Reed de Rouen in "The Six Men", and "Witness in the Dark" starring Patricia Dainton and Gordon Phillips

Last night, what luck! We found another Reed de Rouen movie! We love this guy. You might remember him from "Naked Fury" a week or two ago, in which we said he was a cross between Marlon Brando and Dave Madden. In "The Six Men"(1951), he's all cleaned up in a suit and slick haircut, but he's still got that Wisconsin accent and wise-guy smirk (when he's not doing deadpan), and then, out of the blue he'll go totally tongue in cheek like he's in a Roger Corman flick. Talk about idiosyncratic! He even pitched in on the screenplay for this one, a tale of vengeance upon a six member criminal gang. The gang, run like a syndicate by a cigar chomping Wellesian lookalike called"The Chief" (Peter Bull), pulls varying heist and counterfeit jobs. The Chief doesn't have to do any of the dirty work because he's the planner, the boss.

Reed de Rouen plays "Lewis", his #2 man. Then there's the safecracker, "Keyhole Russell" (Edward Malin), "Johnny the Kid" (Christopher Page), "Colonel Leon" (Desmond Jeans), and "Wainwright" (Ivan Craig). Each man was recruited for his specialty. There's even a religious reformer associated with the gang named "Captain Emsley" (Judith Furse), who provides Keyhole Russell with an alibi every time the gang pulls a job. But the "Captain" is a woman, running a fake halfway house, and when Skeertlynd Yeeeard gets involved, in the person of "Inspector Hunter" (Michael Evans), the gang start to disappear one by one, as if someone was checking them off a list.

And that's exactly what's happening, right down to the Gloved Hand crossing off names. This is a Reed de Rouen film, so it's as diabolical-yet-comically accented as you'd expect, even Three Stooge-quoting at the end: "Why youuu!" 

The gang knows they have a mole in their midst. Young Johnny boy has already been shot on a safecracking job that was supposed to be secret. Who knew about it? A rival gang? The mole appears in shadow as a hunched-over, bespectacled, rain-coated old man, silent and tall. Inspector Hunter bumps into a teary woman in the hallway at Yard Headquarters, but there must be a scene edited out for television because after he bumps into her, and asks if he can be of help because she's crying, we immediately see them sitting on a bench together in the park in the rain, talking as if they're well acquainted. At any rate, she will figure in the film's major plot twist, when we find out who the mole is. "The Six Men" has more charm than plot, and the plot it does have is not that well-executed, but that's no problem because the quirkiness is what's important here. De Rouen doesn't star, as he did in "Naked Fury", but he's in enough scenes that you won't feel gypped. Two Big Thumbs Up for "The Six Men". The picture is razor sharp. We've gotta find us some more Reed de Rouen.  ////

The previous night, we watched "Witness in the Dark"(1959), a Blind Woman in Peril story with a superior cast and tight plot. The excellent Patrica Dainton (from "The Third Alibi", seen a couple years ago) stars as "Jane Pringle", a telephone operator blinded in an accident that took the life of her fiance. She lives on her own, wants to maintain her independence, and even teaches Braille on the side to a young pupil still struggling with his recent loss of sight. In addition, she helps an old, arthritic widow in the flat upstairs, who has no relatives, no friends and can't get around very well. In this way, the "peril" aspect (which will soon be introduced) is weighed against Jane's insistence on resilience over self pity. She helps others she considers less fortunate than her.

The old lady, "Mrs. Temple" (Enid Lorimer), has a valuable brooch ("pronounced 'broach', Gilligan") she keeps in a tea jar. Jane tells her she should put it in the bank in a safe deposit box. Jane has another neighbor named "Mrs. Finch" (Madge Ryan) who also knows about the brooch. Mrs. Finch is what you'd call a "deliberately well-meaning busybody", a gossipy non-stop talker who always "wants to help" to make herself the center of attention. Mrs. Finch's lifeblood is a listener, any listener, and in Jane she has a captive audience. "I enjoy helping you, dear." Yeah, because you get to yak about yourself and Jane's blind and can't get rid of you. But Mrs. Finch's husband has her number. He tells her to shut up about the brooch ("I told you, it's pronounced 'broach', Gilligan!") because he just bought a "hot" watch in the park and he don't want them coppers comin' around asking questions.

Well, the next night, old Mrs. Temple is murdered. We see the killer, a big man wearing a Macintosh. He's been staking out the building and somehow knows about the valuable brooch. He's even knocked on Mrs.Temple's door to acquaint himself with the interior of her apartment, but when he comes back and kills her, he can't find the brooch, which ends up being given to Jane as a gift. 

"Police Inspector Coates" (Gordon Phillips) starts questioning everyone in the building. Mrs Finch at first seems suspicious, given that her husband buys stolen watches in the park, but the crux is more substantial than just the murder mystery. The movie is about Jane's blindness, and how it makes her sensitive to touch and sound. Coates finds out that she passed the killer on the stairs. She touched his coat and can remember every wrinkle. She knows voice inflections, and when someone is lying from a pause or a too-glib reply. She can tell a man's breathing from a woman's. She's a detective in her own right. Inspector Coates takes a liking to Jane (and protects her from the obnoxious Mrs. Finch), and finally, he has her recreate the moment she passed the killer on the staircase.

I won't say anymore about the plot, but this movie makes an excellent counterpart to the classic, and similarly titled "Wait Until Dark" (which has gotta be inspired by this film), in which Audrey Hepburn gave a legendary performance against Alan Arkin's sadistic psycho. What kind of monster would torment a blind person? But that film, while an out-and-out classic, was all about the terror. The reason this movie contrasts it is because it's more about the strength of Jane and the details within her blindness, and how her detection abilities are enhanced in other ways, which helps her stay alive when the killer finds out she inherited the brooch and comes looking.  The final shot shows Jane throwing away a door chain given to her by Inspector Coates, who believes she should take precautions. She likes him, and they've solved the case together, but if being blind has taught her one thing, it's that she has to trust in people and not live in fear. Two Bigs, verging on Two Huge, because the filmmakers pull all of this off in 58 minutes. The picture is very good.   ////

And that's all for tonight. My blogging music is "Ashes Against the Grain" by Agalloch, in honor of their just-announced reformation which I'm super excited about. I was fortunate enough to see 'em thrice between 2012 and 2016 (each time at The Echoplex). Then they broke up, but now they're back. Check 'em out. My late night music is Handel's Admetus, King of Thessaly Opera. I hope you're enjoying your weekend and I send you Tons of Love as always.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)