Last night we watched "Get Outta Town"(1960), a surprisingly good Noir starring the little-known Doug Wilson as "Kelley Olseson", a hoodlum so detested by the LAPD that, upon seeing him on the street, "Sgt. Willis" (Frank Harding) gives him 24 hours to leave town, hence the movie's title. Kelly, a San Quentin parolee, is back in Los Angeles to bury his brother, who - so the story goes - had an accident leaving a bar. He tripped and fell in a dark alley, hit his head and died. But Kelly doesn't believe it, so he first goes to see his brother's girlfriend, who wants nothing to do with him: "I don't want you in my life, and your brother didn't want your lifestyle." Kelly tries to explain that he's gone straight. He's ashamed of his former life; the stretch in Q did the trick, but no one believes him, even his Mom won't talk to him anymore. She calls the police when he shows up at her apartment. They throw him out at Mom's request. Kelly was apparently a very bad guy.
He swears all that is behind him, but he's gotta square his brother's death. He goes to see an old cohort named "Tony" (Lee Kross), whose sideman "Squirrel" (Tommy Holden) takes Kelly to see another former partner named "Rico" (Tony Louis), who's moved up in the world and is now wearing a shiny suit for The Syndicate. We've all heard that term before (mostly in movies), and we assume it's just another name for the Mafia, but The Syndicate was apparently a separate entity, a "professional, mistake proof" version of the Mafia that, like Trump, used legal loopholes to run their show and avoid prison. They operated in such a way that, again like Trump, you couldn't prove they'd done anything illegal, and - in general - they avoided violence because it brought unwanted attention. The Syndicate was like a scientific version of the Mafia. In the movie, Rico has graduated to that level. He has designs on being the West Coast boss. Rico seems sympathetic to Kelly's quest: "Sure Kelly. If your brother was killed, I'll help you find who's responsible. We're old friends, whatever you need, you got it." The thing is, Kelly doesn't really trust Rico, who left him holding the bag on a safecracking job that led to Kelly's Quentin stretch and, later, to his decision to go straight.
Kelly goes to the bar where his brother was last seen alive, but the bartender and waitress are too scared to talk. Both quit their jobs that night, take a train and hightail it.
The cops keep dogging Kelly. "Get outta town right after your brother's funeral." The Sarge is a crew-cut squinty eyed prick. Rico catches Kelly with his wife, and not only doesn't care but pours him a drink. "I can use one myself, want another?" Rico's wife is a bimbo; Kelly is using her to get info on his brother, and it's looking like Rico killed him, but, the cops now have Kelly dead-to-rights on recent safecracking job that has his signature M.O. He tells them, "You guys know as well as I do it's a frame up. Whoever killed my brother wants me out of the way." He tells his brother's girlfriend: "I've had a fish packing job in San Francisco for the last three years, the first and only straight job I've ever had." She now sees that he means it, he has gone straight. He knows Rico killed his brother, but he's not gonna retaliate, which would mean returning to prison. Instead, he forces Rico into a corner, where it's a choice between Rico going to jail and The Syndicate rubbing him out (they don't do violence, unless a member screws up).
"Get Outta Town" is surprisingly well written and humanistic, without the typical hoodlum cliches. The acting ranges from stilted to semi-pro to very good (by star Wilson). in an early scene, there's a greaser enforcer for the Tony character, a Sal Mineo type, who is crazy but seems autistic. That's what I mean about the varied acting styles. Doug Wilson also produced and edited, perhaps it was his attempt at launching an auteur career. Filmed in downtown LA, at apartments since demolished, this one is without a doubt worth a look. Two Big Thumbs Up. The picture is good not great. ////
The previous night's movie was "Deadly Duo"(1962), the story of identical twin sisters, one who stands to gain a fortune if she'll sign over custody of her son to her mother-in-law, the CEO of a business empire. The other sister is a stripper married to a shady nightclub owner. Both live in Acapulco. "Preston Morgan" (Craig Hill), a lawyer for "Lenora Spence" (Irene Tedrow), is sent down to offer her daughter-in-law "Sabena Spence" (Marcia Henderson) half a million dollars to turn her son over to Lenora. Sabena was married to her son Robby, a race driver who was killed at the beginning of the movie (in real stock footage of an actual Grand Prix crash). Lenora Spence never wanted Robby to marry Sabena to begin with; "She's a nightclub dancer, not worthy of my son. I don't want her raising my grandson in that environment."
