A STRANGE ADVENTURE

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. 

FIRE MAIDENS OF OUTER SPACE

The Fire Maidens go into their dance

FIRE MAIDENS OF OUTER SPACE (1956). Written and directed by Cy Roth. Colorized version. 

A space ship heads for the 13th moon of Jupiter and discovers a hidden city called New Atlantis -- it's like a medieval castle inside -- presided over by an old man named Prasus (Owen Berry), who is the figurative father of a bevy of dancing beauties. Outside New Atlantis a tall dark humanoid creature -- a skinny guy dressed in black and wearing a kind of voodoo mask -- stalks anyone who dares to step outside the enclave. Astronauts led by Luthor Blair (Anthony Dexter) enter the city and aren't quite certain that the inhabitants are friendly, especially when they are put into a drugged sleep via Prasus' refreshments ...

The monster goes after the maidens as astronauts watch

Prasus does not offer any explanations for the weird goings-on in Fire Maidens. We never learn how the occupants of doomed Atlantis managed to get from Earth all the way to Jupiter. Where are the parents of all the young ladies? Who or what exactly is "the creature" that roams about outside? The whole thing is like something out of an old comic book or cliffhanger serial, only even more illogical. The ladies start dancing to the strains of Borodin at the drop of a hat. Kim Parker of Fiend Without a Face is one of the fire maidens. 

Verdict: The only space babes movie which is worse is the execrable Queen of Outer Space. **1/4. 

OUTSIDE THE LAW

Grant Williams, Ray Danton, Leigh Snowden

OUTSIDE THE LAW (1956). Director: Jack Arnold. 

Johnny Salvo (Ray Danton) was paroled from prison into the Army, and is now offered a chance for a complete pardon if he cooperates with the United States Treasury. A murdered soldier he knew overseas was involved with a gang of counterfeiters, and Johnny is told to go see the man's widow, Maria (Leigh Snowden), and find out what, if anything, she might know.  Complications include the fact that Johnny must report to his own father, Alec (Onslow Stevens of Sunset Serenade), whom he hates; and a sinister man named Don (Grant Williams), who has too tight a hold on Maria.

Ray Danton and Onslow Stevens

Outside the Law sets up an interesting situation but doesn't do that much with it. The stock music from a variety of composers does its best to work up what amounts to minimal excitement  even though there are fistfights, beatings and gunplay throughout. Danton, Williams, and especially Stevens give effective performances, but Leigh Snowden [Hod Rod Rumble] makes less of an impression even in her tight sweaters. Johnny went to jail because he "smashed an old woman to pieces" while driving drunk, but -- the victim being old and female -- this is completely glossed over and only mentioned once. You keep thinking this will come up again and Johnny might express some remorse, but apparently he's only angry at his father for not doing more for him. A major confrontation between the two never develops, and the situations that do develop -- such as a fairly well-handled fight between Johnny and Don -- are predictable. Danton was 25 when he made the film but looks older, while Stevens, who was 54, doesn't look that much older than Danton. Jack Arnold also directed the much zestier Tarantula. 

Verdict: Forgettable minor film noir with some decent performances. **. 

THREE FOR JAMIE DAWN

Thankless role: Marilyn Simms

THREE FOR JAMIE DAWN (1956). Director: Thomas Carr.

In New York City socialite Jamie Dawn (Marilyn Simms) loses her temper -- to put it mildly -- and puts about as many bullets into her man as Bette Davis did in The Letter. Before long Jamie is being represented by defense lawyer Martin Random (Richard Carlson of The Magnetic Monster), who decides the only thing he can do to get dear Jamie off is to bribe as many witnesses as he can. He and his associate Murph (Regis Toomey) zero in one three especially vulnerable individuals: George Lorenz (Ricardo Montalban of Mystery Street), who has a wife, Sue (Laraine Day) and children as well as severe financial troubles; Lorrie Delacourt (June Havoc), an out-of-work actress who is desperate for a new part in a hit play; and Anton Karek (Eduard Franz of Sins of Jezebel), a Czech with a wife, Julia (Maria Palmer), and a young son who is still behind the iron curtain. Which if any of these needy people will succumb to Murph's entreaties and bribery? And will they be worse or better off it they do?

