JUVENILE JUNGLE

Corey Allen and Rebecca Welles

JUVENILE JUNGLE (1958). Director: William Witney. Colorized. 

Hal McQueen (Corey Allen of The Big Caper) is new in town and attracts the attention of waitress, Glory (Rebecca Welles). She has a jealous sometime boyfriend in Monty (Joe Di Reda), who throws liquor-fueled beach parties with his buddies Tic-Tac (Richard Bakalyan of The Delinquents) and Duke (Joe Conley). Duke also works in a liquor store that has a check-cashing service that takes in an awful lot of loot. Although initially hostile and distrustful of each other, Hal and Monty, along with the latter's buddies and Glory, decide to rob the liquor store and get $40,000. Part of the plan is for Hal to romance Carolyn (Anne Whitfield), the daughter of John Elliot (Walter Coy), the proprietor of the store. This last doesn't sit well with Glory, but she goes along with it for her cut. But as Hal and Carolyn get to know each other, will the young man's conscience get the better of him?   

Corey Allen with Conley and Di Reda

The most amusing thing about Juvenile Jungle is that there isn't a juvenile in sight! Most of the actors appear to be at least in their thirties (Allen was twenty-four). As juvenile delinquency films were big in the fifties, titles often reflected this trend even when it wasn't remotely accurate. The male characters in particular seem like mere loafers with no goals in sight, perpetual adolescents. In spite of this they give solid performances, as do the ladies, Welles in particular. There are also some surprises in store as to which character turns out to be the most vicious. Welles and Whitfield both had busy careers; so did the male players, with Bakalyan amassing the most credits. Allen eventually turned to directing and became a respected acting coach. 

Verdict: Minor but adsorbing crime caper with interesting players. ***. 

TRAPPED

Barbara Payton and Lloyd Bridges

TRAPPED (1949). Director: Richard Fleischer. 

Chris Stewart (Lloyd Bridges), a prison inmate due to his counterfeiting activities, allegedly agrees to cooperate with the authorities in order to help find some near-perfect phony currency plates, but instead escapes and hightails it to the side of his girlfriend, Meg (Barbara Payton of Bride of the Gorilla). Chris makes a deal with a man named Jack Sylvester (James Todd) to exchange some counterfeit currency for legitimate cash, and contacts John Downey (John Hoyt of The Glass Cage), a confidence man who hangs out at Meg's club and is always trying to date her; Downey will come up with the cash. But Chris is unaware that the authorities are already watching Meg -- and him -- and that Downey may not be quite the man he thinks he is. 

Payton with John Hoyt

Trapped is a fast-paced, entertaining, and quite well-acted crime meller that pulls you along and makes you interested in what might happen next. There are a couple of problems with the film, however, and that includes Chris' assertion that he can get rich without acquiring those all-important bank plates, which Sylvester wants to hang on to. Also the last section of the film, while an exciting enough chase on its own terms, centers on a supporting character instead of the lead, who is off-screen for the entire final section of the movie. Bridges offers an adroit performance as a bad guy who is nowhere near as smart as he thinks he is, and Payton again proves that there was more to her than blatant sexiness and big red lips. John Hoyt offers an unusual and adept portrayal for him of a man who is almost an aging lover boy. Russ Conway and Robert Karnes have supporting roles and are fine. 

Verdict: Just misses being a special film noir. **3/4. 

CITY OF SHADOWS

Victor McLaglen and John Baer

CITY OF SHADOWS (1955). Director: William Witney. Colorized. 

Small-timer "Big Tim" Channing (Victor McLaglen) meets up with Dan Mason (John Baer of Guns Girls and Gangsters) when the latter is just 12-years-old and putting slugs in slot machines. The two form a bond and inspire each other until Tim becomes a big-time racketeer and Dan is about to graduate law school, using his and other's expertise to keep Tim out of jail. Dan changes his tune when he falls in love with Fern (Kathleen Crowley of The Flame Barrier), the daughter of a prominent lawyer whose brains Dan wanted to pick. He decides to help Tim go legit, but is unaware that Tim's associates are still playing it fast and loose. Before long Tim, Dan and Fern are all on the run from gangsters. 

