What the World War II era was to 1940's film noir, the Cold War era was to 1950's noir. These films reflected the fear, mistrust, and paranoia of the Cold War era - and the unease of the threat of nuclear annihilation.

The 50's saw a departure of the more simplistic hard-boiled detective and criminal characters , in favor of darker psychological character studies of anti-heroes. We also saw a spread of noir-influenced Westerns ("Pursued") and Science Fiction ("Invasion of the Body Snatchers").

While absent the larger budgets of the previous decade, many crime and suspense films of the1950's were relegated to the lower budget, B-movie status - albeit their budgetary restrictions, these same films helped define the Film Noir genre.

Notable actors featured in this era include: Edmond O'Brien, Joanne Dru, John Payne, Evelyn Keyes, Glenn Ford, Rita Hayworth, Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan, and Dana Andrews.

SUSPENSE FILMS FILMS OF THE 1950s

13TH LETTER, THE (1951)
(85 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: D
A remake of the French Le Corbeau ("The Raven"), The Thirteenth Letter is a film noir in a curious setting — a rural village deep in Quebec, seemingly sleepy and typical. Dr. Laurent (Charles Boyer) returns from a medical convention in Montreal, anxious to see his much younger wife, Cora (Constance Smith). Cora is attracted to Dr. Pearson (Michael Rennie), a young doctor who moved into the town soon after his unfaithful wife killed herself. Soon Pearson, Laurent and Cora all receive letters — signed "the Raven" — hinting at an affair between Pearson and Cora. Soon more poison pen letters are showing up around town, including one which insinuates that Pearson has not been telling the truth about the medical condition of a wounded war hero. Distraught, the veteran takes his life, unaware that the information in the letter was a lie. Meanwhile, Pearson has become attracted to Denise, (Linda Darnell), a romance-starved young woman born with a clubfoot. As suspicion builds about who is sending the letters — and about whether Pearson should be trusted — the Mayor takes charge of the investigation, and Pearson doubles his efforts to prove his innocence.
Starring: Linda Darnell, Charles Boyer, Michael Rennie, Constance Smith | Directed by: Otto Preminger

3 STEPS TO THE GALLOWS (1954)
(81 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
(AKA: White fire) Like many of the Robert S. Baker-Monty Berman productions of the 1950s, the British White Fire was released stateside by Lippert Films. Hollywood's Scott Brady heads the cast as US merchant marine officer Gregor Stevens. Arriving in London to pay his brother a visit, Stevens discovers that his sibling is to be hanged for murder within three days. After digesting this unpleasant news morsel, Stevens sets about to prove his brother's innocence. Before the 72 hours has transpired, our hero has become involved with a gang of diamond smugglers--not to mention gorgeous nightclub chanteuse Yvonne Durante (Mary Castle). Director John Gilling cowrote the screenplay with Paul Erickson, who also appears in a minor role.
Starring: Scott Brady, Mary Castle, Gabrielle Brune, Ferdy Mayne | Directed by: John Gilling

5 FINGERS (1952)
(110 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Based on a true story, 5 Fingers stars James Mason as a man known to his superiors only as Cicero. Ostensibly the valet of the British ambassador to Ankara during World War II, Cicero is actually a Nazi agent. He holds no particular political viewpoint: the Nazis offered the best price, so for the time being he is loyal to them. Falling in love with the beautiful Danielle Darrieux, Cicero uses her home as a contact point to meet his German associates. At great personal risk, Cicero secures secret British war files and smuggles them to the Germans; they find the information in the files too far-fetched to be taken seriously—and thus are caught unawares on the morning of the D-Day invasion. An ironic coda finds Cicero, setting himself up in luxury in Rio de Janeiro, double-crossed by both Darrieux and the Germans. What else can he do but laugh uproariously? 5 Fingers, based on the memoirs of the real-life "Cicero" L. C. Moyzisch, was adapted into a 1959 TV series, wherein the antihero was converted into a 100% good guy. — Hal Erickson
Starring: James Mason, Danielle Darrieux, Michael Rennie, Oscar Karlweis | Directed by: Joseph L. Mankiewicz

711 OCEAN DRIVE (1950)
(102 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Edmond O'Brien plays a telephone repairman whose electronic savvy earns him a job with a bookmaking concern. O'Brien's bookie boss Barry Kelly wants to get instant results from the nation's racetracks, and to this end O'Brien illicitly plugs into several communication centers. The wealthier O'Brien becomes, the more scruples he sheds. Eventually he runs afoul of the Big Boss of an Eastern bookie syndicate (Otto Kruger) and vainly attempts to escape with his life in a slam-bang finale filmed at Hoover Dam. 711 Ocean Drive was made to cash in on a then-current national newspaper expose of bookmaking operations.
Starring: Edmond O'Brien, Joanne Dru, Don Porter, Sammy White | Directed by: Joseph Newman

99 RIVER STREET (1953)
(83 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Cab driver and ex-boxer Ernie Driscoll (John Payne) discovers his wife Pauline (Peggy Castle) has been cheating on him in Phil Karlson's film noir. Still brooding, Ernie is approached by actress friend Linda James (Evelyn Keyes), who says that she needs his help because she killed a man during an audition. After rushing to the theatre with Linda, Ernie discovers that Linda's desperate tale was the audition. As if that humiliation isn't enough, Ernie is then framed for Pauline's murder by her lover, jewel thief Victor Rawlins (Brad Dexter). Linda returns to square herself with Ernie, and he reluctantly allows her to help clear him. 99 River Street is a treatise on violence and a true misanthropic film, in which men and women prey on and then discard their victims once they've served their purpose. — Steve Press
Starring: John Payne, Evelyn Keyes, Brad Dexter, Frank Faylen | Directed by: Phil Karlson

