Last night's movie was "Don't Talk To Strange Men"(1962), an English thriller starring Christina Gregg as "Jean", a teenaged girl living in a small village with her parents and little sister "Ann" (Janina Faye). She has a part time job taking care of the local inkeeper's son, to which she takes the bus every day. Jean's at that age when young girls dream of romance, and just by her expression we can see she's got her head in the clouds.
One day, whilst waiting for the bus (a classic double decker), Jean hears a phone ring. It's coming from the call box nearby. Being an open hearted girl, she answers. The caller is a male with a smooth, even voice. Instead of saying "sorry wrong number" or just hanging up, Jean gets pulled in to his game of questions, which begins with the man asking her name, why she answered, what she's doing there, and more. Jean is tentative at first, but then charmed by the caller's flattery. "You have a lovely sounding voice", he tells her.
In truth, he's grooming her, as the term has come to be known. Jean is too inexperienced to realise this, and only signs off because her bus arrives. "Oh, I'm so sorry but I've got to go.......yes, yes I'll be here tomorrow. Same time. Yes, I'll answer. Yes......I promise. Okay bye". She's so excited by the attention of an older, seemingly sophisticated male that she tells her sister about it the moment she gets home. Ann, though just an adolescent, is more savvy than Jean. "Are you sure he's safe"?, she asks. "Why of course he is, don't be silly", says Jean. "He didn't call me on purpose, it was purely by chance. We just happened to hit it off, is all". Young Ann still isn't convinced. "Okay, if you say so. But he could be anybody".
We the audience know this from the beginning of the film, though I won't tell you how.
The next day, at the same time, Jean is waiting by the phone booth as promised. It rings and she nervously picks up, eyes sparkling with expectation. This time, the caller ends his persuasive discourse by taking things a step further, suggesting a meet-up in the near future. "Oh no, my dear........you needn't decide now. It was just a thought, because we're so like-minded. Take your time, think about it. We could just get a tea, or if you prefer, maybe walk along the beach. I'd be so glad to meet you. if you look the way you sound, you must be very beautiful indeed".
Jean agrees to consider the meeting, but in truth she's already made up her mind. She can't wait to meet this mysterious Romeo. When she gets on the bus, the ticket taker - a matronly woman who is Jean's friend - tries to talk some sense into her. "Why're you speaking to this man? You know nothing about him"! Jean dismisses her concern as she did with Ann : "Oh, I'm sure he's harmless, and do you know what? It might be fate. He could be the man of my dreams". The ticket taker snorts a laugh : "Ha! The man of your dreams. From a chance phone call? You're playing with fire is what I think". Jean reacts with sarcasm : "Have you ever been in love?........well then you wouldn't know, would you"?
Following the third phone call, Jean agrees to meet the man. He suggests the phone booth as the location. I don't want to reveal much more of the plot, but what will happen is that Jean's eventual peril will involve another person, who will be victimised because she wouldn't listen to reason. When Jean finally gets her head on straight, it might be too late for this person.
The plot is unique in that large portions of the movie are devoted to Jean's "one way" phone calls. These scenes are long, the male caller is never shown and so it's all reaction shots on the part of actress Christina Gregg. She's excellent at building the tension. Gregg is striking, and I wondered if we'd seen her before (don't think we have). When I looked her up it turns out she was a top fashion model in the UK in the early 1960s. She's also a very good actress, if this role is any indication, for besides the phone scenes, she also has to portray an exceedingly naive girl on the verge of womanhood, who is languishing in her fantasy. Janina Faye provides contrast as her 13 year old sister Ann, who's very sure of herself and is already a vegetarian and animal rights crusader, exasperating their parents, who think both daughters have gone barmy.
It's not a typical thriller because the plot focuses on Jean's day-to-day life and the phone calls. There's very little action until the last fifteen minutes. However, I found it top notch, and you might as well. Many of the fans at IMDB call it "terrifying" because of it's relation to the modern day, and the way in which "grooming" has been expanded by the Internet. I'll give "Don't Talk To Strange Men" Two Big Thumbs Up. The picture is razor sharp. It's a crime film with an almost total focus on the victim. Highly recommended! ////
Okay, for our next one we've gotta stop the presses. Are you ready for the Best Ron Foster Movie Yet? How about "The Music Box Kid"(1960), in which he plays "Larry Shaw", a mobster and stone cold killer. I know I've said RF specialises in Conflicted Hard Guy roles, but there's nothing conflicted or doubtful here. Shaw's a hit man with no conscience whatsoever, a sociopath whose nickname derives from the violin case that houses his machine gun.
As the movie opens, we see Larry chatting with guests in the apartment he's just moved into with his wife (Luana Patten). They're throwing a housewarming party. The local priest is there; he asks Larry for a minute of his time. "Can it wait a few minutes, Father"? Larry replies, excusing himself to run an errand. "I've gotta go over to my office". He claims to be an insurance man.
In reality, he's working for a gang of bootleggers (we're in New York City during Prohibition). During his break from the party, Larry gets in a car and calmly shoots a taped-up mook. At the so-called "office", a boss named Chesty pays him off and he heads back to the party to play the happy family man.
Very soon, Larry concludes that he's worth more than Chesty is paying him, but more than that - he doesn't need Chesty, or any of the other bootlegging bosses in the district. He believes he can run his own show, and because he's straight freaking crazy, he ain't skeered of any of 'em, no matter their standing in the organisation.
He forms his own gang and starts working his way up the hierarchy, making headlines with his music box as he liquidates anyone standing in his way. At first, he continues to portray himself as the dedicated husband to his wife and the priest, who wants him to join the church but begins to suspect he's hiding something.
Ultimately, as he continues to terrorize the bootlegging community, the other bosses team up to stop him. In addition, a federal task force has been set up to end the wanton killing in the city.
None of this fazes Foster, who glories in the headlines : "Music Box Kid Offs Another Bigwig"! He figures he can't be stopped. But he hasn't counted on his wife and the priest. She's now pregnant; the Father risks his life to save her and her her unborn child. But can they redeem Larry in the process?
This is Ron Foster's meatiest role yet. He's chilling as the two-faced Larry, and I'd like to step in to say that I've done a Tarantino here in resurrecting Foster. You know how he revived a few actors' careers, including the late David Carradine and Robert Forster? Well now I've done the same for Ron Foster (Robert Forster, Ron Foster, our reboots have similar names). I'll betcha QT would agree with me about Foster, a really interesting actor who could've had a bigger career. Again, I noticed him because of the utterly bland way in which he played a state trooper in "Highway Patrol". His acting on the show is so minimalist that I wondered, who is this guy? Thus began our Foster fascination, and here we are today with him playing a total psycho. The film was once again directed by Edward L. Cahn, Foster's working partner. Luana Patten is quite good in support as his unaware wife, who catches on too late whom she's married to. You might remember Patten from "Song of the South", as a child actress. Anyhow, we're on a full on Ron Foster retrospective now. Two Big Thumbs Up for "The Music Box Kid". Let's see what else we can find!
That's all for the moment. Have a great afternoon. I send you tons of love, as always.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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