THE LIE

Lee Bowman

THE LIE (1954). Director: Harold Young.

John Hamilton (Lee Bowman) has a night on the town with his friends, an aerialist called "The Great Wilhelm"(Harald Maresch), and Philip (Joachim Brennecke), who is the brother of John's girlfriend, Marlene (Ramsay Ames of G-Men Never Forget). While drunk and nearly passed out, he is confronted by a threatening man who is later found murdered. John is arrested for the murder, and during the trial is astounded when both Wilhelm and Philip lie about going with him to the apartment where the murder took place -- they claim to know nothing even though he knows they were there. John is convicted and the only one who goes to bat for him, eventually getting him out of prison, is Margot (Eva Probst), Philip's former fiancee, who knows something is rotten in Germany. Now John decides to confront his former friends, as well as Marlene, and discover who the real killer is.

Brennecke and Maresch

If The Lie seems like a TV production, it's because it is, filmed in a studio in Germany with mostly German actors. The acting is good, with Ramsay Ames, surprisingly, being more of a stand-out than usual with her unsympathetic role. Viennese Maresch appeared in a number of international productions while Brennecke appeared primarily in German productions. The Lie has a very slight degree of suspense, but there isn't much surprise when it comes to the identity of the murderer, and the whole thing is relatively routine. 

Verdict: Doesn't amount to much. **

G-MEN NEVER FORGET

Clayton Moore

G-MEN NEVER FORGET (12 chapter Republic serial/1948). Directed by Fred C. Brannon and Yakima Canutt.

Notorious criminal Vic Murkland (Roy Barcroft) escapes from jail and joins his gang at the sanitarium of Dr. Benson (Stanley Price). Murkland has come up with an ingenious plan: he has Benson surgically alter his face so that he looks exactly like Police Commissioner Cameron (also played by Roy Barcroft) and then changes places with him, keeping the real commissioner prisoner. This way he secretly keeps interfering with agent Ted O'Hara (Clayton Moore of Lone Ranger fame) and his very capable assistant, Detective-Sergeant Frances Blake (Ramsay Ames) as they try to stymie the plans of the missing Murkland and his chief gunsel Duke Graham (Gil Frye) and others.

Moore and Roy Barcroft

G-Men Never Forget has a more interesting story than many other serials, and some times almost plays like film noir. Moore makes a strikingly handsome and very effective leading man in this, and Ramsay Ames makes a better impression than she does in other productions. With this serial Roy Barcroft, who appeared in a great many serials, is given one of his best opportunities, and he's fine in a dual role. Premiere stunt man Tom Steele also has more to do than usual, not just as a stunt double but as one of Murkland's gang. Douglas Aylesworth is Detective Hayden, whom at one point O'Hara suspects of being in league with Murkland, a fatal error.

Moore and Ramsay Ames

There are the usual thrills and spills, chases and fist fights. An explosion in a tunnel unleashes a torrent of water that nearly swamps O'Hara and he is nearly electrocuted when his truck runs into high voltage wires and explodes. Just as a truck she's trapped in is about to go over a cliff, Frances uses her wits to narrowly escape the death trap. In a surprising development, our hero doesn't save the day when Murkland sabotages a ship and a large heavy piece of its frame falls from a crane and causes death and destruction -- although O'Hara doesn't get a scratch. (This might have been real footage of a shipyard accident, the use of which is in questionable taste if anyone was actually killed.) Co-director Yakima Canutt was a famed stunt man, bit actor, and stunt coordinator who was the second unit director for the chariot race in the 1959 version of Ben-Hur.

Verdict: Snappy, fast-paced serial with the added sex appeal of Moore and Ames. ***.