ACCUSED OF MURDER (1956)
(75 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Nightclub singer Ilona Vance (Vera Ralston) is Accused of Murder in this Republic programmer. And from the looks of things, Ilona is guilty; she was, after all, the last person to see crooked lawyer Hobart (Sidney Blackmer) alive. But Lt. Roy Hargis (David Brian) is convinced that Ilona is innocent, and he intends to prove it. Except for the mildly surprising denoument, there is little in Accused of Murder that is not thoroughly predictable. Star Vera Ralston, the wife of Republic chieftan Herbert J. Yates, is her usual expressionless self.
Starring: David Brian, Vera Ralston, Sidney Blackmer, Virginia Grey, Elisha Cook Jr. | Directed by: Joseph Kane

ACROSS THE BRIDGE (1957)
(103 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
A Graham Greene novel was the basic source for the British psychological melodrama Across the Bridge. Rod Steiger plays Carl Schaffner, a prominent financier who has absconded with company funds. A genius at improvisation, he plans to elude the authorities by murdering Paul Scarff (Bill Nagy) and assuming the dead man's identity. Upon arriving in Mexico, however, Schaffner learns to his chagrin that Scarff was himself an even more notorious fugitive from justice. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Rod Steiger, David Knight, Marla Landi, Noel Willman | Directed by: Ken Annakin

AFFAIR IN TRINIDAD (1952)
(98 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
In this romantic spy thriller, a nightclub performer plys her trade in her husband's Trinidad bar. He is murdered by a notorious spy. Soon afterward, the police ask the widow to try to get close to the killer and gather information. Her work is nearly thwarted when her bumbling brother-in-law appears, looking to bring the killer to justice himself. This film marked the return of bombshell Rita Hayworth who had retired from movies during her marriage to Prince Aly Khan. — Sandra Brennan
Starring: Glenn Ford, Rita Hayworth, Alexander Scourby, Valerie Bettis | Directed by: Vincent Sherman

ANGEL FACE (1953)
(91 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Jean Simmons' fascinating interpretation of an uncharacteristic role is the main drawing card of Otto Preminger's Angel Face. The daughter of wealthy Charles Treymayne (Herbert Marshall), Diane Treymayne's (Jean Simmons) angelic countenance masks an unbridled psychotic who'll let nothing stand in the way of her happiness. When her hated stepmother Catherine (Barbara O'Neal) threatens to take Charles away from her, Diane arranges for Catherine's death, making it look like an auto accident. Coveting family chauffeur Frank Jessup (Robert Mitchum), Diane steals Frank away from his sweetheart Mary (Mona Freeman) and forces him to become her spiritual accomplice in her stepmother's murder. And when Diane finally realizes that she'll never, ever, be able to hold Frank, she well, enough said. If Angel Face doesn't look like a typical early-1950s RKO Radio film, it may be because its director was borrowed from 20th Century-Fox, and its cinematographer (Harry Stradling) was a loan-out from Sam Goldwyn. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Jean Simmons, Robert Mitchum, Mona Freeman, Herbert Marshall | Directed by: Otto Preminger

ANOTHER MAN'S POISON (1951)
(90 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Bette Davis co-stars with her then-new husband Gary Merrill in the British melodrama Another Man's Poison. Adapted from Leslie Sands' novel Deadlock, the story concerns one Janet Frobisher (Davis), a successful writer of suspense novels. Janet's life is thrown into turmoil when her disreputable long-lost husband, returns after a three-year absence. So as not to destroy her current romantic involvement with Larry (Anthony Steel), the fiancé of her secretary Chris (Barbara Murray), Janet poisons her inconvenient spouse and disposes of the body. At this point, George Bates (Gary Merrill), the dead husband's criminal accomplice, comes calling, demanding "hush money." So that he can keep an eye on Janet, George poses as her husband. Now, Janet is obliged to begin plotting George's demise. A heart-stopping surprise ending tops this nasty but effective little morality play. Another Man's Poison was distributed stateside by RKO Radio. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Bette Davis, Gary Merrill, Emlyn Williams, Anthony Steel | Directed by: Irving Rapper

APPOINTMENT IN HONDURAS (1953)
(79 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Ann Sheridan landed the leading role in Benedict Bogeaus Productions/RKO Radio's Appointment in Honduras as part of a legal settlement arising from Sheridan's being dropped from RKO's My Forbidden Past (1951). Set in Central America, the plotline resembles a Republic serial, with Ms. Sheridan and leading man Glenn Ford facing such perils as man-eating fish, alligators, outsized hornets and a jungle brushfire. Ford's involvement in the proceedings comes about when he is hired to make certain that a huge sum of cash reaches an ousted South American political leader. Sheridan and her husband Zachary Scott are taken hostage by Ford's crooked employers and forced to go along. Guess who survives the ordeal and who doesn't. Jacques Tourneur's gutsy direction and Joseph Biroc's vivid Technicolor photography conspire to make Appointment in Honduras seem more expensive than it was.
Starring: Glenn Ford, Ann Sheridan, Zachary Scott, Jack Elam | Directed by: Jacques Tourneur

