Ian Hendry in "Girl in the Headlines", and "Guns, Girls and Gangsters" w/Gerald Mohr, Mamie Van Doren and Lee Van Cleef

Last night we watched "Girl in the Headlines"(1963), an excellent murder mystery featuring strong acting and character development. "Ursula Gray", a model, is found dead in her high-end London apartment. Scotland Yard sends "Inspector Birkett" (Ian Hendry) to investigate, along with his assistant "Saunders" (Ronald Fraser), a Dr. Watson type with a penchant for rummaging. They find some forensic clues at the crime scene, including the victim's appointment book, which has a lunch date listed, and a fountain pen that may have been dropped by the killer.  

Their first interview is with the man who lives next door, "David Dane" (Jamie Villers) a handsome and popular television star. He's pompous and also very defensive, offering an alibi when none was asked for. Inspector Birkett takes an immediate dislike to him. "He may not have committed murder but he's up to something". Next, they visit "Perlita Barker" (Natasha Parry) the woman listed in the appointment book. She was a friend of Ursula's and had planned to have lunch with her, but her husband "Hammond" (Peter Arne) presents a far more suspicious connection. He's a painter - and a male chauvinist - who at first claims to have known Ursula only casually, through his wife. It comes out during the interview, however, that he not only knew her directly, but had painted a derogatory portrait of her.

Mr. Barker becomes suspect #1. As the detectives are leaving, a man screeches up in a Jaguar. Birkett, appalled at his driving, asks for his licence. He's Hammond Barker's brother "Jordan" (Jeremy Brett). Though the detectives can't hold either of them, the Barker brothers clearly have something to hide, and after visiting Jordan at his boat the next day (he's a fisherman), he confesses to having had a relationship with Ursula, the dead woman. "I hoped we were going to marry", he adds.

It comes out that Ursula was addicted to drugs, and that Jordan tried to cover up for her, to get her to go straight, but his efforts came to nil.

Inspector Birkett's family life is given a lot of screen time (Jane Asher plays his perky daughter), and his wife makes a discovery about the mysterious fountain pen. Don't ask why it's been left lying around (screenwriter's convenience), but she picks it up to write with, and when it runs out of ink, she unscrews it, and finds a note rolled up inside. On it are the letters TT and the numbers 2118. Could it refer to a licence plate? That's what I thought. This clue, and the drug connection lead the inspectors to a fancy, members-only club for the hoi polloi. There they meet the owner and his friend, a famous, retired opera singer. Inspector Birkett notices the acquaintance immediately, and if he hadn't, Saunders surely would've discovered it. He's always poking around in various registers and logbooks, not to mention going through the drawers and personal belongings of every suspect. Much to their chagrin he does this right in front of them. After re-interviewing Jordan Barker, Birkett surmises that the wealthy folks are all mixed up in a drug ring.

Then the television star is murdered in a jazz club. It turns out that he was blackmailing his neighbor Ursula, but over what? Her drug use? Her numerous men? "And why would he resort to blackmail, rich as he was"?, wonders Saunders.

It's a darn good question. The script was from a book written by Laurence Payne, who we saw in the recently reviewed and outstanding thriller "The Third Alibi". Interesting that we are seeing several films recently that were written by actors, including "A Matter of Choice" by Derren Nesbitt, which was also top notch. Perhaps because they're developed in a novel, the characters feel like real people, particularly Hendry's Inspector, who never lets on what he's thinking while on the job, but at home relaxes into his role as husband and father.

There's atmosphere to burn in "Girl in the Headlines", and multiple London locations. The plot is complex; this is no Ten Little Indians process of elimination. Ian Hendry carries the picture but the supporting performances are uniformly good. A fan favorite at IMDB is Jeremy Brett's "Jordan". Brett went on to star as Sherlock Holmes in the popular BBC version from the 1980s. This film is a straightforward murder mystery, a police procedural with the inspectors in almost every scene. It's gripping, gets Two Big Thumbs Up and the print is razor sharp. Don't miss it! /////

The previous night we found an Edward L. Cahn flick entitled "Guns, Girls and Gangsters"(1959). Just the essentials, right? It sounded hard-boiled; all it needed was Cahn's leading man Ron Foster. I'm sorry to say he's not in it, but Cahn has Gerald Mohr doing his Bogie tough guy schtick. We haven't seen Mohr in a while (you might say less is Mohr), but he's good as "Chuck Wheeler", a hoodlum who's just been released from San Quentin. He heads for Las Vegas to set up an armored car robbery, meticulously planned with his cellmate who's still in prison. A grim-voiced narrator intones for us the details. We see the bags of money, offloaded at the end of each day by the casinos, which add up to millions per week. Every Friday, an armored car takes the cash to a bank in Los Angeles. Mohr knows the route and goes to a hill at the California/Nevada border. There, above the highway, he takes pot shots at cars to flatten their tires. He's a crack shot and hits three out of three. Each car comes to rest directly in front of a gas station located next to an inn. This is exactly as Mohr wants it. He's staying at the inn, and practicing for the Brink's truck, but first he's gonna stop a local club owner.

"Joe Darren" (Grant Richards), is also a black marketeer. Mohr needs him to launder the stolen cash, which will definitely be marked, so he goes to Joe's club and obtains his whereabouts from the headliner, a singer named "Vi Victor" (Mamie Van Doren). Lo and behold, Joe uses the same highway to get to work. Mohr shoots out his tire, then "convinces" Joe to help. Next he forces Vi to be part of the job. It turns out she's the wife of his cellie. "I had to look at your picture every day I was in there", Mohr tells her. "It drove me crazy, but it's nothing compared to the real thing".

"Mike'll kill you if he finds out", Vi warns him.

"How can he? He's still locked up! And besides, he'd kill you too, now that you're demanding a divorce. Think I didn't know about that? Cellmates share everything, and believe me Mike's not happy. But since he's, er....'held up at the moment', you're mine for now. Don't worry, you can share in Mike's cut. This was his plan, he's gonna get paid". Vi's a tough dame, but no match for Mohr. She completes the core trio. Mohr adds two of Joe's associates later.

During the final preparations, Vi becomes close to the owners of the inn, a couple with two young children. She's always felt alone and subject to the whims of bad men. She admires the couple's faith and family values. This bond is strengthened when the wife invites her to their Christmas party. Mohr finds out and is angered. "What're you trying to do, get us noticed"?!

Meanwhile, Vi's husband Mike has escaped from San Quentin. Sure enough, as Mohr predicted, he's gone crazy with the news of divorce. He goes on a rampage, looking for Mohr and Vi, and as played by Lee Van Cleef, Mike is almost hilarious. I mean, he's scary as hell, but if you're a Van Cleef aficionado like myself, it's all you can do not to laugh at his over-the-top expressions and vocal manner. I love Van Cleef for his eccentricity, and you'll recall that he starred as a Mad Scientist (of all things) in "It Conquered the World", where he communicates with an alien by telepathy. So yeah, I'm  huge LVC fan, especially when he's weird, and in fact I like him least as a squinty cowboy, in the Westerns he's most well known for. Here, he's wearing his sunglasses at night, and if the picture wasn't high octane enough already, Lee sends it into overdrive, killing Joe's associates so Mohr will be forced to let him substitute. 