June Havoc and Tristram Coffin

One can only imagine what actress Marilyn Simms might have thought when she was told she had the title role in Three for Jamie Dawn, but then read the script and saw she had not a single line of dialogue. No wonder the poor woman only had two credits despite her distinctive appearance. As for the other actors, Carlson is effective if a little too obvious as the sleazy lawyer, but the other performances cannot be faulted. June Havoc scores as the flamboyant and desperate actress -- Tristram Coffin who essays a playwright, is also notable  -- Montalban proves again that he was more than a Latin Lover boy; Day is lovely as his wife; and Franz and Palmer are perfect as the couple who are dying to see their little boy again. Regis Toomey gives one of his best performances as the equally sleazy Murph, all surface charm and heartless bravado. Dorothy Adams has a good turn as an associate of the defendant. The picture is absorbing and suspenseful, it not quite top-notch. Nice theme music by Walter Scharf. Thomas Carr also directed The Daltons' Women.

Verdict: Good story line, interesting characters, and some fine performances in this. **3/4. 

X THE UNKNOWN

Dean Jagger and Leo McKern

X THE UNKNOWN (1956). Director: Leslie Norman. Colorized. 

In Scotland an unknown and dangerous lifeform emerges from a fissure and hones in on various sources of radioactivity. Unfortunately, any people who cross paths with this creature wind up dying horribly. Dr. Adam Royston (Dean Jagger of So Sad About Gloria) teams up with Inspector McGill (Leo Mckern of Murder with Mirrors) of the Atomic Energy Commission to try to find a way to destroy the creature before it can absorb energy from an atomic plant and grow even larger! Assisting their efforts are Royston's boss John Elliott (Edward Chapman) and Elliott's son, Peter (William Lucas). As the death toll mounts, the blob-like monstrosity makes its way towards a populated town ... 

Peter (William Lucas) and Royston (Dean Jagger) confer

X the Unknown was supposed to be Hammer Studio's follow up to Quatermass Xperiment (aka The Creeping Unknown, which would have been just as good a title for this picture), but Nigel Kneale, who created the character of Bernard Quatermass*, objected to his use in a film written not by him but by Jimmy Sangster. Therefore Quatermass became "Adam Royston." In any event, X remains a creepy and occasionally horrifying thriller with solid performances and some gross sequences, especially when a horny doctor is exposed to the creature in a hospital and sort of melts ... The climax at the fissure where Royston and company hope to completely obliterate the creature is very suspenseful. Anthony Newley, who later became famous as a singing actor, plays the ill-fated soldier, "Spider" Webb. James Bernard's evocative score and Gerald Gibb's photography are both major pluses. The colorizing adds even more intensity to the movie. Highly influential in its way, especially on The Blob and Caltiki, the Immortal Monster. 

*NOTE: I explore the real Quatermass movies in the latest issue of bare bones. 

Verdict: Effective and memorable horror-thriller with sci fi overtones. ***. 

GUNSLINGER

Beverly Garland, Jonathan Haze, Allison Hayes

GUNSLINGER (1956). Produced and directed by Roger Corman.

"Sometimes I like awake two or three seconds worrying about it." -- Erica.

1878: Marshal Scott Hood (William Schallert) of Oracle Texas is shot dead in his office right in front of his horrified wife, Rose (Beverly Garland). She immediately shoots and kills one of two assassins and catches up with the other one at her husband's funeral, shooting him dead, too, as he stands hypocritically at the gravesite -- a great scene. 

Beverly Garland and John Ireland

Rose then decides to make herself the marshal of Oracle until a real marshal can show up in two weeks. In those weeks the feisty widow cleans up the town and wages war with Erica Page (Allison Hayes), who owns the Red Dog saloon. Rose insists that Erica keeps regular hours and that the trampy dancing girls leave town (they later attack Rose en masse). Erica and Rose have a zesty cat fight which the latter wins, leading to the former calling for a gunslinger named Cane Miro (John Ireland). Cane is paid $3000 to off the law in town -- Rose -- only Cane finds himself falling for the lady and vice versa. Meanwhile Erica, manipulating things behind the scenes, has bet virtually everything she owns hoping that the railroad will run through Oracle. Will Cane ultimately side with Rose or Erica?

Ireland romances the 50 Foot Woman

There are two obvious influences on Corman's Gunslinger. The first is Johnny Guitar, which came out two years earlier and also featured two women, Joan Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge in this case, in a power struggle (both on and off the set). Then there's Duel in the Sun, made about ten years earlier, in which lovers Jennifer Jones and Gregory Peck have a climactic gun battle -- Gunslinger's climax is basically a steal from that. But that doesn't detract from the fact that Gunslinger is a well-made, well-acted and entertaining picture that is better than its reputation (trashed largely because it was featured on that silly Mystery Science Theater).