Lenora offers Morgan a cut of 50k if he gets Sabena to sign the papers. He thinks its a sleazy deal, buying the woman's child (dancer or not), but being a broke attorney reduced to working night court, he holds his nose and takes the case, flying down to Acapulco, expecting to meet a bimbo dancer; a negligent mother to her five year old son. Instead, Sabena turns out to be an A+ Mom, totally devoted. She was a legitimate dancer, not a stripper but one half of an act with her twin sister "Dora" (also played by Henderson). It's Dora who's the bimbo, married to "Jay Flagg" (Robert Lowery), club owner, who has her stripping now that Sabena's quit the business to be a Mom. She stopped dancing when she married Robby the race car driver, who - as heir to the Spence fortune - was loaded. Sabena got no inheritance upon his death; her mother-in-law Lenora doesn't like her. Having the integrity that any decent mother would have, she refuses to sell her son to Lenora, who then threatens to take the child away by legal means. it should be noted that giving a child up for adoption is an entirely different story, an act of self sacrifice, in which the mother wants a better life for her baby. My Mom's birth mother was a hero for that reason.
Sabena has an assistant, her cook "Manuel" (David Renard), held over from her life with Robby. He is very protective of her little boy, and beats up lawyer Morgan for even suggesting that Sabena accept the buyout.
The fight happens at an Acapulco resort, drawing unwanted publicity because it involves the Spence family fortune. Lenora Spence decides to fly to Acapulco herself, with her personal attorney in tow. When she gets there, a plot has been hatched by Jay Flagg, to have Dora, Sabina's twin, pose as Sabena and sign the custody papers after all, wearing a wig and Sabena's clothes. They set the meeting for when Sabena is at a cliff diving exhibition (the Acapulco lifestyle is featured throughout). At the same time, Jay Flagg has fixed Sabena's breaks so she will go off a cliff, thereby removing the final impediment to Dora's impersonation of Sabena, which will allow them to collect 500,000 dollars for her son.
It's very well done, the twin thing, reminiscent of The Patty Duke Show, one of my earliest TV memories. In their case, they were identical cousins, a great gimmick. The theme song went: "They laugh alike, they walk alike, at times they even talk alike - you can lose your mind, when cousins.......are two of a kind!" But on The Patty Duke Show, they don't murder each other.
You've seen character actress Irene Tedrow in a million things. Santa Monica substitutes for Acapulco. Preston Morgan falls in love with Sabena and intervenes when sleazeball Jay Flagg informs him that they've sent Sabena off a cliff, and have staged it to look like Morgan did it. Two Big Thumbs Up, the picture is razor sharp. ////
Yesterday, I went to a Celebration of Life gathering for our late friend Pat, held at The Robin Hood Pub in Sherman Oaks. There was a nice turnout, perhaps 25 to 30 people, from family members to long-time friends to co-workers from Pat's many places of employment. He was a career music business guy who started at the legendary College Records and worked his way up to being a sales representative for Sony. Pat knew a lot of people in his life, he was gregarious and easy to get along with. He was a good guy and, in my case, a fifty year friend who also felt like an extended member of my family, so often was he over to our house. At the Robin Hood lunch, I met his older brother and sisters, all of whom I'd only met once or twice before, eons ago when I was in high school. My brother Chris was there, it was nice to see him after many years, and my sister Vickie attended as well. I had nice chats with Scott E., a former member of our softball group, and Pat's friend Dean, a musician, and with Mike S. and the B Brothers, Dave and John. All of us hung out, in one way or another, through the 1980s and 90s, and we still see each other on occasion. But Pat knew everybody, and I knew him since 1973. All in all, it was a wonderful get-together, very nice to see and talk to everyone in Pat's honor.
I like to think he was there, too, laughing at what people said about him, and maybe punching some of us in the shoulder. Chris had some funny Pat Stories, as did his older brother Mike. I mean, it really does feel like he's still here. He's gotta be. Not too long ago, after Terry passed away, he said, "I might be next" and I said "No. You're not allowed to die." So, he's gotta be around here somewhere, even if we can't see him.
As Shecky once said, "Ahh...life, Yosemite." He used to say that to the late, great Dave Small, who he called "Yosemite" because of Dave's love for that park. Sheck meant the Nature of Life, with all it's expanse and abruptness. Dave "Yosemite" Small is gone-but-not-gone also, since 2008. He was the first of The Friends to exit, stage left. Since then, there have been many more. Now Pat has joined them and they're all watching over us, or so we hope. God Bless 'Em, and thanks, Pat. Thanks for half a century of friendship. They don't make 'em like you anymore. ////
And that's all I know. My blogging music was "Wise After the Event" by Anthony Phillips. My late night is Handel's Joshua Opera. I hope you had a nice weekend and I send you Tons of Love as always.
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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