Mamie Van Doren is central to the movie and is more intelligent and a better actress than she might be given credit for. Though she won't be compared to Bette Davis, she's always been considered just a blonde bombshell, a second tier Marilyn Monroe, but she's quite good as the reluctant Femme Fatale who harbors a desire for normalcy. When the robbery takes place, with Mohr shooting out the tires on the armored car, she'll make a last minute attempt to protect the nice couple. I can't reveal what happens, but it'll hinder the criminals and their escape plans. 

We've been watching mostly British crime films of late, with their naturalistic actors whom we've come to appreciate. Here, we're back to stylized Noir, and the contrast is stark, but of course we love it too. You certainly can't beat Hollywood B-movies for entertainment value, and "Guns, Girls and Gangsters" gets Two Big Thumbs Up. It's one of Edward L. Cahn's best films, even without Ron Foster. ////

Finally, I just finished reading "The President's Daughter", by Bill Clinton and James Patterson. This is the pair's second "President" thriller - both are top drawer and highly recommended - and I just wanted to say that I find it kind of neat that, back in 1998, I started to tell my story, a true story that I turned into a book. It was, in part, about the night I was kidnapped by my psychotic neighbor. I wrote about being rescued, and taken away in a helicopter, by a man who went on to become the President of the United States. Now, almost twenty five years later, that same man has co-authored two books about a President who goes on secret black-ops, flies in military helicopters and oversees daring rescues. In the latest book, he's rescuing a kidnap victim. Who'da thunk it, right? :)

That's all for this evening. I hope you're enjoying your weekend and I send you tons of love, as always.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Christina Gregg in "Rag Doll", and "Panic" with Janine Gray and Glyn Houston

Christina Gregg was back in last night's film, a crime drama called "Rag Doll"(1961). Gregg plays "Carol", an inexperienced teenager, who works for her drunken stepfather in his cafe in small town England. As the movie opens, a leather-jacketed thug enters the establishment. He's big, has a smirk on his face, and grabs Carol by the waist before laughing and moving on to the counter, where her stepdad "Flynn" (Patrick Magee of "Clockwork Orange" fame) is drying dishes.

The thug hands Flynn a bottle, his payment for looking the other way, then waits for Carol to enter the back room, where he tries to rape her. Fortunately for Carol, a Good Samaritan is near. "Wills" (Patrick Jordan), a regular customer, is eating his supper in the corner when he hears Carol's screams. Rushing back there, he pulls the thug off her, and after the Ensuing Punchout - in which the thug is knocked cold - he returns to finish his supper. 

Carol quits on the spot, telling her stepdad off. "And I'm leaving here, too. You've got no hold on me; you're not even my real father". Wills offers her a ride in his truck. "I'm going to London, but do you know anyone there"? Carol doesn't. She's never been to London, nor anywhere outside her environs, but she tells Wills not to worry. "I've got 150 bob, I'll be okay. And I've always worked, I know I'll find a job". It's not Carol's work ethic that worries Wills, however, but her naivete about people. "Remember, I'm just over in Soho if you need me", he says when dropping her off, giving her his home address. "Thanks, and thanks for everything", she replies. "If you hadn't been there, back at the cafe, I don't know what I'd have done".

Tentative amid the bright lights of London, Carol walks toward a kitchy section for tourists. Ahead is a fortune teller's stall. She enters. "Auntie Sophista" (Hermione Baddeley) is closing for the night, but promises to read her fortune in the morning. As she's escorting Carol out, a watchful policewoman gives them the eye. "Auntie", a protective sort, immediately switches to familiar conversation, pretending she's Carol's relative. She knows Carol is a runaway. "They'll take you in if you've been reported", she informs her.

Auntie offers to let Carol stay at her flat. She's a genuinely nice woman from the carnival trade. Carol accepts, but before going home, Auntie takes her to a club, run by a friend of hers named "Mort Wilson" (Kenneth Griffith). Mort is struck by Carol's innocence and afraid for her welfare. He wants to protect her, but he's also smitten. After hiring her as a waitress at his club, he starts to make advances. Mort's a gentleman, not pushy, but he's twice Carol's age, balding, and lacks pizazz. He does have plenty of money, however (he owns four clubs), and thus represents stability. She falls for Mort temporarily, until one night when "Johnny Shane" (Jess Conrad) walks in.

Johnny's an aspiring pop singer, tall and very handsome (resembling a beefcake Tom Cruise). The look in his eye indicates he's entirely sure of himself, and when he sings his latest song Carol's entranced. Later, they meet and fall madly in love. Mort tries to warn her, "that Johnny boy's not genuine. He's not telling you what he's up to". Auntie is also outraged : "My god girl! Are ya gonna throw away your life for that pretty boy"?

But in true teen angst fashion, Carol won't listen to a word. Soon she's engaged to Johnny and pregnant with his child. Then they marry. Too late she discovers he's a thief, a B&E artist. He tells Carol, "you'll never have to worry about money". "But Johnny, I don't want it that way", she replies. "What about your singing career"? "Carol, you don't understand the business. Now that we're married, the agents will push me aside. They can't sell me to hopeful teenage girls. But it doesn't matter, don't you see? Because money has never been my problem. I can get us all we'll ever need".

Mort tries to warn Carol that Johnny's an ex-street gang member, and possibly violent, but it's too late. Johnny sets up a robbery to net them enough cash to move to France, "where we'll live happily ever after! And you'll never have to work again". He wants her to see him as a "good provider". But when he heads out to pull off the burglary, we see he's at Mort's mansion. Johnny despises Mort and vice versa. Now he's gonna get his revenge by stealing Mort's money (cash in the safe) and run off with the girl Mort covets.

But it won't be quite so simple when Mort catches him in the act and pulls a gun.

"Rag Doll" is a crime drama rather than a thriller, but like "Don't Talk To Strange Men", which we saw and reviewed last week, it's a vehicle for Christina Gregg. She's exceptionally beautiful and good in these types of roles, playing sweet but naive young girls. One thing worth mentioning : when Johnny first appears at Mort's nightclub to sing his new song, he's backed by a combo of two guitars, piano, bass and drums. They look and sound professional, playing the kind of light pop that dominated in the late 50s and early 60s, before The Beatles changed the world. Christina Gregg's character "Carol" even remarks, "what a great band". After the movie was over, I checked the credits on IMDB, wanting to see who they were, and lo and behold it was The Dave Clark Five. That's reason to see the film right there! And this was in 1961, when The Beatles had not yet been signed. They were still in Hamburg, so the DC5 were in the movies first. Two Big Thumbs Up for "Rag Doll". See it on a double bill with "Don't Talk To Strange Men". These British crime flicks of the early '60s are top notch. /////

The previous night's movie was "Panic"(1963), a thriller that focused on the human element rather than plot twists and turns. It was gritty rather than eccentric, and there were no tone shifts into playful comedy or black humor as we've seen in other recent films of the genre. As it opens, we're given a foreshadowing of the conclusion - a young woman, eyes wide, runs down a darkened street. Her head turns side to side, is someone behind her? She runs toward the camera, then turns in another direction, arms flailing. She's in a state of panic. A jazz score wails away to emphasize this point.