Ireland confers with Hayes in front of Haze

Corman's fast-paced direction is a plus, as is the cast. John Ireland successfully keeps you guessing as to his true character and motivations, while Hayes, the 50 foot woman herself, gives possibly her best performance in her hard-as-nails portrayal of Erica. Beverly Garland, always a superior actress who deserved better than a career in B movies, is excellent as Rose, although one flaw in her performance is that she never seems to be grieving for her beloved husband -- but then she's kept pretty busy. Jonathan Haze of The Little Shop of Horrors scores as Jake, the bartender who is in love with Erica and kills poor portly Zebelon Tabb (Bruno VeSota) at her direction. Martin Kingsley doesn't make much of an impression as Mayor Polk, who is hated by Cane, but Margaret Campbell is much better as his wife. Chris Alcaide is Deputy Joshua, and Dick Miller shows up briefly as a postal man who gets shot by the sociopathic Erica. Ronald Stein contributes a quirky and effective score. 

Verdict: With a little more work this under-rated western could have been a real contender. ***. 

THE SHE CREATURE

Chester Morris and Marla English

THE SHE-CREATURE (1956). Director: Edward L. Cahn. 

Dr. Carlo Lombardi (Chester Morris) claims he is able to get in touch with the past lives of his subject, Andrea (Marla English of Runaway Daughters), by putting her in a trance. Andrea can give details of her 16th century life as a woman named Elizabeth. Lombardi can not only also regress Andrea to an ancestor from thousands of years ago, but call this ancestor -- a kind of humanoid, prehistoric sea creature -- up from the sea, where it proceeds to kill people. Dr. Ted Erickson (Lance Fuller of This Island Earth) is out to debunk Lombardi, while Timothy Chappel (Tom Conway of Bride of the Gorilla) wants to turn him into a star -- for 50% of the profits. But things get sticky when Red and Andrea fall in love ... 

Lance Fuller with William Hudson in the background

The She-Creature is one weird and nonsensical movie. Chester Morris, in an unusual role for him, gives a good account of himself, but we never learn how he knew that Andrea was once this strange creature nor is it explained why or how he can materialize it from the sea. It simply makes no sense. On the other hand, there simply isn't enough of the creature and its attacks to keep the excitement level up, and the film eventually becomes tedious. The actors, including Fuller and English, do the best they can and are generally more than adequate.

close-up of the She-Creature

Others in the cast include Cathy Downs [Missile to the Moon] and Frieda Inescort (as Conway's daughter and wife), Ron Randell [Captive Women] as a police lieutenant, El Brendel as Conway's comical butler, Frank Jenks as Randell's associate, Jack Mulhall as Lombardi's lawyer, and William Hudson as a tippling party guest who has a thing for Downs. These last two were both in The Amazing Colossal Man while English, Fuller and Conway also appeared in director Cahn's production of Voodoo Woman. The She-Creature, portrayed by Paul Blaisdell, has claws, intense eyes and large breasts.

Verdict: Sounds like fun but really isn't. **. 

CALLING HOMICIDE

Bill Elliott, Myron Healey, James Best

CALLING HOMICIDE (1956). Written and directed by Edward Bernds.

Detective Lt. Andy Doyle (Bill Elliott) goes into action when another cop is killed by a car bomb. The dead man had said he was beginning an investigation but offered no details aside from the name of a woman whose battered body is then found at the bottom of a cliff. This takes Doyle and Det. Sgt. Mike Duncan (Don Haggerty) to a school for models, owned by Allen Gilmore (Thomas Browne Henry of Earth vs. the Flying Saucers) and run by Darlene Adams (Jeanne Cooper), with Tony Fuller (Lyle Talbot) another executive. Doyle is convinced that the seemingly proper modeling agency is just the front for more felonious activity, but also has to ponder which of several people might be behind the murders. Other suspects include Benny (John Dennis), a handyman with the agency; Jim Haddix (Myron Healey of Panther Girl of the Kongo), the ex-boyfriend of the female victim and a former stuntman; and Donna (Kathleen Case) his fiancee and another model.  