APPOINTMENT WITH DANGER (1951)
(90 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Al Goddard, (Alan Ladd) special investigator for the U.S. post office, is assigned to collar two criminals who've murdered a postal detective. Goddard must first locate the only witness to the crime, attractive young nun, Sister Augustine (Phyllis Calvert). Posing as a crook, Goddard gains the confidence of the murderers' boss Earl Boettiger (Paul Stewart), who has worked out a scheme to defraud the post office of one million dollars. Once they've tumbled to the deception, the crooks take Goddard and the nun prisoner, leading to a fight to the finish in a lonely industrial district. Appointment with Danger tends to draw chuckles rather than shivers nowadays, thanks to the casting of future Dragnet co-stars Jack Webb and Harry Morgan as the murderers — and as icing to the cake, viewers are treated to a scene in which Webb bumps off Morgan! As a whole, the film, the last of Alan Ladd's series of film noir, is uneven and generally unsuccessful. However, it contains some crisp, tough dialogue and some terrific action sequences which make it worthwhile. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Alan Ladd, Phyllis Calvert, Paul Stewart, Jan Sterling | Directed by: Lewis Allen

ARMORED CAR ROBBERY (1950)
(68 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Touching on both the film noir style of the 1940s and the "just the facts, ma'am" approach popular in the early television era, and incorporating both shadowy alleys and bright, almost flat sunlit street scenes, Richard Fleischer's plebeian, no-nonsense Armored Car Robbery remains the quintessential low-budget heist melodrama. Starring tight-lipped Charles McGraw as the tough, unyielding police detective, the potboiler also benefited from a downright vicious performance by an unredeemable William Talman as the brains behind the ill-fated caper, as well as the presence of luscious B-movie icon Adele Jergens as one of those hardboiled dames seemingly born to destroy gullible dime-store gangsters like Benny McBride (Douglas Fowley). "What is a dame like her doing with a two-bit mug like Benny?" McGraw's junior colleague Don McGuire asks at one point. Filmed at Los Angeles' Wrigley Field and amid the spooky oil derrick landscape of Long Beach, CA, Armored Car Robbery is almost shocking in its in-your-face violence with a climax that is downright gruesome. — Hans J. Wollstein
Starring: Charles McGraw, Adele Jergens, William Talman, Douglas Fowley, Anne Nagel, Gene Evans | Directed by: Richard Fleischer

ASPHALT JUNGLE, THE (1950)
(112 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
The Asphalt Jungle is a brilliantly conceived and executed anatomy of a crime — or, as director John Huston and scripter Ben Maddow put it, "a left-handed form of human endeavor." Recently paroled master criminal Erwin "Doc" Riedenschneider (Sam Jaffe), with funding from crooked attorney Emmerich (Louis Calhern), gathers several crooks together in Cincinnati for a Big Caper. Among those involved are Dix (Sterling Hayden), an impoverished hood who sees the upcoming jewel heist as a means to finance his dream of owning a horse farm. Hunch-backed cafe owner (James Whitmore) is hired on to be the driver for the heist; professional safecracker Louis Ciavelli (Anthony Caruso) assembles the tools of his trade; and a bookie (Marc Lawrence) acts as Emmerich's go-between. The robbery is pulled off successfully, but an alert night watchman shoots Ciavelli. Corrupt cop (Barry Kelley), angry that his "patsy" (Lawrence) didn't let him in on the caper, beats the bookie into confessing and fingering the other criminals involved. From this point on, the meticulously planned crime falls apart with the inevitability of a Greek tragedy. Way down on the cast list is Marilyn Monroe in her star-making bit as Emmerich's sexy "niece"; whenever The Asphalt Jungle would be reissued, Monroe would figure prominently in the print ads as one of the stars. The Asphalt Jungle was based on a novel by the prolific W.R. Burnett, who also wrote Little Caesar and Saint Johnson (the fictionalized life story of Wyatt Earp). — Hal Erickson
Starring: Sterling Hayden, Sam Jaffe, Marc Lawrence, Louis Calhern | Directed by: John Huston

ATOMIC CITY, THE (1952)
(84 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
The city of the title is Los Alamos, where nuclear physicist Gene Barry lives and works. Terrorists kidnap Barry's son and demand that the physicist turn over the H-bomb formula. It's cat-and-mouse for a while, but when the FBI gets on the case, the criminals haven't got a chance. Outdated almost before its release, The Atomic City is still effective on a purely melodramatic level. There's a particularly tense climax played out along the mountain mesas surrounding Los Alamos.
Starring: Gene Barry, Lydia Clarke, Michael Moore, Nancy Gates | Directed by: Jerry Hopper

BACKFIRE (1950)
(91 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
When he's discharged from a military hospital, ex-GI Bob Corey (Gordon MacRae) goes on a search for his army buddy Steve Connolly (Edmond O'Brien). A reformed crook, Connolly is on the lam from a trumped-up murder rap, and Corey hopes to clear his pal. Tagging along is Army nurse Julie Benson (Virginia Mayo), who has fallen for Corey. The rest of the film emulates the 1946 noir exercise The Killers, with Julie and Corey interviewing various people with whom Connolly has come in contact. One of those people, of course, is the actual killer, who now adds the GI and the nurse to the "hit list." Warner Bros. used Backfire to test the dramatic potential of singing star Gordon MacRae, who passes that test with flying colors.
Starring: Virginia Mayo, Gordon MacRae, Edmond O'Brien, Dane Clark | Directed by: Vincent Sherman

BAD BLONDE (1953)
(79 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Who better than the estimable Barbara Payton to play the Bad Blonde in this Lippert release? Actually, the film was originally made in England by Hammer Productions, then released in Great Britain as The Flanagan Boy and This Woman is Trouble, but neither one of these titles had the box-office "sock" of Lippert's cognomen. The story finds the duplicitous Lorna Vecchi (Payton) wrapping boxer Johnny Flanagan (Tony Wright) around her little finger. It seems that Lorna is married to Johnny's manager, Giuseppe (Frederick Valk). But when her husband proves to be a nuisance, the "bad blonde" blackmails Johnny into murdering the man. Astonishingly, until the very, very end it looks like Lorna's going to get away with it! Bad Blonde was based on a novel by Max Catto.
Starring: Barbara Payton, Frederick [Fritz] Valk, John Slater, Sidney James | Directed by: Reginald Le Borg

BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK (1955)
(81 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
This powerfully tense, fast-paced suspense drama also yields a grim social message about racial prejudice. Spencer Tracy is John J. MacReedy, a one-armed stranger who comes to the tiny town of Black Rock one hot summer day in 1945, the first time the train has stopped there in years. He looks for both a hotel room and a local Japanese farmer named Komoko, but his inquiries are greeted at first with open hostility at first, then with blunt threats and harassment, and finally with escalating violence. MacReedy soon realizes that he will not be allowed to leave Black Rock; town boss Reno Smith (Robert Ryan), who had Komoko killed because of his hatred of the Japanese, has also marked MacReedy for death. MacReedy must battle town thugs, a treacherous local woman (Anne Francis), and finally Smith himself to stay alive. The entire cast is flawless, especially Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin as the mean-spirited town bullies, and the relentlessly paced action never eclipses the film's sobering themes. — Don Kaye
Starring: Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Anne Francis, Walter Brennan, Ernest Borgnine, Lee Marvin | Directed by: John Sturges

BAD SEED, THE (1956)
(129 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Can evil be inherited? That's the question posed by Maxwell Anderson in his stage play The Bad Seed. This 1956 film adaptation stars many actors from the Broadway version, including Nancy Kelly, Patty McCormack, Henry Jones and Eileen Heckart. Young McCormack plays Rhoda, a too-good-to-be-true grade schooler who occasionally exhibits a vicious streak whenever things don't turn out her way. During a picnic, one of Rhoda's schoolmates is drowned; the victim is a boy who'd won a penmanship medal that Rhoda had coveted. Nancy Kelly, the girl's mother, slowly comes to the horrible conclusion that Rhoda was responsible for the boy's death—a suspicion fueled by the discovery that Kelly, who was adopted as an infant, is the daughter of a convicted murderess. Meanwhile, a moronic handyman (Henry Jones) accidentally tumbles to Rhoda's secret, whereupon he is "accidentally" burned to death. Realizing that Rhoda must be stopped before she can kill again, and reasoning that the authorities would never believe the truth, Kelly tries to put the girl to sleep permanently with barbituates, then shoots herself. The play's ironic ending—the mother dies, while the unsuspected Rhoda lives on—is sacrificed for a "divine retribution" finale in the film, with Rhoda being punished by a convenient bolt of lightning. This alteration is acceptable, but director Mervin LeRoy further gilds the lily with an asinine closing-credits sequence wherein Nancy Kelly throws Patty McCormack over her knee and administers a spanking! The 1985 TV movie remake of The Bad Seed retains the play's original ending, but all in all is not half as entertaining as the 1956 version (its hokey denouement notwithstanding). McCormack later starred in Max Allan Collins' unofficial 1995 sequel Mommy. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Nancy Kelly, Patty McCormack, Henry Jones, Eileen Heckart | Directed by: Mervyn LeRoy

BAIT (1954)
(79 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Bait starts out with a cunning pre-credits sequence, wherein a dapper, erudite gentlemen (Sir Cedric Hardwicke), after signing a series of autographs for his admiring fans, introduces himself as the Devil. Addressing the viewer, His Satanic Majesty introduces a cautionary tale of sex and greed--which turns out to be yet another steamy Hugo Haas-directed melodrama, this one titled Bait. Once more, Haas casts himself as a truculent middle-aged man who succumbs to the charms of trashy young blonde Cleo Moore. The plot concerns a lost gold mine, which Haas has been seeking out for nearly 20 years. All he needs is a bright young man to share expenses and responsibilities for a prospecting expedition. Enter John Agar, whose avarice is exceeded only by his lust for Haas' buxom wife Moore. It turns out that Haas has intended all along to use Moore as bait to lure in Agar, as the first step in an elaborate murder and robbery scheme.
Starring: John Agar, Cleo Moore, Hugo Haas, Bruno Ve Sota, Emmett Lynn | Directed by: Hugo Haas

BANNERLINE (1951)
(87 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Bannerline was Don Weis' first solo directorial credit for MGM. Keefe Brasselle stars as cub reporter Mike Perrivale, who devises a heart-tugging promotional stunt. Upon learning that crusty old history teacher Hugo Trimble (Lionel Barrymore) is dying, Mike writes up a glowing tribute, ascribing all sorts of fabricated accomplishments to the venerable Trimble. The stunt backfires when crime boss Frankie Scarbino (J. Carroll Naish), angered that some of the civic reforms credited to Trimble may put the kibosh on his own operation, threatens to make trouble for Mike. As it turns out, it is the impulsiveness of Scarbino's hired thugs which sets the wheels of reform in motion—simply by beating Mike to a pulp. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Keefe Brasselle, Sally Forrest, Lionel Barrymore, Lewis Stone, J. Carrol Naish | Directed by: Don Weis