In the next scene, we're back in real time. The same woman is in an apartment she shares with her boyfriend, a sullen lout who plays the trumpet. You surely wouldn't want him for a neighbor, as he blares full-blast bleats that could shatter an eardrum. After declaring his love to "Janine" (Janine Gray), by telling her he'd kill any man who tried to steal her, he tells her of his latest scheme : "Look, I can make 6000 pounds a year blowin' my horn, which ain't bad. But it's chicken feed compared to this job I've got lined up. I'll never have to work again, and neither will you". Sound familiar? That's exactly what Johnny told Carol in "Rag Doll". The trumpeter is also named "Johnny". I sense a theme here....

Janine's aware that Johnny's a small time crook, but this time his scam involves her and she isn't happy. She tries to talk him out of it, to no avail. His plan is to rob the jewelry exchange where Janine works as a secretary. Being as she's half-German and is fluent in the language, Johnny gets the brilliant idea to have two of his associates impersonate German jewel merchants. Because Janine's boss - the exchange owner - doesn't speak German, he will need to have her present to interpret. A rare and valuable diamond is presently stashed in the safe. She will tell the boss the "merchants" wish to see it. When it's brought out, they will produce their guns and make off with the priceless gem. Janine will not be suspected because she was merely "interpreting".

The scam goes wrong, however, when the German impersonators kill the exchange owner. There wasn't supposed to be any shooting, but now that it's happened they decide to knock Janine unconscious. When she awakens, she has no memory of what's happened, but finds an envelope on the floor. One of the thugs must've dropped it on his way out. It's got an address on it. Janine pockets it and leaves, her mind still fuzzy. She takes a bus to the address on the envelope, and cautiously knocks on the door. A man answers, looking scruffy and wearing a Van Dyke beard. He's an artist and this is his studio. "Excuse me", Janine begins, "but I was asked to deliver this envelope". She's making it up as she goes along. "Oh"?, he replies. "And who sent you? Who's it from"? "That's just it", Janine tells him. "I got hit on the head and can't remember". It sounds fishy to the artist, who invites Janine in for a cuppa tea, but after opening the envelope he gets rid of her. "Where's the rest of it? Where's the rest of it"!?, he mutters to himself. The artist is Johnny's brother. He was going to act as the fence for the stolen diamond. But the envelope only contained part of his payment. He's pissed off, and eager to get in touch with Johnny. Meanwhile, Janine is wandering the streets, uncertain of even her name.

Her first stop is a seedy hotel, where she signs in with a "Jane Doe" alias. The owner, thinking she's a prostitute, tries to take advantage of her. Luckily there's a behemoth present to knock him out.

On the run now, Janine enters a cafe. Some Beatniks start to hit on her, and get grabby. Lucky for Janine, there's a Good Samaritan present (sound familiar?). "Mike" (Glyn Houston) has been drinking in the corner, but gets up and dispatches the hipsters in rapid fashion. Turns out he's a professional boxer. Mike takes Janine under his wing, and back to his apartment, where - instead of exploiting her for sex - he tries to help her regain her memory.

You keep waiting for twists (is Mike really a good guy?) but there aren't any. It's not that kind of film; it's earnest. Mike is offered a boxing match where he's supposed to take a fall, a crooked fight, but he doesn't cooperate and ends up getting the daylights beaten out of him going the distance. He does this to win a wager and get some money for Janine. He's a sincere man, in opposite to the trumpeter Johnny, a lowlife scrounger of the first order.

The coppers are on the trail as well, and have discovered the body of Johnny's brother, the artist and jewel fence. He's been murdered, but by whom? A figure model gives them eyewitness testimony.

The bottom line? "Panic" isn't like the other thrillers we've seen. It's going for realism over style, and has the element of the beaten hero, like in "On the Waterfront" where the guy coulda been a contendah. In short, there's no cleverness involved, it's just a straightforward story, but a good one.

Directed again by John Gilling, who would go on to make the all time horror classic "Plague of the Zombies". I give "Panic" Two Big Thumbs Up and loved it's gritty tenor. Glyn Houston is forthright as Mike, Dyson Lovell surly as Johnny, and Janine Gray carries the picture as her namesake. ////

That's all for the moment. I'm behind in the blogging schedule but once again I'll get caught up. I'm off work now for several days, which will allow for ample writing time, and some hiking too (oh boy!). Hope you're having a great day. I send you tons and tons of love as always.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)  

Malcolm Gerard in "A Matter of Choice", and "Bond of Fear" starring John Colicos

For the second night in a row, we found a movie with a great wind-up, where the characters' actions converge, and the plot points are like a puzzle. "A Matter of Choice"(1963) begins with three separate storylines, intercut and unfolding on the same evening. In the main thread, two young artists, Mike and Tony, head out for an evening of clubbing. They're just off work, still wearing their suits and eager to pick up chicks, or "birds" in the English parlance. They're hardly Romeos, more like a couple of twits, but Mike presents himself as all-knowing where women are concerned. At a coffee house, he engages in one upsmanship with Tony : "Bet I take one home before you do".

Mike does pick up a young woman and brings her back to his flat. He and Tony live next door to each other in the same building. This first thread really serves to show how smarmy the two of them are. Mike tries to seduce the girl by "impressing" her with his art knowledge, then his "philosophy", and when that doesn't work he attempts to drug her drink. She ends up storming off, and the scene's a bit of a red herring, but it's played for light comedy and serves to set up Mike's character. As played by actor Malcolm Gerard, he's hilarious, in a nitwit sort of way. 

The second thread involves "Charles Grant" (Ballard Berkeley), a 60ish businessman, and his blonde bombshell wife "Lisa" (Jeanne Moody), who's 30 years younger. He's arranging a corporate takeover, they're going to America to transact it. When he announces this to Lisa, she says she's going to spend the evening with her sister. "I'd like to see her one last time before we leave". This leads to plotline number three, because Lisa actually goes to her boyfriend's apartment. You didn't think she married Charles for love, did you?

"John Crighton" (Anthony Steele), is a swaggering Lothario, too sexy for his shirt. He makes love to Lisa in his Swinging Bachelor Pad, then gets upset when she tells him she's headed to America. "With him of course!" Meaning her husband. "I thought you were going to divorce him so we can get married"? Sigh. When will these guys ever learn? She only wants you for one thing, John. You don't have Charles' money.

John rides with Lisa part way back to her house, intending to be dropped off at a bar. But on the way, Lisa hits a policeman who's been pushed from the sidewalk by the twits. This is the initial convergence of the plot. It will become more entangled, but first we've got to backpedal somewhat. I should explain that it takes 39 minutes - half the movie - to get to this point, a long, drawn out affair without much development. The focus up to now has been on the characters (and the bar hopping), so thank goodness for Malcolm Gerard and the other actors who enliven their roles with sly humor.

What happens with the policeman, is that after they get kicked out of their final bar (for bothering a waitress), Mike and Tony find themselves on the sidewalk. "Where should we go next"? Tony declares he's hungry. "There's an Automat just up ahead", Mike says, referring to what we Americans call a vending machine. It's got sandwiches. Tony drops two bob in the slot and presses the button for tuna salad. But nothing comes out. "It's robbed me"!, he cries, as he shakes the malfunctioning machine. "I want my bleedin' two bob back"! Tony's pretty hammered. A policeman rounds the corner and asks what's going on. When Tony won't calm down, the cop arrests him. But before he can get the cuffs on, that's when Tony shoves him in the street. "It was barely a push"!, he swears to Mike, as they run off after the accident. "I didn't mean for it to happen. I just didn't wanna be arrested. It would kill my mother".......

