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. 

THE DELINQUENTS

Eddy (Richard Bakalyan) checks out Scott (Tom Laughlin)

THE DELINQUENTS (1957). Written and directed by Robert Altman. 

Scotty (Tom Laughlin) is a nice young man who is going steady with 16-year-old Janice (Rosemary Howard), whose parents think she is too young to be dating one older boy. Encountering Cholly (Peter Miller) and his pals during a misadventure at a drive-in, Scotty is grateful when Cholly offers to pretend to be Janice's date, pick her up, and deliver her to Scotty -- the catch is they have to go to a party the gang is  holding without permission on an isolated estate. Thinking that Scotty tipped off the cops about the party, they basically kidnap him and then Janice -- and things get worse from there. 

Peter Miller and Richard Bakalyan

This alleged study of juvenile delinquency was written and directed by Robert Altman, his first film. Supposedly -- and inexplicably -- Alfred Hitchcock was so impressed that he hired Altman to helm some of the episodes of his TV series. (Let me make it clear that except for That Cold Day in the Park and maybe Popeye, I've never been a particular Altman admirer.) There is little impressive about this picture aside from the fact that it moves at a fairly good pace and is well acted by most of the cast. Laughlin certainly makes an impression in this. Years later he directed and starred in Billy Jack, a film that cost little to make and grossed 65 million! (Despite that, he never quite made the A list in Hollywood.) Peter Miller and Richard Bakalyan are also effective as the nastier members of the gang; Bakalyan had an especially long career. 

Verdict: They smoke, they drink, they make out -- and it's still not that interesting. **1/4.