BAT, THE (1959)
(80 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Despite the title and the presence of horror-meister Vincent Price, The Bat is actually a murder mystery rather than a horror film. While it's all done in a by-the-numbers manner, there's more than enough here to entertain whodunit fans. Those looking for deep meaning or surprising characterization will need to look elsewhere; the plot takes center stage in The Bat, and surprises are relegated to its many twists and turns. Fortunately, the screenplay is very well structured, if a trifle confusing, and while it's "scare quotient" may be fairly low, it does keep the viewer interested. Crane Wilbur's direction is fairly static, although he does make effective visual use of the deep dark shadows that are part and parcel of these "old dark house" stories. He also gives his cast free rein, allowing Vincent Price and Agnes Moorehead to take the performing ball and run away with it. They're frequently over-the-top and occasionally campy, but so committed to what they're doing that they create a palpable sense of fun. The supporting cast is not as impressive, ranging from adequate to poor. Despite the efforts of the stars, the film lags in many places; the mechanical nature of the script and Wilbur's insufficiently imaginative direction drag it down. Still, The Bat is a diverting way to spend a stormy evening at home. — Craig Butler
Starring: Vincent Price, Agnes Moorehead, Gavin Gordon, John Sutton | Directed by: Crane Wilbur

BEDELIA (1946)
(90 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Margaret Lockwood is cast against type as a "black widow" in the British Bedelia. Wealthy but naïve Charlie Carrington (Ian Hunter) is swept off his feet by the beauteous Bedelia (Lockwood), whose three previous husbands, also wealthy, have died ostensibly of natural causes. While on their honeymoon, the Carringtons are pestered by a young artist named Ben Chaney (Barry K. Barnes), who seems to be falling in love with Bedelia. No matter where they go, the Carringtons are pestered by the persistent Ben. On the verge of tossing the interloper out, Charlie reconsiders-and a good thing, too, since Bedelia has been planning all along to poison him at the first opportunity. In the film's operatic climax, Bedelia discovers that this time she has been set up for a fall! Bedelia is based on a novel by Vera Caspary, of Laura fame.
Starring: Margaret Lockwood, Ian Hunter, Barry Barnes, Anne Crawford, Beatrice Varley, Jill Esmond | Directed by: Lance Comfort

BEDEVILLED (1955)
(86 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
In this dark drama, a young American is on his way to take his final vows as a priest when he encounters a troubled nightclub singer with a checkered past. He honestly wants to help her and soon falls for her and finds himself tempted by her seductive ways. But giving in to temptation could have more serious repercussions than the damnation of his immortal soul, as she is a murderess. The story was filmed in Paris. — Sandra Brennan
Starring: Anne Baxter, Steve Forrest, Simone Renant, Maurice Teynac | Directed by: Mitchell Leisen

BEHIND THE HIGH WALL (1956)
(85 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Behind the High Wall is a remake of the 1937 Jackie Cooper-Victor McLaglen film The Big Guy. Tom Tully plays prison warden Frank Carmichael, who is kidnapped during a jail break in which a policeman is killed. In an ensuing car crash, all the escapees are killed except young Johnny Hutchins (John Gavin). Though he knows that Hutchins had nothing to do with the cop's murder, Carmichael refuses to intervene when Johnny is condemned to death. It seems that the escaping convicts had been carrying $100,000 in stolen money with them, which Carmichael has hidden away for his own use. By eliminating Hutchins, the warden is also getting rid of the only potential witness to his own perfidy. Sylvia Sidney is pure venom as Carmichael's crippled, greedy wife, while Betty Lynn (who later played Thelma Lou on The Andy Griffith Show) also registers well as Johnny's agonizing fiancee.
Starring: Tom Tully, Sylvia Sidney, Betty Lynn, John Gavin | Directed by: Abner Biberman

BETRAYED (1954)
(109 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Clark Gable's final effort for his longtime home studio MGM, Betrayed is an exciting espionage thriller set during World War II. Intelligence agent Gable is ordered to keep tabs on suspected Nazi collaborator Lana Turner (a brunette for the occasion). Both Gable and Turner join the Dutch underground, making contact with a flamboyant resistance leader known as "The Scarf" (Victor Mature). Turner poses as a sexy chanteuse, the better to gain the confidence of the lascivious Nazi officers. Within the next few weeks, several underground operatives are captured and shot, and it begins to look as though Gable's suspicions concerning Turner are correct. The real collaborator is revealed some twenty minutes before the finale, but the suspense level is expertly maintained throughout. The location-filmed Betrayed would later be mercilessly lampooned in the 1984 spy spoof Top Secret! — Hal Erickson
Starring: Clark Gable, Lana Turner, Victor Mature, Louis Calhern | Directed by: Gottfried Reinhardt

BETRAYED WOMEN (1955)
(70 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Despite its lurid title, Betrayed Women is more subdued than the usual "babes behind bars" melodrama. The scene is a Southern women's prison, where the inmates are subjected to all manner of sadism and brutality. State's attorney Jeff (Tom Drake) arrives to investigate prison conditions, whereupon he is taken hostage during a breakout fomented by gun moll Honey (Beverly Michaels) and lifer Kate (Carole Mathews). As it happens, another of the hostages, inmate Nora (Peggy Knudsen), has fallen in love with Jeff. Esther Dale does her usual as a cruel prison matron, stealing the show from the capable but colorless Tom Drake.
Starring: Beverly Michaels, Carole Mathews, Peggy Knudsen, Tom Drake, Sara Haden | Directed by: Edward L. Cahn

BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND DAWN (1950)
(89 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Between Midnight and Dawn is a solid, no-frills detective drama from the Columbia studio mills. Mark Stevens and Edmond O'Brien star as police officers Barnes and Purvis, who tool around in their prowl car in the wee hours of the morning. Vengeful gangster Ritchie Garris (Donald Buka) would like nothing better than to get Barnes and Purvis out of his hair, especially after breaking out of jail. In a thrill-packed climax, Garris makes a desperate escape using a little kid as a shield, while Purvis tries to second-guess the homicidal gangster. As Kate Mallory, Gale Storm has little to do except serve as the bone of romantic contention between the two male protagonists. Curiously, Storm doesn't get to sing, though supporting actress Gale Robbins does—three times, in fact.
Starring: Mark Stevens, Edmond O'Brien, Gale Storm, Donald Buka | Directed by: Gordon M. Douglas