Things proceed rapidly at this point. Seeing the boys run off, John Crighton gets out of the car and chases them, trapping them down the block in an alley. Tony, terrified by now, picks up a brick and hurls it at John, striking him in the forehead. John goes down, bleeding and unconscious. Tony's now got two assault charges facing him if he's caught (and a murder charge if either man dies), so while he's panicking, Mike thinks fast : "Quick, Tony! Help me carry him. There's a garage open over there". Ahh, the Old Gare-ahge Routine again. They hide John in the garage, close the door, and now they're safe......with a man who may or may not be dead. They can't tell. "He seems to be breathing", Mike notes with hope. Tony's babbling in fright, stunned at how the night's gone wrong, but now it's gonna go a whole lot wronger. A car pulls up to the garage door on the outside. We see a man get out, and Holy Smokes it's Lisa's husband, Charles Grant. The boys have, by sheer chance, hidden in Grant's garage. Now all the threads come together, as they try to remain hidden, with John's unconscious body. Grant is moving around the house, will he open the garage door to put his car inside? Meanwhile, Lisa's down at the police station, answering questions about the accident. "It happened so fast, Inspector. All I saw was two young men and a policeman, then he was in the street". She attests to being alone in the car, lest John be identified as her passenger and the news gets back to Charles. Will he find out she's got a boyfriend? Most importantly, will John or the policeman die? Once the action begins, it's as good a twister-turner as we had with "The Third Alibi", and even though the build-up takes a long time, the journey is a fun one because of the eccentric characters.   

I was disappointed to discover that there's next to no information at IMDB on Gerard or Michael Davis, the actor playing Tony, for it is they who give movie it's idiosyncrasies, providing Veddy Brrrittish comic relief as well as cunning criminal ingenuity. The stars are billed as Anthony Steele, Ballard Berkeley and Jeanne Moody, and though they're all good too, they don't have near as much screen time as Our Two Terrific Twits, who steal the show. Interesting that the script was from an original story by Derren Nesbitt, an actor we've seen in several British films of the same period, whose specialty was playing villains.

Two Huge Thumbs Up for "A Matter of Choice". It's highly recommended, the picture razor sharp, and make no mistake - despite the breezy tone in the first half - it's a thriller of the first order. ////

The previous night, we saw an English family held hostage by a killer on the run. In "Bond of Fear"(1956), "John Sewell" (Dermot Walsh), a factory foreman, is taking his family on vacation. They're traveling to France by caravan. "It's the wife's idea", he tells a dubious coworker. "But it'll save on hotel rooms and we'll see the countryside". They depart with their two children, en route to Dover, where the ferry will take them to Calais.

On the way, their little daughter has to pee. Dad pulls over, Mom takes her to the bushes by the roadside. During this stop, their son goes into the caravan to retrieve a map. When he turns to leave, he's confronted by "Dewar" (the great John Colicos of "Star Trek" fame), an escaped murderer, who somehow stowed away during their trip. The news of his escape has made headlines in all the papers. John Sewell was peripherally aware that he was still on the loose, but his mind was on the vacation. When he hears his son scream, however, and runs to the caravan, he recognizes the killer immediately.

Dewar grabs the boy and threatens to shoot. Dad is forced to return to the car and drive on, with Mom and their daughter in the passenger seats. Dewar remains with the son in the caravan. "I'll be watching you through the window", he tells John Sewell. "If you try anything, or stop without my say so, your kid gets it". 

He calls all the shots as they drive on to Dover. Twice they hit roadblocks. "Act normal and don't say a word, or remember - the kid dies". Once they get a flat tire and a Good Samaritan stops to help. Mom tries to slip a note to him, which may be of help later on, but soon he's gone and the family are on their own again.

Family against bad guys is a classic motif, and a strong one. I remember as a kid how terrified I was by "Hot Rods to Hell", where a nice American family is tormented by street punks. Dana Andrews as the Dad has to summon the courage to stand up to them, but in the end he does, and the punks are decimated. I thought of "Hot Rods" as a horror film back then, that's how scary it was to me. and of course the ultimate "family against bad guys" movie has got to be "The Hills Have Eyes", where a family crossing the Nevada desert is accosted by another family, a group of inbred cannibals. So yeah, the context has a powerful emotional pull, especially when you have a smirking villain who's never done the right thing in his life, yet now has power over the Decent Family Man, simply because he's holding a gun.

Unlike our other recent thrillers, there aren't any major plot twists. It's all about the family's frightening journey with the killer. But director Henry Cass creates a deep sense of isolation. With the exception of the Good Samaritan, who's now driven away, there's no one to help the Sewells. The police are of course looking for Dewar, but they're far off, condensed at roadblocks and airports. Cass maintains the tension throughout, and the screenplay by is by John Gilling, who directed "Plague of the Zombies".

The climax takes place at the famous White Cliffs of Dover, which look towering up close. I won't tell you what unfolds, but you can imagine there'll be a confrontation. Mr. Sewell is not about to let his family board a ferry and leave the country with Dewar still in their company, and there might be a cop or two around.

Two Big Thumbs Up for "Bond of Fear", and two more for the performance of Colicos, who not only played the leader of The Klingons on Star Trek, but apparently helped create their look with Gene Roddenberry. He's top notch here, as the cold-blooded killer Dewar. This film is also highly recommended.

Well, that's all for today. We've been on a roll with our thrillers of late. Let's see if we can keep it going. Have a great afternoon, I send you tons of love as always!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Laurence Payne in "The Third Alibi", and "Dancing With Crime" starring Richard Attenborough

We were talking about endings in the last blog, and how sometimes you expect a Big Payoff, because the plot has been built up to deliver one. Occasionally you're let down; other times you're handsomely rewarded. The latter is most definitely the case with our latest movie, a thriller called "The Third Alibi"(1961). Get ready for a wind-up and then some! "Norman Martell" (Laurence Payne) is a theater composer who's having an affair with his wife's sister. When we first see him, he's at home during a party. While his wife (Patricia Dainton) sees off departing guests, Norman remains in his music room, working on a composition. With him is "Peggy", his sister-in-law, who looks on in admiration from the piano lid. There's something else in her eye as well (could it be lust?), but she controls it. Her sister - Norman's wife - has just entered the room to report the end of the gathering. "Well, they've all gone home now. I wish you could've spent more time tonight, Norman. Everyone would've loved to say hello". Norman's face is set in concentration. "Yes, I know they would've, but I'm on a deadline here. I've got to finish this piece by tomorrow". His music may be on his mind, but that's not all Norman's thinking about. Peggy needs a ride home. How convenient.

"I'll take you", Norman says. "How about another drink first"? They deliberately avoid too much eye contact or over-familiarity, keeping it strictly "in-laws" in front of of Helen, Norman's wife. She suspects nothing, thinking only that Norman seems strained. 

Once he's in the car with Peggy, however, the tension is gone. He lets loose while driving, leaning over to kiss her neck. They're on an old country road. The night is pitch black. They see only what the headlights show them and......."look out, Norman! There's a man standing in the...." Slammo!