Suspects? Thomas Browne Henry, Lyle Talbot, Jeanne Cooper

This is the third of five films starring Bill Elliott as an L. A. police detective. Bernds' flavorful script plays out like an especially good episode of Law and Order (sans the prosecutors) with lots of intriguing developments and twists. A sudden murder in a bar is especially good. The cast, including James Best as another young cop anxious to make an impression, is game, with Talbot particularly notable as the generally drunk Fuller and the ever-reliable Jeanne Cooper saucy as the modeling school operator who knows more than she's telling. Myron Healey also has one of his best roles as the executive who also may have too many secrets. Almira Sessions is fun as a peppery housekeeper who brooks no nonsense, not even from cops. Edward Bernds also directed High School Hellcats and many others. 

Verdict: Like a superior episode of a snappy TV detective show. ***. 

FINGER OF GUILT

FINGER OF GUILT (aka The Intimate Stranger/1956). Director: Joseph Losey. 

American film director Reggie Wilson (Richard Basehart of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea) has come to England to continue his career after he made the mistake of having an affair with the boss's wife. Now he's managed to marry the daughter, Lesley (Faith Brook), of the head of the British studio, and also importuned an old girlfriend, Kay Wallace (Constance Cummings), to star in his latest picture even though his father-in-law, Ben Case (Roger Livesey) isn't fully supportive. But when he begins receiving letters from a supposed old flame named Evelyn (Mary Murphy), he wonders if he's going crazy. Evelyn insists that they were lovers in America but he swears to his wife and everyone else that he never even met the lady. Tracking the woman down, Reggie and Lesley discover that Evelyn is determined to stick to her story even when the police are called in. 

Finger of Guilt is one of the better British B mysteries with a suspenseful storyline and some fine performances, with Basehart in top form, Cummings in fine support, and Mary Murphy perfection as the mysterious and determined Evelyn. Joseph Losey went on to direct much more famous movies than this one. 

Verdict: Basehart's strong performance helps this flick enormously. ***. 

NAKED GUN (1956)

NAKED GUN (1956). Director: Eddie Dew. 

Insurance agent Breen Matthews (Willard Parker) comes into the wild west town of Topaz with a chest of treasure from the late members of the Salazar family. The town is essentially run by the hanging Judge Cole (Billy House) and saloon owner Joe Barnum (Barton MacLane). Barnum sells his bar to unsuspecting newcomers, who are then hung on trumped up charges by Cole, after which Barnum reclaims his bar and keeps the money from the sale. The latest sap is Sonny Glenn (Tom Brown), who has a reputation as a card shark which may or may not be deserved. His main squeeze is the hard-boiled Susan (Veda Ann Borg), and into Topaz comes another female, Louisa (Mara Corday), who is the niece of Sheriff Jackson (Morris Ankrum) and hopes to sing in the saloon. Then the treasure chest is stolen, a certain party is hung, and anyone participating in such a foul deed winds up stabbed to death as Naked Gun turns into a western slasher!

Mara Corday has at Veda Ann Borg

One of the most notable things about Naked Gun is that it has an absolutely incredible B movie cast. Veda Ann Borg of The Shadow, Morris Ankrum of Earth vs the Flying Saucers, Mara Corday of Tarantula, Tom Brown of The Adventures of Smilin' Jack, Chick Chandler of Soldiers of Fortune and The Lost Continent, Rick Vallin of Batman and Robin and Barton MacLane of Unknown Island. Willard Parker was Rosalind Russell's leading man in What a Woman and also starred in The Earth Dies Screaming and he's fine as the laconic hero in this. The whole thing has a TV show-type feel and is directed with little inspiration, but the actors are game enough and there's a zesty, if too brief, cat-fight between Corday and Borg at the halfway point. Billy House makes an unusual hanging judge and isn't quite satisfactory in the role, but Timothy Carey as a gunman is as quirky, twitchy  and charismatic as ever. 

Verdict: Surprising just how entertaining this B western really is. ***. 

THE VIOLENT YEARS

THE VIOLENT YEARS (1956).  Director: William Morgan. Written by Ed Wood.

Paula Parkins (Jean Moorhead) comes from a good family but is neglected by her parents. It is still quite inexplicable that she decides to form a gang of teenage girls and commit numerous jobs, mostly at gas stations. At one point Paula and her gals force a man into the woods and apparently have their way with him, although this is never shown. A "pajama party" that Paula throws for her friends includes both boys and girls, all in pajamas, for heavy petting sessions. Paula's fence is a hard-boiled dame named Sheila (Lee Constant), but if she thinks she can order Paula around she's got another think coming. Paula does decide to do some work for Sheila, which includes wrecking the high school, an act which brings in the police for a shoot out. Will the authorities finally catch up with Paula before she has many deaths to her credit?