BEWARE, MY LOVELY (1952)
(77 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Adapted from the stage thriller The Man (itself based upon a half-hour radio drama), Beware My Lovely is a taut suspenser tailor-made for the talents of Ida Lupino and Robert Ryan. Lupino plays a pretty widow who impulsively hires handyman Ryan to look after her house. She soon learns Ryan is a dangerous schizophrenic, but by the time she comes to this realization she is unable to escape her house. The tension mounts apace, leading to an unexpected but quite logical finale. Produced by Lupino's then-husband Collier Young, Beware My Lovely was released by RKO Radio. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Taylor Holmes, Barbara Whiting | Directed by: Harry Horner

BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT (1956)
(80 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Crusading publisher Austin Spenser (Sidney Blackmer) wants to prove a point about the insufficiency of circumstantial evidence. Spencer talks his prospective son-in-law Tom Garrett (Dana Andrews) into participating in a hoax, the better to expose the alleged ineptitude of conviction-happy DA (Philip Bourneuf). Tom will plant clues indicating that he is the murderer of a nightclub dancer, then stand trial for murder; just as the jury reaches its inevitable guilty verdict, Spencer will step forth to reveal the set-up and humiliate the DA. Somewhat surprisingly, Tom eagerly agrees to this subterfuge. Unfortunately, an unforeseen event renders their perfectly formed scheme useless. Beyond a Reasonable Doubt was the last American film of director Fritz Lang. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Dana Andrews, Joan Fontaine, Sidney Blackmer, Barbara Nichols | Directed by: Fritz Lang

BIG BLUFF, THE (1955)
(70 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
W. Lee Wilder, the prolific but markedly less talented brother of Billy Wilder, both produced and directed The Big Bluff. Handsome but unscrupulous John Bromfield comes into the life of beautiful and wealthy Martha Vickers. Knowing that she has only a year to live, Bromfield marries her, then settles back to wait for his inheritence. But then she begins showing signs of recovery, forcing the caddish Bromfield to radically alter his plans. The Big Bluff was scripted by Fred Freiberger, who later served as producer of Star Trek.
Starring: John Bromfield, Martha Vickers, Robert Hutton, Rosemarie Bowe, Eve Miller | Directed by: W. Lee Wilder

BIG CAPER, THE (1957)
(84 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Obviously inspired by such films as The Asphalt Jungle and The Killing, The Big Caper takes place in a small town with a large bank. James Gregory plays the leader of a gang of thieves who intends to knock over the bank--but not without meticulous pre-planning. In the months prior to the holdup, gang members Rory Calhoun and Mary Costa (a popular opera star making her dramatic film debut) gain the confidence of the townspeople by posing as the husband-and-wife owners of a local gas station. When Gregory makes it clear that he plans to blow up a school to create a diversion, Calhoun and Costa decide to go straight in a hurry. The Big Caper was directed by Robert Stevens, best known for his work on such TV anthologies as Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone.
Starring: Rory Calhoun, Mary Costa, Corey Allen, James Gregory, Robert H. Harris | Directed by: Robert Stevens

BIG COMBO, THE (1955)
(88 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Police Lt. Leonard Diamond (Cornel Wilde) is criticized by his superior Capt. Peterson (Robert Middleton) for his obsessive but fruitless investigation of organized crime boss Mr. Brown (Richard Conte). Peterson calls it a waste of the taxpayers' money motivated by Diamond's love for Brown's girlfriend Susan Lowell (Jean Wallace). Watched at all times by henchmen Mingo (Earl Holliman) and Fante (Lee Van Cleef), and masochistically drawn to Brown, Susan is unable to walk away from him. She overdoses on pills in a suicide attempt and, in her delirium, utters the name "Alicia." Diamond follows up on that new lead, and as he gets closer to defeating his adversary, the arrogant and sadistic Brown retaliates by capturing and torturing Diamond. Meanwhile Brown's former boss but now humiliated underling, Joe McClure (Brian Donlevy), believing that Brown has gone too far in his personal vendetta against Diamond, tries to enlist Mingo and Fante in overthrowing him. However, they remain loyal, and, in a chillingly silent scene visually punctuated by flashes of gunfire, they shoot the deaf McClure after Brown removes his hearing aid. Though superficially a story of good vs. evil, Joseph H. Lewis's film noir presents a complex world, visually captured by John Alton's stark photography, in which the lines between good/evil and love/hate are not always clear. — Steve Press
Starring: Cornel Wilde, Richard Conte, Brian Donlevy, Jean Wallace, Robert Middleton, Helen Walker | Directed by: Joseph H. Lewis

BIG HEAT, THE (1953)
(90 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Fritz Lang directed this gritty drama of gangland murder and police corruption, which was considered quite violent in its day. Dave Bannion (Glenn Ford) is a scrupulously honest police detective who learns that one of his fellow officers has committed suicide. Bannion is told by the officer's wife, Bertha (Jeanette Nolan), that he was severely depressed after being told he was diagnosed with a terminal illness. But the cop's mistress, a barmaid named Lucy (Dorothy Green), has another tale to tell. She claims that he left behind a suicide note detailing a complex trail of corruption in the department, leading to mob boss Mike Lagana (Alexander Scourby), and now Bertha plans to use the note to blackmail Lagana. When Lucy is found dead beside an abandoned road, with her body showing obvious signs of torture, Bannion is convinced that her story was true, and he goes after Lagana. When he threatens to expose Lagana's dealings, the gangster orders Bannion killed. But the car bomb meant to finish Bannion off instead kills his wife Katie (Jocelyn Brando). The police take Bannion off the case, but, convinced his peers are trying to cover their tracks, Bannion follows the case alone, determined to get revenge. Lee Marvin and Gloria Grahame shine in key supporting roles. — Mark Deming
Starring: Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Jocelyn Brando, Alexander Scourby, Lee Marvin | Directed by: Fritz Lang