Norman swerves, but the car clips the man, some elderly pedestrian out walking late at night. He's sent flying end over end, into some bushes in the roadside darkness. "Stop, Norman, stop"!, Peggy cries, but Norman just drives faster. His face is once again set in that look of consternation he had at home a little earlier. "I'll not stop"!, he replies. "It was just some old coot. He had no business being in the road at this hour, and I'm not going to jeopardize my career for something that wasn't my fault".

"But what if he's dead"?, Peggy asks. "You could be brought up on manslaughter". "All the more reason to keep going", says Norman. "I didn't see him, I tried to swerve, he shouldn't have been walking there, it was his fault not mine". Thus ends the discussion. They keep driving to Peggy's house, where they have another drink and calm down. The next day, the matter is forgotten. Nothing's in the paper. "The old codger must've lived, or it would've been reported".      

Norman finishes his new music, and in between rehearsals, he visits Peggy, who's on to more important matters : "When are you gonna divorce her"? Meaning Helen. He can't get up the nerve to tell his wife about the affair, but Peggy presses, and when he does, Helen is furious. "With my own sister?! You've got to be kidding! No, Norman, I absolutely will not grant you a divorce! You'll not shame me in this way. You've made your bed - so to speak - and now you're going to have to lie in it. You can sleep with my sister, and you two deserve each other, but you're going to be married to me for the rest of your life. I hope it's long".

To complicate matters, Peggy becomes pregnant. Having an illegitimate child in England in 1961 was a no-no (think of what our friend Mrs. Jones would say, oh my goodness).   

One day, while Norman is recording some piano music, he gets an idea involving his tape recorder. In the next scene we see him at Peggy's house, instructing her on how to use the machine, which buttons to press and when to press them, and at what specific time. When he's done, he asks her to repeat what he's said. What are they up to? Could it be a murder plot?

The problem is, that his wife has overheard the entire conversation. She's just come back from her doctor's office, where she received some terrible news. She's got a heart condition, and only has a few months to live. She wanted to inform her husband, which is why she's come over to Peggy's. They don't know she heard them, so they finalize and carry out their plan. Or at least they begin to.

The specifics involve the creation of three alibis, one for Peggy and two for Norman, who is to carry out the murder of his wife by shooting her in their home. The first alibi, for Peggy, involves her being seen at the movie theater. It's complex but quite do-able. The second alibi requires the tape recorder to replay Norman's voice on the telephone (you'll see why). The third alibi, which may be the most important, has to do with eyewitness testimony. You see, behind Norman's house is a hill that sits on county land. It's an open area, anyone can camp there. Lately, a homeless man has taken up residence in his caravan (RV). "He's the original Nosy Parker", Norman tells Peggy. "He sits outside on a lawn chair all day, looking down on our property. I want him to see me going in with a gun, only I'll be wearing an old coat and hat. He'll think it's someone else and that's what he'll tell the police, if they ask. That, and my voice on the tape will clear me of any suspicion".

It gets complicated, however, when during the actual scenario, the doctor arrives at the Martell's door to check up on Helen.

Norman didn't plan for that, so he flees back to Peggy's house, only to find her......dead! Holy Paul Shortino! Who the hell did it? Norman is spooked and tries to flee that scene also, but the coppers are coming up the driveway. His exit is too late.

Now the real mystery begins, when the police question Norman, who becomes more nervous by the second. He knows he didn't murder his sister-in-law, but how to explain that to the police without revealing the plan to kill his wife?

Unfortunately for Norman, one of his alibis is being questioned. The cops have brought in the telephone operator who heard his taped voice. Does she know it was a recording? Helen is also interviewed. Her time frame testimony doesn't match with Norman's. Is she hanging him out to dry? We know the answer to that, but Norman doesn't. Here's where the plot layering is superb. One by one, the threads of Norman's story are unraveled, his perfect murder plot comes undone. We watch him squirm and protest, and he can't understand - how in the world was it figured out? It seems impossible. Even then, he's got his final alibi to fall back on, the third alibi of the title, the one involving an eyewitness. Do you remember the homeless man in the trailer on the hill? Good, because that's all I'm going to tell you. "The Third Alibi" is one of the best thrillers we've seen in our recent run. It was adapted from a stage play, and every scene fits like a puzzle piece. Laurence Payne excels as the cunning, duplicitous Norman. Patricia Dainton is effective as Helen, who finds her backbone after years of being a submissive wife. This one gets Two Huge Thumbs Up, one of our highest ratings in a while, and it's very highly recommended. The print is razor sharp. ///// 

The previous night we had yet another movie where an Ordinary Joe goes up against a Gang of Criminals. Think "Never Let Go" with Peter Sellers and "Hot Cars" with John Bromfield. Instead of cars, they're stealing jewels, but there's a garage involved (pronounced GARE- ahge once again, as this is a British film), and the protagonist drives a cab. The most important point is that once he becomes involved with the gang - unwittingly of course - he absolutely will not let it go. That's why the Sellers movie was called "Never Let Go", because if you're an organised criminal in England, and you mess with a regular bloke, he's simply not going to let the matter drop. It must be a Britttissh thing, but you'd think the criminals would've learned by now : don't mess with Mr. Average.

Richard Attenborough stars as "Ted Peters", the aforementioned cabbie, in "Dancing with Crime"(1947). He's a war vet, driving a taxi to make ends meet. As the movie opens, he's in line at a nightclub with his fiancee Joy (Sheila Sim). The doorman won't let them in, until Ted name drops a friend, his old WW2 sidekick "Dave Robinson" (Bill Rowbotham). After a couple beers and a dance, Joy begs off ("I've got to be up early"), and Dave asks Ted for a ride to another joint, the Palais de Dance (yes, Benny's still the Bouncer). En route, Dave asks Ted how he's doing financially. "Oh, hangin' in, just drivin' this rig until I find something better". Dave, a smooth operator since Ted has known him, offers Ted a shot at some easy money. "We've got this jewelry racket. All you'd have to do is drive. It'd be a transport thing basically. Your cab would be the perfect cover".

Ted declines, but with a smile for his old pal. "Aw, thanks Dave, but that kind of thing wouldn't be right for me". 

The next we see Dave, he's confronting his boss, the Palais' owner, who's also the head of the jewel ring. "Fifty quid? That's all you're payin' me after I brought you 30 grand? You can slag it and sod off"! Dave's referring to the latest haul he procured. He slaps the boss and threatens him. "I don't need you, it's the other way around". The boss may be a wimp, but he's still the shot caller. He rings downstairs for his floor man, the club's tuxedoed MC. "Baker, I need you to stop Dave. He's gotten too big for his britches if you know what I mean. He just left here a moment ago. Take care of it, would you"? 

Dave's on the sidewalk, sauntering away when he gets a bullet in the back from Baker. He manages to stumble to safety, crawling into a cab, Ted's cab, which is parked in it's usual spot. Ted's not inside, but when he returns and drives off, he's unaware that Dave is in back, bleeding to death. When it all comes to light the next morning, Ted is the initial suspect.

"But Inspector, I swear, me 'n Dave was pals. I've known 'im since the war. We've never 'ad no grudges and I'm not the one who killed 'im".