Baer with Kathleen Crowley

City of Shadows tosses in a lot of over-familiar elements but the picture works because it's fast-paced and well-acted by all. McLaglen plays the usual Hollywood version of a gangster, all joviality and with a heart of gold, although this type is generally seen in comedies. Good-looking and adept, Baer displays leading man charisma and ability as Dan Mason, and Kathleen Crowley offers another one of her solid and effective portrayals. Others in the cast include Frank Ferguson [The Big Night] as the D.A., Anthony Caruso as another mobster, Richard Reeves as a bad-tempered gunsel, Richard Travis as an undercover agent, and June Vincent as a secretary to Mason when he starts his own insurance/security firm but who secretly reports to Caruso. The script for this could have come out of the thirties. Serial specialist William Witney keeps things moving, and there's an exciting climax and chase on a ski lift. 

Verdict: More than acceptable crime thriller with a good cast. ***. 

DOUBLE CROSS

Kane Richmond

DOUBLE CROSS (1941). Director: Albert H. Kelley.

A cop named Bronson (Richard Beach) is fiddling with a moll named Fay (Wynne Gibson), who works in a club, The Silver Slipper, owned by gangster Nick Taggart (John Miljan of The Ghost Walks). When the place is raided, Fay shoots one of the officers, and Bronson is mistakenly fired upon in return. Bronson's sister, Ellen (Pauline Moore), works in the club and is engaged to Bronson's pal and fellow officer, Jim Murray (Kane Richmond of The Tiger Woman). When Bronson kicks the bucket, Jim comes upon a plan to get kicked off the force so he can go undercover at the Silver Slipper and get the goods on the gang. He tells his fiancee of his plans, but doesn't clue in his heart-broken father (Robert Homans of X Marks the Spot), who happens to be a police captain!

John Miljan and Wynne Gibson

Kane Richmond is perfectly acceptable as Jim Murray, but the acting honors go to the vivid Wynne Gibson as Fay, who loves Taggart not wisely but well. Her best scene has her going off on Taggart when she discovers he's secretly recorded her talking about her crime. Pauline Moore is adequate if bland, John Miljan is fairly snappy as the crime boss who has the mayor in his pocket, and Homans is effective if overall unpleasant as the captain. The movie is relatively fast-paced although the finale seems a little dragged out. This is a cheap production from the poverty row studio PRC (Producer's Releasing Corporation). 

Verdict: Square-jawed Kane Richmond in another cheap thriller. **1/2. 

20,000 EYES

James Brown and Gene Nelson

20,000 EYES (1961). Produced and directed by Jack Leewood. 

Dan (Gene Nelson) tries to pull a fast one on a mobster named Novak (John Banner) and winds up owing him $100,000 which he pays back in five days -- or else! With the aid of his fiancee, Karen (Merry Anders  of The Hypnotic Eye) and old buddy Jerry (James Brown) -- who used to be Karen's squeeze -- Dan concocts a scheme to steal diamonds from a museum and engineer insurance fraud. But this might prove to be even more difficult to pull off than he imagines. 

Merry Anders with Nelson

20,000 Eyes had possibilities, and the acting is perfectly adept -- former song and dance man Nelson is perfectly fine as the anti-hero -- but this is a super-cheap TV-like production and there isn't enough skill in the direction to make this percolate, let only come to a boil. The storyline is over-familiar as well with few if any twists. The best performance is given by John Banner, who later wound up as Schultz on Hogan's Heroes; he's quite good as the mob boss. 

Verdict: Nelson gives a good account of himself, but this is a tepid melodrama. **. 

QUIET PLEASE: MURDER

George Sanders

QUIET PLEASE: MURDER (1942). Director: John Francis Larkin. 

"We're really a couple of walking horror stories." -- Myra. 

Jim Fleg (George Sanders of Bluebeard's Ten Honeymoons) is a murderous and completely immoral reprobate who steals a priceless manuscript from the public library and tries to sell off copies of it to unsuspecting and unscrupulous collectors. His partner is the equally reprehensible and dangerous Myra (Gail Patrick). Private eye Hal McByrne (Richard Denning of The Black Scorpion) romances Myra to try to get to the ringleader of this illicit operation. Everyone winds up at the library, where Fleg pretends to be a phony detective so he can rip off the place some more, placing Hal and librarian Kay (Lynne Roberts) in danger. Will the real police get there in time? Quiet Please: Murder is a minor crime meller with an expectedly notable lead performance from Sanders, who is always fun to watch, although others in the cast -- including Sidney Blackmer, Byron Foulger [The Magnetic Monster], Arthur Space and the ones already mentioned -- are all on top of things. 