Written by the infamous Ed Wood, The Violent Years is passable enough until the final quarter, when a tiresome judge (I. Stanford Jolley) goes on -- and on and on -- about Paula's case and juvenile delinquency in general. This tedious verbosity was a hallmark of Wood's screenplays, unfortunately. 

Paula gets her man!

The actors can best be described as modestly talented amateurs. Moorhead was actually 21 at the time of shooting, and was a Playboy playmate; she managed to amass 38 credits. Reporter Barney Stetson is played by Glen Corbett, but he is not to be confused with Glenn Corbett of Route 66 and Homicidal. Timothy Farrell is Lt. Holmes. Lee Constant offers the most vivid performance in this. but this was her only film. The movie seems to suggest that the parents are always entirely to blame for juvenile delinquency, but that doesn't stop the judge from giving Paula a pretty stiff sentence.

Verdict: Shut off before the last fifteen minutes. **1/4. 

INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956)

Dana Wynter and Kevin McCarthy

INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956). Director: Don Siegel. 

In the small town of Santa Mira, the recently divorced Dr. Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) rekindles a romance with the also recently divorced Becky Driscoll (Dana Wynter). However, their relationship has to take a back seat when there seems to be an epidemic of people insisting that their loved ones are not their loved ones. Miles believes this may be a form of mass hysteria, until his friends Jack and Theodora Belicec (King Donovan and Carolyn Jones) call him after they discover what appears to be a weird corpse on their pool table, a corpse that resembles a not-fully-formed version of Jack. Then they discover huge seed pods inside which duplicates of the townspeople are growing ... 

Something frightful on the pool table

This classic horror science-fiction movie has gotten even better with age. It packs a lot into an economical 80 minutes, and is beautifully paced and directed. McCarthy gives an especially passionate performance as a desperate man trying to not only save the woman he has always loved but the town and indeed the world as well. Wynter also gives a fine performance, along with Donovan and many others; Jones is particularly notable. Indeed the film is packed with interesting fifties performers, including Jean Willes as Miles' nurse, Sally; Virginia Christine as Becky's cousin, Wilma; Dabbs Greer, Larry Gates and others. Whit Bissell and Richard Deacon feature in the film's framing sequences, which were omitted in re-release.

Paranoid? Kevin McCarthy

Credit must be given to Daniel Mainwaring's script, Carmen Dragon's evocative score, and especially Ellsworth Fredericks' superb cinematography in "Super Scope." Although he did turn in fine directorial jobs on other films, this remains the high-water mark in the career of Don Siegel. The greenhouse sequence when all the pods are discovered with its off-kilter angles is only one of several notable sequences. The film's one great flaw is the utter illogic of Becky's "conversion" and one wishes the filmmakers had handled it much differently, but by no means does it strip the film of impact and enjoyment. 

Verdict: This is a real creepy treat. This is as much a well-crafted suspense thriller as it is a classic horror sci-fi film. ***1/2. 

STATE TROOPER

Don Haggerty and Rod Cameron

STATE TROOPER (1956). Half-hour TV series. 

State Trooper starred Rod Cameron as Rod Blake, the chief investigator for the Nevada State Troopers. In some episodes he was advised or assisted by Don Haggerty (of King of the Rocket Men) as Sheriff Elder and Robert Armstrong (of King Kong fame) as Sheriff Andy Anderson. The series lasted for three seasons and amassed 105 episodes, all of which are available on DVD. The stories ranged from chases after escaped convicts to missing persons cases to classic, complicated murder mysteries which sometimes sent Blake way outside of his normal stomping grounds. The show was slick, fast-paced and entertaining. Cameron was perfect as Blake, a strong but sympathetic character who could be as tough as nails when he had to be but also had a soft and fair side to him. If you were going to be arrested, you wanted the arresting officer to be Blake, as he'd ferret out the truth if anyone could. 

Faith Domergue

The most memorable episodes of the series include: "From Here to Molokai" --  a fugitive is accused of murder in Hawaii; "Boulder Joe's Bottle House" -- an old, retired safecracker is forced to do a job (with Jeanne Cooper); "The Last Stage" -- a hotel's prop stage coach is actually robbed (with Doris Packer); "Cinder Jungle" -- a railroad robbery leads to the murder of a sympathetic cop; "Diamonds Come High " -- a series of diamond robberies (with Doris Singleton); "No Blaze of Glory" -- a store owner's wife is caught in a blaze (with Vivi Janis and Frank Ferguson); "Safe on a Boat" -- a robbery of a casino's safe during a honeymoon boat trip; "Fury on Freemont Street" -- an intense woman (Virginia Christine) is supposedly scared of her ex-con ex-husband. 