"Well then who did"? - The Inspector.

"Ain't that your job to decipher? But hey, Sir, Dave might've mixed with some questionable company. He had me drop 'im at a dance hall earlier last night. Just before that he offered me a job deliverin' stolen trinkets.....you know, rings n' necklaces n' the like".

Ted directs the the Inspector to the Palais, where he shows the owner a picture of Dave Robinson. "Did you see this man here last night"?  "Hmmm......no sir, can't say that I did. Why, what's the trouble"? "He was shot and then driven away by a cab driver close to here. Cabbie says he dropped the man at your place a while earlier".

The owner - another Legitimate Businessman (yeah sure) - stonewalls the Inspector, who leaves but returns later with a photo, a glossy 8 x 10 studio shot of one of the dance hall girls. "Hello again. Do you know this woman"? "Yes, that's Toni, one of our regular dancers. Why do you ask"? "Because this picture was found among Dave Robinson's belongings". "Okay, but that doesn't mean much. Our girls often give out photos, it's good for business, and Toni is very popular with our customers. This Robinson fella must've danced with her some night, that's all that means. I still tell you I've never seen the man".

The Inspector talks to Toni, who denies knowing Dave Robinson. By now, Ted is getting frustrated with the lack of results from the police, especially since he's not off the hook as a suspect. He gets an idea, to have his fiancee Joy infiltrate the dance club. She's trained in ballet, so ballroom is no problem. She's also a looker and the owner hires her right away. Once Joy is in place, she starts to pry information out of Baker the MC, with a view to becoming part of the jewel ring. No one knows that she's the cab driver's girlfriend. Ted uses her info to form his own investigation, to bring back proof to the police.

We saw a similar context in "Never Let Go", where Richard Todd (as the Everyman) tried to get the goods on Peter Sellers. As in that movie, the police tell Richard Attenborough (Ted) to stay out of it and "allow us to conduct our investigation". Of course, because of the setup he's absolutely not gonna do that, and Ted gets in deeper with the crooks as Joy becomes closer to Baker. I had one problem with the inevitable confrontation, however. With Richard Todd versus Sellers (in "NLG"), you had two men who, though of opposite dispositions (one meek, one psycho), were of similar physical stature. So when the eventual punchout ensued, it was not altogether unbelievable. But in this movie, Richard Attenborough, while scrappy (and his character is a war vet, i.e. a fighting man), is just too diminutive to be convincing as he kicks the you-know-what out of big, burly hoodlums. That's a minor complaint, though, and if you can let it go, you'll enjoy the film very much. Judy Kelly is good in support as the jaded dancer Toni, who also stands up to the club owner, and Sheila Sim (Attenborough's real life wife) is strong as Joy, who goes undercover to take down the criminals with her boyfriend. Strike another blow for Merry Olde England, it's citizens and tradition (marriage, family and war service). The bad guys in these movies have no chance.

Two Big Thumbs Up, then, for "Dancing With Crime", which is also highly recommended. Richard Attenborough might be another actor we could do a John Mills on. Let's look for more from him.

That's all for now. I hope you're enjoying your weekend. Tons and tons of love as always!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Peter Halliday in "Dilemma", and "They Can't Hang Me" with Andre Morrell

Last night's murder mystery had a hint of black comedy, even a touch of farce. Think "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" in terms of style. It was all veddy Brrrittissh and entitled "Dilemma"(1962), the story of "Harry Barnes" (Peter Halliday), a schoolteacher who comes home to find a dead man in his bathroom. As the movie opens, we hear a scream coming from his house. The neighbor lady looks up from her gardening, shrugs her shoulders and gets back to pruning her roses. What did she see, if anything?

Mr. Barnes arrives home a while later. When he enters his house, he sees disarray. The door is left open, a potted plant is knocked askew. Something's burning in the oven - a casserole dinner - and his wife is nowhere to be seen. He goes back outside to talk to the neighbor lady (Patricia Burke), who's still working in her garden. "Excuse me Mrs. Jones, but have you seen my wife"?. "Why yes, I saw her hurry out about an hour ago". "Hmmm.....I only ask because she left our dinner in the oven and the front door was open". "Perhaps she went down to the hairdresser? I shouldn't worry about it, in any case". "Well, thank you Mrs. Jones. I'll keep looking". "Why of course. If there's anything I can do to help, don't hesitate to ask".

I'll say in advance that Barnes will not ask for her help, but it won't matter because she'll keep offering it anyway. You see, Mrs. Jones is the quintessential Nosy Neighbor. That's why she's forever out gardening; so she can see and hear what's going on next door.

After speaking with her, Barnes re-enters his house and goes upstairs. Calling out for his wife, he receives no answer. Perhaps she's just fallen asleep? (oh, wait a sec - Mrs. Jones saw her leave). He checks the bathroom, but the door won't open. Something heavy is blocking it. Harry gives it a shove and stumbles in. My God, man! There's a body on the floor! Here's where the farce begins, because Harry has no questions about what has happened or what to do about it. He's a bit shocked but not puzzled in the least. Seeing the dead man, and the bloody mess around him, Harry starts immediately to clean up. He inspects the spilled makeup kit, observes the scissors (covered in blood), sees the other knicknacks lying around, and knows exactly what has taken place. His wife killed the man, whoever he is. He knows what must be done and sets out to do it : to bury the body under the floorboards. What, do you think he should've called the police?

Harry pulls aside the living room rug and goes to work on the floorboards, prying them up with a clawhammer. He's interrupted every few minutes by the eavesdropping Mrs. Jones, who knocks and then enters without waiting. "Hello! Hellooo? Oh, hello Mr. Barnes! I was just wondering if you'd found your wife yet"? "No I haven't, Mrs. Jones, but it's quite alright. You needn't worry yourself about it". "Oh, Mr, Barnes, but it's no trouble at all. I'm always glad to help. I was also worried because I heard such a racket over here". "Oh, that was just me, doing a little repair work". Harry wipes his sweaty brow. He's wishing Mrs. Jones would go home but she doesn't. Finally he ushers her out by the shoulder, never losing his friendly English manner (musn't be rude, even when disposing of a body). "Thanks very much, Mrs. Jones, but everything's okay. I'm not worried about my wife. She'll be home any minute, I'm sure". Of course, he hasn't seen the last of Mrs. Jones, not by a long shot. She'll return to bring him dinner, then to "help tidy up", then to ask again about his wife. Harry's at his wits end, trying to keep her out of the living room.

When the gravesite is ready, he leaves the house (with Mrs. Jones watching, naturally). He's heading over to the local Builders Emporium (Brit version, but surprisingly similar) to buy quik dry cement to cover the body. The owner of the Builders is a crook, which will figure in the police investigation later. The script is tight like a stage play, but does involve a few red herrings. 

Eventually we see Harry's wife. She's at the hospital, getting her hand tended to in the emergency room. It's cut across the palm and needs stitches.