Verdict: Stay out of the library! **3/4. 

SMOOTH AS SILK

Milburn Stone, Kent Taylor, Virginia Grey

SMOOTH AS SILK (1946). Director: Charles Barton. Colorized.

Defense attorney Mark Fenton (Kent Taylor) and prosecutor John Kimble (Milburn Stone) have been friendly enemies for years, but there are complications when Fenton becomes engaged to actress Paula Marlowe (Virginia Grey). She desperately hopes that producer Stephen Elliott (John Litel) will star her in his next production, which seems a given after Fenton successfully defends Elliott's nephew, Don (Danny Morton), in a vehicular manslaughter case; Don is guilty as sin. However, Elliott has other plans for the role until Paula begins to work her wiles on him, igniting intense jealousy in Fenton. He concocts a scheme to take out his rival, but will he get away with it ...?

John Litel and Danny Morton

Smooth as Silk is a short, fast-paced crime melodrama that boasts some fine performances, with Taylor [The Crimson Key] on top of things as the reptilian lawyer; Litel [Runaway Daughters] effective as the lustful producer; Milburn Stone [Swing It Professor] lending solid support; and Grey [Black Zoo] practically stealing the show as the bitch Paula who uses men right and left in one career move after another. Danny Morton was also in The Mysterious Mr. M. 

Verdict: Absorbing if minor meller. **1/2. 

NAKED PARADISE

Beverly Garland and Richard Denning

NAKED PARADISE (aka Thunder Over Hawaii/1957). Produced and directed by Roger Corman. 

Duke Bradley (Richard Denning of The Black Scorpion) owns a charter boat and takes on passengers including gangster Zach Cotton (Leslie Bradley of Attack of the Crab Monsters), his "secretary" Max MacKenzie (Beverly Garland of Gunslinger), and nasty gunsels Mitch (Dick Miller) and Stony (Jonathan Haze). After pulling a robbery the gang set out for an island where Duke learns that Zach plans on forcing him to take them all in his small boat to the mainland, a ridiculous proposition. Duke and Max set sail by themselves but have to turn back due to an approaching hurricane, and are at the mercy of Zach and his cohorts. But all may not be hopeless ... 

Creeps: Miller, Bradley, Haze

Obviously Naked Paradise was considered a more exploitable title than the original Thunder Over Hawaii. The movie, which moves at the expected brisk pace, is reasonably entertaining and also unpredictable -- you're not really certain which of the participants will survive. A major asset of the film, also as expected, is the performance of Garland, who always raises things a notch. The others are all competent but unexceptional, and Bradley completely lacks charisma, essential when playing a gang leader. Miller and Haze have done better work elsewhere, and Denning displays his customary bland charm. The picture has a satisfying wind-up. Shot by Floyd Crosby and with a score by Ronald Stein. 

Verdict: At least the actors got a trip to Hawaii out of it! ***. 

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. **. 

THE INN ON THE RIVER

Joachim Fuchsberger and Brigette Grothum

THE INN ON THE RIVER (aka Das Gasthaus an der Themse/1962). Director: Alfred Vohrer. 

A criminal mastermind known as the Shark is operating in and around a waterfront dive known as the Mekka Inn. The place is run by the shady Nellie Ochs (Elizabeth Flickenschildt of The Terrible People), whose niece, Leila (Brigette Grothum), works as a waitress there. Wearing a scuba outfit  and using a harpoon gun, the Shark dispatches his enemies and sends confederates out to pick up the bodies. Inspector Wade (Joachim Fuchsberger), who is strongly attracted to Leila, matches wits with her aunt while he tracks down the Shark and deals with his generally nasty associates. 

Elisabeth Flickenschildt

The Inn on the River has a typically convoluted Edgar Wallace storyline and one has to pay careful attention to keep track of who's who. The atmospheric locations of docks, sewers, and other underground chambers are the chief assets of the picture, along with the sharp performance of Flickenschildt, although most of the cast is pretty decent. Campy Eddi Arent is again drafted as comic relief and is as irritating as usual. Klaus Kinski plays the usual suspicion person who may or may not be a bad guy. The flick has terrible theme music.

Verdict: Some intriguing aspects but not entirely successful. **1/2. 

THE HORROR OF BLACKWOOD CASTLE

Siegfried Schurenberg and Karin Baal

THE HORROR OF BLACKWOOD CASTLE (aka Der Hund von Blackwood Castle/1968). Director: Alfred Vohrer. 

