick Adams and Jan Merlin |
The performances in
A Strange Adventure help put the film over, with Merlin taking top honors as the sociopathic Al. Adams is also good, and Marla English does a more convincing job than usual. Cooper and Evans are reasonably appealing as the couple who seem to fall in love almost overnight. Director William Witney of serial fame keeps things moving, but can't quite overcome a minor-league script. The caper itself only takes a couple of minutes. Paul Smith of the perpetual hangdog expression plays the ill-fated Carl, who drives a payroll truck, and Ken Terrell shows up for a few seconds as a security guard.
Verdict: Acceptable minor crime film from Republic. **1/4.
No comments:
Post a Comment