The movie plays almost like an English Roger Corman film, albeit one with better production values. But the obvious black humor : man comes home, finds a dead body and, instead of calling police, hatches a surreptitious plan to bury it, even though he didn't commit the murder - that's the same kind of black humor Corman would use, but he'd take it to a level of Total Farce. The Brits love to change tone, to go back and forth stylistically (the music changes, too) from comical to suspense, and so here we go from the improbable (the burial) to the irritable (the neighbor) to the official (the inspector who investigates the Builders Emporium owner) to a standard mystery format (where's the wife?). Then there's an interloper - a nerdy boy who's come over for a piano lesson (Harry teaches piano in his spare time). By now, he's got the body in the ground and cemented in. The kid hears him nailing back the floorboards but goes on practicing his piano scales. Then the inspector knocks on Harry's door. "Hello, I'm Detective Murray with the London police. Did you buy three bags of cement from the Builder's Emporium"?

Harry's sweating bullets with that question. He doesn't know - yet - that he isn't being investigated; it's the owner of the building store, who's suspected of selling black market merchandise. Others will knock, too. A group of nuns, the piano tuner, who enters the living room! (thank goodness he's blind). Then there's the everpresent Mrs. Jones, who by now is certain Harry murdered his wife. We should all have a neighbor like her, don't you think? Someone so "concerned" with our well being?  ;)    

The one caveat I'd offer for "Dilemma" concerns it's ending. Through all the movie's twists and turns, and the sheer torture of watching Harry cringe every time there's a knock at the door, the viewer will come to expect a big payoff. I mean, what's the deal already? Did his wife kill the dead guy, or what? Or maybe the guy was a hoodlum, involved with the building store crooks, and that's how he met his demise. As the suspense tightens, you guess and guess again.........and then when the ending does come.......it feels a little small. Not that it isn't clever, or a logical conclusion to the clues presented; it just isn't given the whammo! it deserves, in my opinion. But it's still a solid ending, even if revealed with little fanfare, and my complaint is therefore a minor one. Two Big Thumbs Up for "Dilemma", which has a razor sharp print and is highly recommended. Watch it for Mrs. Jones' sake, or she might ring your doorbell. ////

We've also got a fast talking espionage flick with a Noirish title : "They Can't Hang Me"(1955). British regular Andre Morrell, who usually plays police inspectors, finds himself on the other side of the law this time, as a condemned man, sentenced to hang for the murder of a woman in her apartment. He's got just a few days to live, so he plays the only card available to him by offering Top Secret information in exchange for a reprieve. When Scotland Yard (pr.Skoartlnd Yearrd) arrives at the prison, Morrell tells the detectives he's got the lowdown on a foreign agent, still in the country, who's stealing nuclear secrets. "How do you know this man"?, they ask him. "Because I'm the one who passed him the documents"!, Morrell shouts. He's adamant about a change of sentence. "I'll not give out his name until you agree to my terms. They've got to call off the execution, and not simply for my sake but for that of the entire world. If this man leaves the country, and I'm not here to help you, it could lead to World War 3". 

The agents explain that it's not their decision. "We'll talk to the judge, but it might help if you give us a little background. You see, you're not the first prisoner to try and bargain his way out of a death sentence. For all we know, you could be making this up. Give us something more to go on and we'll work with you". With that, Morrell reluctantly spills his guts. "I'm a physicist by trade, though more recently I was employed as a civil servant, as you know. But after the war, I worked with men associated with the Manhattan Project. One of them was an anti-communist Pole. My wife and I became sympathetic to the Polish resistance and set up a plan to provide them with nuclear triggers, or rather the documents for their manufacture. However, our group was infiltrated by a spy. We knew him by the name of Leonidas. I've known his real name since before I was imprisoned, but I won't give it to you until you can guarantee me a commutation". 

The detectives huddle outside his cell for a quick tete a tete. "I believe he's on the level", says one. "Perhaps, but we cannot under any circumstances take his demand to a judge. Can you imagine the headlines? "Murderer Barters His Way Off Gallows"! The press would have a field day and we'd likely be looking for new jobs. No, I'm afraid we'll have to lead him on, fib a little about our intentions, but we'll tell him we agree to start with".

From that point, the detectives attempt to identify the spy Leonidas from a number of possible suspects, including other nuclear physicists, the man from the Polish resistance, and even Morrell's wife, who turns out to be the Pole's lover. Things are almost reduced to a Ten Little Indians level, but we aren't trapped in one location and director Val Guest keeps the plot moving fast and furious. And that - rather than any cliches in the format - was the major problem I had with this movie. When you have screwball-speed dialogue, uttered in oft-unintelligible Britspeak accents (including slang), you'd better be fully alert and preferably with a mug of hot coffee in hand. I watched it late at night when I was yawning to stay awake, so a lot of the English yammering went right by me. It would've been nice if they slowed down the repartee a little bit, not just for Yours Truly but because this is a spy movie and you're supposed to build tension, which is hard to accomplish when you're rapping a mile a minute.

Anyhow, in reading the fan reviews at IMDB, I don't think my sleepiness caused me to miss any plot points. It was actually a decent picture, to which I'm ready to award Two Thumbs. But they're gonna have to be Two Regulars instead of Two Solids or Two Bigs, which it perhaps might've merited had the pace not been the speed of light. Still, I recommend it if you like British Crime Movies in general. An interesting note about Val Guest : he was a B-level director of some note, having specialised in sci-fi and horror for Hammer Studios, for whom he made fourteen pictures. He was at the helm of the first two "Quatermass" movies, and "The Day The Earth Caught Fire", classics all (and I own all three on dvd). He also wrote a ton of other films and was quite talented overall. I mention this as noteworthy because "They Can't Hang Me" was made in the same year (1955) as "The Quatermass Xperiement". The latter is tremendous and belongs on the list of sci-fi masterpieces, while the former is okay, but feels like a toss-off. It doesn't have the production qualities of the other Guest films I've seen. Perhaps it was a contractual obligation. ////

That's all I've got for this evening. I hope you had a nice day and listened to some Egg or some Beach Boys. As always, I send you tons and tons of love.  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)

Christina Gregg in "Don't Talk To Strange Men", and "The Music Box Kid" starring Ron Foster

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  :):)

Ron Foster in "Operation Bottleneck", and "Hot Cars" w/John Bromfield

How 'bout a Ron Foster war movie? In "Operation Bottleneck"(1961), he's Lieutenant Rulan H. Voss, leading a squad of paratroopers into Burma in World War 2. Their mission : to blow up a transport road the Japanese want to use to invade India. Foster's hobbled right from the start after landing on a rock and twisting his ankle, so after the others bury their chutes, he sends his sergeant and the radioman to meet up with their contact, a Burmese woman living in an underground cave. She's down there with an English diplomat (a holdout from colonial times), who's turned the cave into a facsimile of his former office, right down to his portrait of Churchill. The two work for the Burmese resistance, but are on their own out here in the jungle. The Japanese have overrun the countryside, so when the Americans arrive they are very relieved. 

Back at the landing spot, Lt. Foster is hiding in a bomb crater, nursing his swollen ankle as he waits for the contacts to return. Meanwhile, he's sent his three remaining troopers out to recon the area. While they're away, a Japanese patrol finds Foster and takes him back to their Colonel's house, a requisitioned mansion in a clearing. There, the Colonel keeps several Burmese girls as comfort women, to "entertain" his fellow officers. They while away their evenings drinking sake and playing cards, but with Foster in hand, they have a strategic opportunity.