"Everyone's dying here -- so inconsiderate!" -- Lady Agatha. 

Captain Wilson (Otto Stern) has died and his daughter, Jane (Karin Baal), has inherited his creepy old castle. As an insurance investigator, Connery (Heinz Drache of The Brides of Fu Manchu), tries to recover the stolen Amsterdam jewels, members of the late captain's crew are being killed by a hound outfitted with fake poisoned fangs -- are they also searching for the jewels which the captain might have stolen? In addition to the castle, much of the action centers on a rundown Inn managed by the feisty Lady Agatha (Agnes Windeck), whose guests are dropping like flies. Meanwhile Jane's avaricious long-lost mother, Catherine (Mady Rahl) shows up to see what she can get from her daughter's inheritance. Can Sir John of Scotland Yard (Siegfried Schurenberg) stop the murders and solve the case? 

von Berlepsch, Engel, Drache,

Usually in these movies Siegfried Schurenberg as Sir John pops up now and then to act the buffoon and gives orders to the detectives who are actually doing the investigating, but in Blackwood Castle he seems to be the chief investigator, which gives the whole film a comic or even campy -- or at the very least tongue-in-cheek -- tone to it which works against the suspense. (It's almost as if Schurenberg got so much screen time to make up for the absence of Eddi Arent, who generally plays the comic relied in these krimi films.) 

In any case, even though it comes together at the end, Blackwood Castle is a bit too convoluted for its own good. The movie is introduced by a voice claiming to be Edgar Wallace, and there is a terrible rock-like theme song. The actors, including Tilo von Berlepsch as Lady Agatha's brother, Henry, and Alexander Engel as Dr. Adams all give flavorful and adept performances. The hound (or hund) itself is not given that much to do, and the storyline is quite different from "The Hound of the Baskervilles." Pretty good ending to this. 

Verdict: Rather weird Wallace krimi that seems to go all over the lot. **1/2. 

TOMORROW WE LIVE

Jean Parker, Rose Anne Stevens, Emmett Lynn

TOMORROW WE LIVE (1942). Director: Edgar G. Ulmer. 

Julie Bronson (Jean Parker of Lady in the Death House) comes home to her father, "Pop" Bronson (Emmett Lynn), who runs a cafe but is actually working for a gangster known as The Ghost (Ricardo Cortez). When the Ghost meets Julie he instantly decides that he must have her, but although she gets a little weak in the knees, she is in love with handsome Lieutenant Bob Lord (William Marshall), who has just enlisted. Besides dealing with competition for Julie's affections, the Ghost -- so-called because he's managed to cheat death more than once -- also must contend with a rival, Big Charlie, who we never actually see because he sends his henchmen to do his dirty work. Bob proposes to Julie, but there's a hiccup when she learns that the Ghost has something on her father that could send him back to prison.

William Marshall

Although released in 1942, Tomorrow We Live comes off like a movie made ten years earlier. It's not just that it's a cheap PRC production that was probably shot in two days with a budget of 10 cents, but that its script is creaky and the musical score hokey as hell. Aside from Parker and Rose Anne Stevens as waitress Melba, the acting is so perfunctory that it's as if the performers were handed their scripts right before they stood in front of the cameras. Both Cortez and Marshall have given much better accounts of themselves, such as in the film they teamed for five years later, Blackmail. Director Edgar G. Ulmer, who has also done much better work, films a lengthy fist fight entirely in long shot! Ultimately this is pretty dull.

Verdict: One of Ulmer's worst movies. *.  

THE DARK MAN

Maxwell Reed and Natasha Parry

THE DARK MAN (1951). Written and directed by Jeffrey Dell. 

An unidentified man (Maxwell Reed of Shadow of Fear) commits a murder, and then decides to kill off the cab driver who has driven him away from the murder scene. Unfortunately, a pretty young actress named Molly (Natasha Parry) sees the latter action and immediately goes to the top of Reed's hit list. Molly manages to get away this time, and is soon taken under the wing of the lustful Inspector Viner (Edward Underdown), who seems to spend more time thinking of her and kissing her than he does in doing a decent job of protecting her. No one bothers to even check out her flat when she goes home from the theater where she works, so naturally "the Dark Man" is waiting for her -- in the dark, of course. The climax takes place at a military testing range where there is some minimal excitement, but the movie is essentially mediocre. There is some moody photography by Eric Cross, and an interesting, dissonant score by Hubert Clifford. 