Constance Ford

A passenger disappears from a charter boat in "The Talking Corpse" with Craig Stevens and Jeanne Cooper (again). Rod goes undercover to investigate thefts of mine ore and finds a nasty foreman and a trampy wife in "The Fancy Dancers of Steptoe Valley." Rod investigates what caused a stampede that killed a blind woman in "The Sound of Death" with Laurie Mitchell. In "Dancing Dowager" a con woman thinks Rod is rich and tries to fleece him. In "Cable Car to Tombstone" a man (Dennis Moore) falls off of the Hoover dam and a cop (Ross Elliott) is accused. In "Sweetheart of Sigmund Kaye" a young woman (Norma Eberhardt) with a fiance (Corey Allen) reports her parents missing after quite a long time. In "The Case of the Happy Dragon" the twenty-year-old corpse of a Chinese woman is stolen from a funeral home and ransomed. In "Stay Lost, Little Girl" an old man hires a private eye to find his missing niece, but she may not want to be found. "And Baby Makes Two" features a wonderful Constance Ford in a dual role of a Vegas showgirl and her lookalike involved in a casino robbery.

Norma Eberhardt and Corey Allen 

Other guest-stars on the show include Bart Burns, Paul Langton, Patrick O'Neal, Walter Reed, Andrea King, Virginia Gregg, Joan Taylor, Angie Dickinson, Joi Lansing, Faith Domergue, Robert Vaughn, Douglas Fowley and even Joan Crawford's brother Hal Le Sueur. State Trooper presented satisfying mini-dramas of good and evil and often featured lively fight scenes, interesting characters, and exciting chases. The episodes rarely went below a B+ in quality. 

Verdict: Good cop show with an excellent, perfectly-cast Cameron. ***. 

RUNAWAY DAUGHTERS

Kay, English and Castillo

RUNAWAY DAUGHTERS (1956). Director: Edward L. Cahn.

"Some men are kids at thirty. Some kids are men at twenty." 

Three young ladies have their problems at home. Audrey (Marla English) has overly permissive parents, Ruth (Anna Sten of Let's Live a Little) and George (John Litel). Mary (Mary Ellen Kay) lives with her father (Jay Adler), who fears she will become like her tramp mother who left home, and objects to her wanting to marry her boyfriend, Bobby (Steven Terrell). Angela (Gloria Castillo) is ignored by her unseen mother and has to make do with her horrible brother, Tony (Lance Fuller), who has his eye on Audrey. Fed up with life and parents, the three gals take off in a stolen car and get in a wreck, then decide to go to work at a dance hall run by Tony's gal pal Dixie (Adele Jergens). But can there possibly be a happy ending for any of these young ladies?

Adele Jergens and Lance Fuller

Although her part is not huge, Adele Jergens probably gives the best and most vivid performance in the movie, and she is a lot of fun as she verbally spars with Angela in more than one sequence. English makes a better impression in this than she did in her starring role in Voodoo Woman. Mary Ellen Kay is also a bit better than usual, and Castillo is probably the best actress of the three. Lance Fuller scores as Tony, herein given one of his best roles, and John  Litel makes an amiably clueless and borderline alcoholic father. Steven Terrell, who also appeared with  Castillo in Invasion of the Saucer Men, is adept and appealing. Frank Gorshin also makes an appearance as a teen, as does Nicky Blair as dopey Joe. Edward L. Cahn directed in haste. 

Verdict: You might need to runaway from this often silly melodrama. **1/4. 

NEVER AGAIN: ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS

Phyllis Thaxter

ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS: NEVER AGAIN. Season One. 1956. Director: Robert Stevens. Teleplay by Bagni, Gielgud and Silliphant. Based on a story by Adela Rogers St. Johns. 

Karen Stewart (Phyllis Thaxter) has a drinking problem and is terrified of losing the man she loves, Jeff (Warren Stevens). One night at a party she gets jealous of the hostess, Renee (Louise Allbritton), and throws a drink in her face. A concerned Jeff goes to her home, and she decides to go back to the party, where Renee is surprisingly understanding. But Renee's brother, Marlow (Jack Mullaney), who also indulges to excess, lets it slip that his sister wants Jeff and is hoping Karen will make a mess of things. Instead of making up her mind that this will not be the case, Karen has a martini -- and then another and another. She winds up intoxicated at a bar with Marlow when Jeff and Renee come in and Karen picks up a broken bottle ...