The Colonel wants to make him talk, to reveal the details of his mission, but before torturing him (which he assures Foster he'll do), he offers him the carrot instead : a night with one of his girls. Foster accepts, but instead of using her for sex, he spends the night priming the girl for information.

Of course they fall in love (it's in Ron Foster's contract), and she hates the Japanese as much as he does. He vows to get her out of there, but how's that gonna happen, right? I'll tell ya how : back in the jungle, his macho demolition expert, "Cpl. 'Merc' Davenport" (Norman Alden), has an idea. "Let's raid the joint and blow it up", he says to his fellow troopers. His swagger is inversely proportional to his intelligence, however, and when the squad tries his plan, everyone but Merc gets slaughtered. Foster is freed, so there's that much, but the rest of the troop is dead and their radio is destroyed.

Now we're down to just Foster and Merc, whom Foster orders to wait in the jungle while he goes back to the underground cave. The English diplomat has a radio he can use to contact headquarters. When he returns, Merc is romancing all four of the comfort women that were liberated in the explosion of the Colonel's house. Foster gets royally pissed at Merc for not taking the situation seriously.

We're about to have one of those de rigueur "insubordination showdowns" - required in all Pacific theater WW2 movies - in which a surly non-com challenges his superior officer. Such challenges always begin with "snide retorts" to the officer's orders, uttered by the non-com in official "yes sir" speak, but in a sarcastic tone of voice with a set jaw. Eventually a punchout ensues, won every time by the officer, which leaves the non-com even more surly and resentful than he was before, but generally following orders for the rest of the movie. The screenwriter usually closes this arc by having the non-com risk his life at some point to save the officer. In doing so, he gains the officer's respect and gratitude, and the insubordination issue is resolved.

A version of this happens between Lt. Foster and Merc the demolition expert, and it begins when Foster catches Merc with the Burmese girls, but it also involves the ending of the film which I found quite shocking. I wasn't prepared for it and I'm not gonna reveal it, so let's get back to the story.  

With four of the six troopers dead, the mission is in jeopardy. "Ari", the Burmese girl Foster has fallen in love with, suggests that she and the other girls be used as replacement soldiers. "You can train us", she offers. The idea seems preposterous and Foster initially rejects it, but soon realises he has no other choice. The Japanese are massing for their invasion of India. 

He does train the women, in marksmanship and guerrilla warfare. Merc trains one in demolition. They're all set to blow up the road, and then comes that hard boiled ending I warned you about, a jolt of realistic action that makes up for what had been a somewhat lackluster picture, as far as combat is concerned. It was really the story of interracial love (Miiko Taka plays "Ari", you might have seen her in "Sayonara" w/ Marlon Brando) and while that wasn't unusual for a Pacific theater WW2 movie (i.e American man, Asian woman), it's made more topical by the cultural obstructions she faces (shaming, face saving, etc.)

As mentioned, if you're looking for a typical war picture with lots of combat, look elsewhere. But if you don't mind a romantic drama set in the context of a war movie, then "Operation Bottleneck" is a good one. Edward L. Cahn once again directs; Ron Foster shines as the stalwart LT. I give it Two Big Thumbs Up. ////

The previous night's movie involved another stolen car racket, so we're doing these things in bunches. It's unintentional, mind you, but I mean all of a sudden we had a spate of parole scam movies, now we've seen two that involve car thieves and chop shops. "Hot Cars" (1956), uses an interesting character as a pivot - that mythical creature known as "an honest used car salesman". Is there such a person, or is he as elusive as the unicorn? Well anyhow "Nick Dunn" (John Bromfield) is so honest that he's about to be fired from his job at Big John's in Culver City. He tells customers the truth about the cars on the lot, and it's costing him some sure-fire sales. His boss isn't happy ("You're supposed to talk 'em up"!), and as the movie opens, Nick's just been played for a sucker by a hot blonde (Joi Lansing), who asks to see a gull wing Mer-cheddees Bench. Nick winds up buying her drinks at a fancy beach restaurant, only to get the brushoff. Back at the lot, Big John hits the ceiling. 

"A dame like that? Are you kidding! She was bored and used you to have some fun. Next she'll pick up some realtor or travel agent. Anything to get some freebies". Nick ends up getting fired and this is doubly bad because he's got a wife and sick child at home. How's he gonna pay for the kid's doctor visits?

"Arthur Markel", that's how. Markel (Ralph Clanton) runs a dealership that spans four states (California to New Mexico). "I know about your reputation for honesty", he tells Nick. "I believe in giving my customers a square deal, it's why I'm so successful. You're exactly the type of man I'm looking for. Would you be interested in a job at our Lawndale lot"?

Nick is grateful for the offer and accepts. Soon, though, he notices practices that seem sketchy. For instance, the driver of an auto carrier arrives late every night, right after closing. He has Nick help him offload and park the vehicles, but when Nick starts to register them, the driver gives him the ixnay. "No, no, you don't need to do that. It's all been taken care of". Whenever he makes a sale he finds that someone has cooked the books. One car needs some work done. Nick takes it to the approved garage (pronounced ga-RODGE this time, as we're in an American movie), and discovers it's a chop shop. Finally he confronts Mr. Merkel, who politely admits the truth. "Yes Nick, we sell stolen cars. But who are we hurting? The insurance company pays the victim. We re-sell at affordable prices, so the average family man can buy a car, or even someone who's down on his luck like yourself". Merkel is the polar opposite to Peter Sellers, who'd have blown his freakin' stack by now. Nick listens and his mind is changed by Merkel's calm, reasoned argument. He can't afford to lose another job, so he hangs on, justifying his participation in the racket. Now his son's doctor bills are paid and his life settles down, but then a State Investigator arrives.

He wants to buy a car for his wife, or so he says. Nick tries to sell him one, but one of Merkel's henchmen is suspicious. "What if he's here to snoop us out"?

The investigator is then bumped off, and guess who gets framed for homicide? You guessed it : good old honest Nick. He swears he's got an alibi. He tells the cops he was with another woman when the murder occurred. "It's gonna hurt my wife to find out, but it's not what it looks like". Who was the other woman? Why, Joi Lansing of course, the blonde babe who played him at the beginning. It turns out she's working for Merkel, too. "She can vouch for me", Nick says. "Go ask her"! But when the detectives knock on her door, whattaya think Joi says? "Nick who? I'm sorry, I don't know anyone by that name".  

It's a hell of a frame-up; Nick's screwed eight ways to Sunday. The cops think he did it even though they know Merkel's a crook, so he's gonna have to find the truth on his own, to save not just his neck but his marriage. The climax takes place at Pacific Ocean Park on the Santa Monica pier. Nick and the real culprit get into a punchout on the roller coaster. 

"Hot Cars" zips along with a late-'50s zing, of chrome grilles and big tail fins, beachcomber restaurants and khaki clothing. Boat shoes, too! (Or "deck shoes" if you prefer. Me, I always called 'em Boat Shoes). The story's about average, but it moves, and you get a whole bunch of super cool location shots in Culver City and Santa Monica. Because of that aspect, I'm gonna give it Two Big Thumbs Up. Both of tonight's movies have razor sharp prints, so you've got you a nice double feechum. ////

That's all for now. Hope you had a great weekend. Tons and tons of love, as always!

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo  :):)