Verdict: **1/2. 

THE PAINTED SMILE

Liz Fraser and Tony Wickert

THE PAINTED SMILE (aka Murder Can Be Deadly/1962). Director: Lance Comfort.  

Jo Lake (Liz Fraser) and her boyfriend Mark (Peter Reynolds) entrap unsuspecting men, with Liz picking them up and Mark pretending to be her husband. One night Mark is murdered by a gangster named Kleinie (Kenneth Griffith). Jo brings Tom (Tony Wickert) home from the club where he and his pals are celebrating his having one final fling, where they come upon Mark's body. Jo tells a horrified Tom that if he doesn't help her get rid of the corpse, she will tell the police that he is the murderer. Tom's actions after that border on the moronic. The Painted Smile is a lesser melodrama from director Lance Comfort. The acting is more than adequate. Others in the cast include a pre-Blowup David Hemmings as one of Tom's pals and Nanette Newman as Tom's highly supportive fiancee, Mary. Singer Craig Douglas warbles a tune in a nightclub. 

Verdict: Very short alleged thriller that you can easily miss. **. 

DADDY-O

Sandra Giles and Dick Contino

DADDY-O (1958). Director: Lou Place. 

Trucker Phil Sandifer (Dick Contino) has an unfriendly encounter with Jana Ryan (Sandra Giles) on the highway. Later she meets up with him again in a club where he's asked to sing a number and later agrees to actually race Jana in Griffith Park. This results in Phil losing his driver's license, so he goes to work for the portly Sidney Chillas (Bruno VeSota of Female Jungle), as a singer. He is also hoping to get a line on what happened when his best friend, Sonny (Robert Banas), died in a car accident on the same night as the race. Phil and Jana continue to have a love-hate relationship as he investigates Chillas and his menacing gunsel, Bruce (Tipp McClure). Then Chillas tells him he wants him to deliver a package for him ... guess what's inside? 

Bruno gets a rubdown: VeSota and McClure

Daddy-O is not a very good movie but it's of interest because of the presence of Dick Contino, who gained more fame as an accordionist on Ed Sullivan than as an actor. This is too bad, because the big, handsome lug has a lot of charisma and screen presence, and gives a very good performance in the movie. He has a decent voice, and while his singing style might be considered a bit hokey today, he has a great bit when he jumps off the stage, gives manicurist Marcia (Gloria Victor/Joanne Arnold) a hot and passionate smooch, and turns triumphantly and sexily back to the audience. Bruno VeSota is also notable as the smooth-talking, pseudo-cultured Chillas and even gets a rubdown from his gunsel Bruce at one point. Alas, Sandra Giles is strictly from the Mamie Van Doren School of Acting, and makes little impression despite her physique. Sultry Gloria Victor makes much more of an impression as she stands by the bar literally smoldering with lust for Phil -- who calls himself "Daddy-O" -- as he's singing. This was the first score by the prolific John Williams of Jaws fame. 

Verdict: See it for Big Phil! **1/2. 

 

WHY MUST I DIE?

Debra Paget cornered by lady convicts

WHY MUST I DIE? (1960). Director: Roy Del Ruth.

Lois King (Terry Moore of Postmark for Danger) tries to make a new life for herself after blowing off her boyfriend, Eddie (Lionel Ames), and father, Red (Fred Sherman), both of whom are crooks. She winds up singing at a tony nightclub owned by Kenny Randell (Phil Harvey of The Land Unknown) and the two begin a romance. Unfortunately, just when things are looking up Eddie and his new girlfriend, the hardboiled safecracker Dottie Manson (Debra Paget), re-enter Lois' life. Lois has to give them information that will enable them to rob the nightclub, but a tragedy results from this. Lois and Dottie wind up in the same penal institution where one of them is on death row and the other hides a guilty secret. 

Phil Harvey and Terry Moore

Why Must I Die?, which also makes a plea against capital punishment, was clearly modeled on I Want to Live, released two years earlier. It's absorbing enough, but low-budget and second-rate, although it was photographed by no less than Ernest Haller. Terry Moore, who also produced the picture, is okay in the lead role but she hardly has the acting chops of Susan Hayward, star of I Want to Live, and overacts quite a bit when she's called upon to get hysterical. That is not the case with Debra Paget, who steals the movie from Moore with her intense and dynamic portrayal of the hard-as-nails Dottie. She's terrific and utterly loathsome.

