DANGER ZONE

Virginia Dale and Hugh Beaumont

DANGER ZONE (1951). Produced and directed by William Berke. 

In the first of three movies starring Hugh Beaumont as boat renter and sometime private eye Denny O'Brien working out of Pier 23 in San Francisco, he gets involved in two separate cases (as he does in the subsequent films Roaring City and Pier 23). In the first story a woman at an auction, Claire Underwood (Virginia Dale), importunes Denny to bid for her on a locked suitcase that turns out to contain a saxophone. Claire isn't the only person who wants the sax, there's a dumpy fellow named Dunlap (Ralph Sanford) who's after it as well. Then there's a poor guy named Bud Becker (Don Garner) who wants the instrument simply to play sweet music and winds up poisoned to death. Lt. Bruger (Richard Travis) is convinced that Denny is up to his ears in murder and mischief, but with the help of his pal the professor (Edward Brophy), Denny is able to find out the secret of the sax and the identity of the killer.

Beaumont with Tom Neal

In the second story Denny is hired by another private eye, Edgar Spadely (Tom Neal), to escort a woman, Vicki (Pamela Blake), to a party on a yacht. This turns out to be a trick so that the lady's husband can catch her in a compromising position with a photographer at the ready. Naturally Lt. Bruger suspects Denny of murdering the husband even as Denny fingers Vicki and her accusatory niece, Sheila (Paula Drew), who will inherit all of her uncle's money. Eventually the unsurprising truth comes out. A fast pace is the main asset of Danger Zone, although the first story has a slight bit of suspense to it. Beaumont and Travis are good as the bickering hero and cop, although Denny never comes off like an especially likable character. The women give mediocre performances and aren't very sexy, either. Edward Brophy adds some humor and gives arguably the most notable performance as the tippling professor, who sleeps on a couch in Denny's bedroom. Don Garner is also memorable in his bit as the sick and dying Bud, whose tragic death is barely remarked upon. From Lippert Pictures. 

Verdict: Low-grade film noir. Proof that B movies transitioned into TV shows, in this case literally. **.  

ROARING CITY

Hugh Beaumont and Joan Valerie

ROARING CITY (1951). Director: William Berke.

"He was with me all night." -- Gail.

"That's not an alibi, that's just bad taste." -- Denny O'Brien. 

Troubleshooter and boat renter Dennis O'Brien of Pier 23 gets involved in two cases in this last of three flicks featuring Hugh Beaumont as O'Brien. First O'Brien finds himself mixed up in a boxing match fix in which one of the fighters dies and both the other fighter, Lundy (Greg McClure), and the crooked promoter find themselves on the wrong end of a bullet. In the second and more interesting case, a blonde named Irma (Joan Valerie) hires Denny to pretend to be the husband of her step-daughter, Sylvia (Wanda McKay). Sylvia's angry boyfriend shows up, and her real husband is found dead in a box along with an unconscious O'Brien. 

Beaumont with Richard Travis

Once again as he did in Pier 23 Hugh Beaumont proves very adept at the hard-boiled style in his on-target portrayal of the unlikable, borderline immoral and not-terribly-bright Dennis O'Brien. His interplay with Inspector Bruger (Richard Travis, who is also quite good) is sharp and well-played --Beaumont and Travis make a good team --  and the script has lots of good dialogue. Edward Brophy is some fun as O'Brien's pal the "professor" and there are some decent supporting performances; Greg McClure is notable. However, neither Joan Valerie or even Wanda McKay make much of an impression as two of the shady ladies. A third, the oddly-named Rebel Randall, who plays Gail in the first story, is slightly better. 

Verdict: Fun to watch "Ward Cleaver" as an anti-hero. **1/2. 

COP HATER

Partners: Robert Loggia; Gerald S. O'Loughlin

COP HATER (1958). Director: William Berke.

Detective Steve Carelli (Robert Loggia) and his partner, Mike (Gerald O'Loughlin), look for a man who has been gunning down cops at the rate of one a day. Steve has a deaf-mute girlfriend,  Teddy (Ellen Parker), and Mike has a wife named Alice (Shirley Ballard). In between having drinks, fooling around with the ladies in their lives, and occasionally talking to suspects, the two detectives -- who always seem tired even though they actually do very little -- eventually uncover a suspect or two. But will they ever find the right guy?

Russell Hardie and Jerry Orbach

Cop Hater is based on a novel by Ed McBain of the well-known 87th Precinct series. These books feature Detective Steve Carella, although the film changes his name to Carelli. The movie is a misfire on virtually every level. For one thing, considering the fact that cops are being killed, the movie has absolutely no urgency or pacing at all. As noted, Carelli and Mike don't seem to do very much actual detective work, and nobody but their boss, Lt. Byrnes (Russell Hardie), seems to give a damn about much of anything. Loggia is only okay as Carelli, but O'Loughlin is quite good as his partner, Hardie is excellent as the Lieutenant, and a very young Jerry Orbach makes a decided impression in his one big scene as a young punk, leader of a boy gang that may be responsible for a murder. 

Other good bits are provided by Vincent Gardenia as Danny the Gimp, and Glenn Cannon as Rip, another member of the Grovers gang. As Mike's wife, Shirley Ballard proves no actress, although she somehow managed to amass 42 credits. Lincoln Kilpatrick, Lulu B. King, and Janet Manson, among others, are given some good moments. Albert Glasser's [Beginning of the End] score oddly gets melodramatic during what are supposed to be tender romantic scenes -- it's certainly not the composer's highwater mark. Agatha Christie's "ABC Murders" provides the basic premise for the murders themselves. The Mugger, also directed by William Berke, was another adaptation of an Ed McBain novel. 

Verdict: Lackadaisical treatment sinks this from the start. *1/2.