Never Again features fine performances from the entire cast. Thaxter, in the performance of a lifetime, is absolutely outstanding as the troubled and self-loathing Karen. Warren Stevens plays his part in such a way that you're not absolutely sure how he feels about Karen until the end. At the tragic close of the episode, Alfred Hitchcock does not make his usual quips but urges people with serious drinking problems to get help before a tragedy occurs in their own life. Never Again is absorbing and hard-hitting stuff with a devastating ending. 

Verdict: Classic episode; classic TV. ***1/2. 

THE KETTLES IN THE OZARKS

Ma Kettle reads Pa's letter to one of their children

THE KETTLES IN THE OZARKS (1956). Director: Charles Lamont. 

Ma Kettle (Marjorie Main) packs up all of her brood and takes off to the Ozarks, where she plans to help her brother-in-law, Sedgwick (Arthur Hunnicutt) with his farm. Sedge has been affianced to gal pal Bedelia (Una Merkel) for twenty years, and Ma hopes to do something about that situation as well. Some shady men rent the barn from Sedge, but they turn out to be bootleggers trying to avoid "revenuers." 

Una Merkel, Richard Eyer and Arthur Hunnicutt

By this time Percy Kilbride had had enough of playing Pa Kettle and neither he nor the character appear in this film. Most of the humor has to do with the interplay between the bootleggers and the very mischievous children, with a little reserved for the not-very-romantic romance between Sedge and Bedelia. There's also a goose named Gertie who walks around wearing galoshes on her feet. Otherwise, this entry in the Kettle series is pretty weak.

Gertie the Goose goes out for a walk

The supporting cast includes child actor Richard Eyer [The 7th Voyage of Sinbad] as one of the Kettle children; Richard Deacon ("Mel Cooley" on The Dick Van Dyke Show) as an Indian; Joe Sawyer as a neighbor; and Sid Tomack and Ted de Corsia as two of the bootleggers. Bonnie Franklin, who plays one of town children, later became a sitcom star with her show One Day at a Time. Main, Hunnicutt, and Merkel give very good performances. 

Verdict: Some amusing moments but not enough. **. 

ASSIGNMENT REDHEAD

Carole Mathews and Richard Denning

ASSIGNMENT REDHEAD (aka Million Dollar Manhunt/1956). Director: Maclean Rogers. 

Major Gregory Keen (Richard Denning) of Army Intelligence (temporarily attached to MI-5), is assigned to look for a mysterious man known only as Dumetrius (Ronald Adam) who murdered a man and took his place on a flight from Berlin to London. Keen questions the other people on the flight, trying to get a description, but they either wind up murdered themselves or don't recall what the man looked like. In the latter category is Viennese-born Hedy (Carole Mathews), whom Keen rather rapidly falls in love with. Does she feel the same about him or she is hiding something -- or both? 

Alex Gallier and Ronald Adam

The most memorable scenes in Assignment Redhead don't have to do with the star-crossed lovers or even the manhunt but focus on the interplay between the two main villains of the piece, Dumetrius and Max Rubenstein (Alex Gallier), who was formerly the Nazi collaborator Armand Yannis. Dumetrius has discovered that Yannis has in his possession 12 million dollars of counterfeit American money and he wants it, hoping to strike a deal with the reinvented Rubenstein. Watching these two try to outwit and outfox each other is a delight, and both actors play the roles with restrained zeal. As for the others, Denning and Mathews are professional enough, although Denning "underplays" the more emotional moments which are outside his range. The supporting actors -- Brian Worth as Captain Ridgeway, Jan Holden as a helpful cigarette girl -- are a bit more flavorful in their interpretations. Mclean Rogers also directed Calling Paul Temple.

Verdict: British suspense flick holds the attention. **3/4. 

THE GELIGNITE GANG

Wayne Morris

THE GELIGNITE GANG (aka The Dynamiters/1956. Director: Francis Searle. 

In London a gang are committing robberies by using dynamite -- or gelignite, as it is known in the UK. The head of this gang is the mysterious "Mr. G." Jimmy Baxter (Wayne Morris) is an insurance investigator who decides to go after this gang, much to the consternation of his partner, John Rutherford (Patrick Holt), who thinks this is a dangerous business best left to the police. Jimmy and John share a secretary, Sally (Sandra Dorne), whom John is smitten with, although she prefers Jimmy. She decides to help Jimmy by investigating a pawn shop that may have something to do with the gang. Then there's young Chris Chapman (James Kenney), who works in a jewelry store that is robbed, has big gambling debts, and may also be involved in the gang. A club owner named Popoulos (Eric Pohlmann), who may be a bit on the shady side, offers some assistance after his head waiter is shot trying to get info to Jimmy. 