Lionel Ames and Debra Paget

Other cast members in Why Must I Die? include Robert Shayne (of The Rebel Set) as another club owner who falls for Lois; Bert Freed as her lawyer, Adler; Sid Melton as an agent; Juli Reding as the sexy Mitzi, who also canoodles with Eddie; and Jackie Joseph (of Little Shop of Horrors) as another club employee who is having a fling with Kenny, for shame. Eddie's deadly fall off of a fire escape is well-handled as is the ending in the prison, which has a certain amount of minor power. Parts of Dick LaSalle's musical score remind one of Vertigo. 

Verdict: Paget makes her mark! **1/4. 

WOMEN ARE TROUBLE

WOMEN ARE TROUBLE (1936). Director: Errol Taggart. 

Ruth Nolan (Florence Rice) wants a job as reporter on a city newspaper, but the editor, Bill Blaine (Paul Kelly of The Secret Code), is against the idea of hiring a woman. The last woman he hired became his wife -- now ex-wife -- and Ruth is much too attractive as far as he is concerned. However, with the help of reporter Matt Casey (Stuart Erwin), Ruth manages to get a juicy assignment: investigating the people behind a protection racket that rose from the ashes after the end of prohibition. Plucky as Ruth may be, she may find herself in pretty hot water when she and her boss are kidnapped by the bad guys. Can Casey come to the rescue?

Rice, Irwin, Kelly

Generally well-played, Women are Trouble is a standard crime comedy that at least moves at a brisk pace. Margaret Irving is snappy as Bill's ex-wife, Frances, who has schemes of her own, and Cy Kendall (of The Tiger Woman) is a bit better than usual as Inspector Matson. John Harrington and Raymond Hatton  [Invasion of the Saucer Men] are the villains of the piece, and Kitty McHugh is vivid as Della, the widow of a murder victim. One mildly interesting bit has a thug dressing up in Chinese drag at a party and trying to murder Ruth. 

Verdict: A mediocre crime meller you can miss. **. 

THE FLESH IS WEAK

Milly Vitale and John Derek

THE FLESH IS WEAK (1957). Director: Don Chaffey. 

Marissa Cooper (Milly Vitale) arrives in London and is almost immediately set up by a slick operator named Tony (John Derek), one of the criminal Giani brothers. Tony wines and dines Marissa, sets her up in her own apartment, promises to marry her, all in an attempt to snare her into prostitution by claiming he'll go to jail if she can't get him some big money in a hurry by turning tricks. Surely this is a very involved and expensive way to traffic women, so right away we have a premise that makes little sense, as I imagine pimps generally don't have such patience in turning their girls into hookers. 

Martin Benson and John Derek

Although tame by today's standards, The Flesh is Weak is pretty frank for a fifties film -- in this period British films tended to be more "adult" than in the U.S. Derek gives a good performance as the loathsome Tony, and he is capably if unexcitingly supported by Martin Benson as brother Angelo, the head of their outfit. William Franklyn plays a reporter who is trying to expose the Gianis and help their women, including Marissa, at the same time. Marissa is too stupid to be that sympathetic -- she still wants to stick up for Tony even after he disfigures a woman who let her stay at her apartment! -- and Italian actress Vitale proves too insufficient a performer in this to do much with the part. Patricia Jessel as Millie is much too old and plain to be playing a successful street walker; 37 at the time, she looks much older. 

Verdict: Distinctly minor British exploitation film. *1/2. 
 

RIVER'S END

RIVER'S END (1940). Director: Ray Enright. 

Sgt Derry Connison (Dennis Morgan) of the mounties takes off after escaped convicted murderer John Keith (also Dennis Morgan), who happens to look quite a bit like him. When the former lies dying of exposure, he suggests that Keith, whom he believes to be innocent, take his place in the Mounties and solve the murder for which he was accused. When Connison's sister (Elizabeth Earl) shows up thinking Keith is her brother, he finds himself falling for her. Talk about a sticky situation! Georgie Tobias is Keith's Pal, Andy, and Steffi Duna is Cheeta, who has an unaccountable yen for him. Victor Jory is wasted as a witness at the trial who comes back into the scene. Although the premise is intriguing, this is not a very good picture. 

Verdict: Two Dennis Morgans for the price of one! **.
 

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.