BIG HOUSE U.S.A. (1955)
(82 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this violent, gripping drama, a ruthless criminal kidnaps a little boy and takes him into the Colorado wilderness where, unfortunately, the lad accidentally dies in a terrible fall. This doesn't stop the crook from collecting and hiding a substantial ransom. He is eventually captured and imprisoned. There he hooks up with four other bad apples and together they escape and go looking for the money. These criminals are desperate and will stop at nothing to reach their goal. One of them is a true psychopath and the cops and FBI agents must hurry before more blood is spilled.
Starring: Broderick Crawford, Ralph Meeker, Reed Hadley, William Talman | Directed by: Howard W. Koch

BIG NIGHT, THE (1951)
(70 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Awkward teenager George LeMain (John Drew Barrymore, credited as John Barrymore Jr.) is given a small birthday party by his widowed father Andy (Preston Foster) at his bar. He is puzzled that his father's longtime girlfriend, Frances, is not there, but neither Andy nor Flanagan (Howland Chamberlain), bartender and George's surrogate mother, will say why. George is embarrassed when he is unable to blow out all the candles on his cake, but that's nothing compared to the humiliation to come when sportswriter Al Judge (Howard St. John) enters the tavern. Judge orders the elder LeMain to remove his shirt ("Show me some skin," he demands) and get down on all fours. Andy meekly offers no resistance when Judge brutally canes him. Enraged at both Judge and his father, George takes a gun from the cash register and goes off into the night to settle the score. His first stop is the fights, where after getting conned out of his money, he meets Lloyd Cooper (Philip Bourneuf), an alcoholic college professor who later introduces him to his girlfriend Julie Rostina (Dorothy Comingore) and her sister Marion (Joan Lorring). Although George and Marion hit it off, she tells him he is too young for her. Resuming his hunt, George finally comes face to face with Judge and learns that Frances, who was Judge's sister, had killed herself because Andy refused to marry her. Confused, George drops his gun and starts to leave. However, when Judge picks it up and turns the tables on him, George struggles for the gun, shoots Judge, and runs back into the night. When he gets home, he confronts his father with Judge's story. He learns not only that it's true, but also that his mother is not dead but had run off with another man. Joseph Losey's The Big Night functions largely as a perverse coming-of-age tale in which the price George pays for growing up is disillusionment with his emasculated father. Armed with this knowledge and a stronger sense of his abilities, George may now be better equipped to navigate the rejections, humiliations, and sadomasochistic relationships of his noirish world.
Starring: John Drew Barrymore, Preston S. Foster, Joan Lorring, Howard St. John | Directed by: Joseph Losey

BIG TIP OFF, THE (1955)
(79 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
A TV telethon is the "gimmick" in Allied Artists' The Big Tipoff. Richard Conte plays two-bit newspaper columnist Johnny Denton, who gains notoreity by printing tips on upcoming gangland activities. Denton heightens his fame by refusing to reveal the source of his information; the audience knows, however, that Denton's tip-off man is crime kingpin Bob Gilmore (Bruce Bennett), who is in the process of staging a phony telethon to scam the public. This plot element is mainly an excuse to offer a series of unrelated variety acts featuring such LA TV personalities as Spade Cooley, April Stevens, Chuy Reyes, and Ginny Jackson. The two male protagonists are given a chance for redemption through the auspices of Sister Joan (Cathy Downs), but an apparent murder muddies the proceedings.
Starring: Richard Conte, Constance Smith, Bruce Bennett, Cathy Downs, Richard Benedict | Directed by: Frank McDonald

BLACK HAND (1950)
(93 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Gene Kelly as an Italian-American attorney? Once you get past this, the rest of Black Hand ought to go down easy. This expose of organized crime is set in New York's "Little Italy" the late 19th century. The various Italian immigrant merchants find themselves at the mercy of the Black Hand, a group which extorts money upon threat of death. Seeking vengeance for the mob-dictated murder of his father, Kelly tries to gather evidence against the Black Hand. He is frustrated in his efforts until he teams with Italian/American police inspector J. Carroll Naish. Though Naish is murdered while assembling evidence, he is able to mail his findings to Kelly, who, after beating crime boss Marc Lawrence to a bloody pulp, delivers the guilty parties to the authorities. In the real-life incidents upon which this film is based, it was the Mafia, not the Black Hand, who functioned as the villain. Even in 1950, however, Hollywood had to tread gingerly whenever dealing with big-time crime; it was easier (and safer) to go after a "dead" criminal organization than a "live" one. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Gene Kelly, J. Carrol Naish, Teresa Celli, Marc Lawrence | Directed by: Richard Thorpe

BLACK WIDOW (1954)
(95 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Broadway producer Peter Denver (Van Heflin) takes in young actress Nanny Ordway (Peggy Ann Garner) while his wife (Gene Tierney) is out of town. When Nancy is found murdered in his penthouse apartment, the two prime suspects are Peter and the neglected husband (Reginald Gardiner) of temperamental Broadway star Ginger Rogers, who had also been dallying with the dead girl. Detective Bruce (George Raft) figures out the true identity of the killer, but the audience may be well ahead of him. Despite its resplendant color photography, Black Widow is a "film noir" at heart. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Ginger Rogers, Van Heflin, Gene Tierney, George Raft | Directed by: Nunnally Johnson