The Gelignite Gang is a gritty and fast-paced, if distinctly minor, crime drama with some effective performances, although Wayne Morris at times seems to have wandered in from a different movie. The identity of "Mr. G" will not be much of a surprise to most viewers. 

Verdict: Unremarkable British B movie. **. 

FIRE MAIDENS OF OUTER SPACE

The "fire maidens" try to dance 

FIRE MAIDENS OF OUTER SPACE (1956). Written and directed by Cy Roth. 

A British-American team of astronauts head for the 13th moon of Jupiter, which they feel has an atmosphere similar to Earth's and may even hold  human life. It sure does! An old man and a bevy of beauties occupy a domicile inside an enclosure, outside of which a tall, hideous monster lurks trying to get in. Luther Blair (Anthony Dexter), who heads the expedition, and Captain Larson (Paul Carpenter) manage to meet up with the elderly Prasus (Owen Berry), who claims all of the young ladies are his daughters and that they somehow managed to make it all the way from the lost continent of Atlantis on Earth to the 13th moon of Jupiter! There is no talk of spaceships, the ladies' mothers, exactly what happened to Atlantis, who or what the dark humanoid creature roaming outside may be, or much of anything aside from the fact that Prasus wants "New Atlantis" to be repopulated. 

the crew prepare to land

Fire Maidens of Outer Space operates on the level of a child's comic book from years ago with its severe lapses in both continuity and logic. Oddly, it also has the quality of a fairy tale, and the monster is fairly creepy in long shot. Harry Fowler and Sidney Tafler are the other members of the crew -- who register absolutely no surprise or even much interest when they hear a man's voice calling them from Jupiter's moon (!) -- and the friendly daughter, Hestia, is played by Susan Shaw, while her bitchy older sister, Duessa, is played by Jacqueline Curtis. Shaw had quite a few credits but Curtis not too many. Richard Walter was given the thankless role of "the creature." 

the creepy creature

The "fire maidens" in the movie are given to dancing ballet -- or what passes for ballet in movies like this -- at the drop of a hat. Generally they dance to music from Borodin's "Prince Igor," popularized as "Stranger in Paradise" in Kismet. No one on Broadway or in the world of real ballet had anything to fear from these gals. Aside from this film and one TV episode, Cy Roth only directed two poorly-received war films. With some time and effort, a bigger budget, and a little actual thought, the picture might have amounted to something -- although I'm not certain what. Still, it's honestly not utterly awful. Anthony Dexter made a very good Valentino in that biopic of the silent film star. 

Verdict: Don't say you weren't warned. **1/4.

URANIUM BOOM

Wm Talman, Dennis Morgan, Philip Van Zandt

URANIUM BOOM (1956). Director: William Castle. 

During a uranium boom in Colorado where everyone hopes to strike it rich, Brad Collins (Dennis Morgan) and Grady Mathews (William Talman) come to blows over a hotel room, but then decide to strike out together to make a killing. The two men find what they're looking for with the help of Navajo Charlie (Philip Van Zandt), and Brad goes back to town to stake their claim. In town Brad meets up and falls in love with Jean Williams (Patricia Medina), not realizing that Jean is the very woman Grady is hoping to spend his life with ... 

Ladies Meet: Tina Carver, Patricia Medina

Uranium Boom is a low-budget version of the rags-to-riches, two-rivals-fighting-over-the-same business-and-woman movies that in former years would have starred the likes of Clark Gable or Spencer Tracy. Morgan, best-known as a song and dance man, is perfectly adept, however, and Talman, best-known as the prosecutor on Perry Mason, is also very good. Van Zandt is mildly amusing as the inscrutable Indian, and Medina adds some class as the woman that both men love. Tina Carver, a TV actress most famous for her role in From Hell It Came, is not quite as sexy as everyone seems to think, but she's okay as another woman who tries to throw a monkey wrench in Collins' plans. William Henry and S. John Launer, who frequently played a judge on Perry Mason, have smaller roles and are effective.  Talman and Morgan have a lively fight scene, but the two ladies never come to blows, alas. 

Verdict: Strangely entertaining. **1/4.