BLACKOUT (1954)
(87 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Dane Clark plays a down-at-heels war vet who enters into an odd agreement. If he'll marry a gorgeous blonde (Belinda Lee), Clark will be paid a hefty sum of money. Unfortunately he's being set up as the fall guy in a murder scheme. Awakening from a drunken stupor, Clark finds that all the evidence in the murder points to him—and even he is convinced that he's guilty. Filmed in England, Blackout is based on the Helen Nielsen novel Murder by Proxy.
Starring: Dane Clark, Belinda Lee, Betty Ann Davies, Eleanor Summerfield | Directed by: Terence Fisher

BLACKOUT (1950)
(73 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this melodrama, a blind man's sight is restored. Soon afterward he learns that his girl friend's dead brother is very much alive and is unfortunately leading a smuggling ring.
Starring: Michael Brennan, Patric Doonan, Eric Pohlmann, Maxwell Reed | Directed by: Robert Baker

BLIND DATE (1959)
(96 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Award-winning director Joseph Losey guides this suspenseful mystery through its paces, beginning with an apparently guilty Dutch artist, Jan Van Rooyen (Hardy Kruger), caught in an upscale cottage where a woman lies murdered. Hard-nosed, irritable Inspector Morgan (Stanley Baker) is certain Van Rooyen is guilty and begins to grill him about his story. The artist finally admits that he and the dead woman, Jacqueline Cousteau (Micheline Presle), had met by accident and eventually began a love affair. She was married, so they kept their liaison a secret. Inspector Morgan then informs him that the woman was single but involved with a high-level diplomat. So what is going on?
Starring: Hardy Kruger, Stanley Baker, Micheline Presle, Robert Flemyng | Directed by: Joseph Losey

BLONDE BAIT (1956)
(70 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Tired of the humdrum routine at a staid British woman's prison, brassy American chorine Angela Booth (Beverly Michaels) busts out. Scotland Yard decides to allow Angela to roam free, hoping that she'll lead them to her partner in crime, who unbeknownst to her is a notorious traitor and killer. Blonde Bait was originally released in Great Britain as Women without Men. For American consumption, a few new scenes were shot, featuring Hollywood actors Jim Davis, Richard Travis, and Paul Cavanagh. Direction of the finished product was credited to the film's editor, Elmo Williams.
Starring: Beverly Michaels, Jim Davis, Joan Rice, Richard Travis | Directed by: Elmo Williams

BLUE GARDENIA, THE (1953)
(90 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
After learning that her boyfriend, a GI in Korea, has found someone else, Norah Larkin (Anne Baxter) impulsively agrees to meet womanizer Harry Prebble (Raymond Burr) for dinner. Norah allows herself to get drunk and accept Prebble's invitation to his apartment. When he tries to force himself on her, she hits him with a poker. Unfortunately, Prebble is found dead the next morning, and Norah, not even remembering how she got home, thinks that she killed him. Meanwhile, newspaperman Casey Mayo (Richard Conte), looking for an angle, invites the "Blue Gardenia Murderess" to turn herself in to him. The high point of the film is the interplay between the vulnerable Baxter and Burr at his smarmiest. — Steve Press
Starring: Anne Baxter, Richard Conte, Ann Sothern, Raymond Burr | Directed by: Fritz Lang

BLUEPRINT FOR MURDER, A (1953)
(76 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Joseph Cotten stars in A Blueprint for Murder as Whitney Cameron, a man who harbors a deep and abiding affection for his pretty sister-in-law Lynne Cameron (Jean Peters). When one of Lynne's stepchildren dies, the autopsy indicates that the child was poisoned. Despite his feelings for Lynne, Whitney can't help but feel that she was responsible for the child's death—and that she intends to go on killing until she becomes sole heir of her late husband's estate. The "moment of truth" occurs during a climactic ocean voyage which consumes nearly a third of the film. A Blueprint for Murder was written and directed by Andrew L. Stone, whose legendary insistence upon "realism" at all costs was such that it's a wonder he didn't persuade Peters to commit a real murder. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Joseph Cotton, Jean Peters, Gary Merrill, Catherine McLeod | Directed by: Andrew L. Stone

BOND OF FEAR (1956)
(66 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this thriller a family vacation turns into a nightmare when the travelers discover an escaped killer hiding in their trailer. The killer takes them hostage and forces them to take him to Dover.
Starring: Avril Angers, Jane Barrett, Jameson Clark, John Colicos | Directed by: Henry Cass

BONNIE PARKER STORY, THE (1958)
(79 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Dorothy Provine gives her all to the title role in The Bonnie Parker Story. Billed in the picture's ad campaign as "the cigar-smoking she-devil of the thirties", the tommy-gun wielding Bonnie cuts quite a swath across the South after her husband (Richard Bakalyan) is sent to jail for life . Teaming up with a young bucko named Guy--not Clyde!--Barrow (Jack Hogan), Bonnie robs banks, kills people, and broods about the pointlessness of her existence. Put as charitably as possible, this isn't Bonnie and Clyde, not by a long shot. The Bonnie Parker Story was originally released on a double bill with Machine Gun Kelly.
Starring: Dorothy Provine, Jack Hogan, Richard Bakalyan, Joseph Turkel | Directed by: William Witney

BORDERLINE (1950)
(88 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
This crime melodrama with humorous undertones involves the investigation of dope smugglers on the Mexican border. Americans Fred MacMurray and Claire Trevor enter the scene and find themselves embroiled in the illicit activities. Both are government agents, but each one thinks the other is a crook. The real bad guy is Raymond Burr, head of the smuggling ring. At one point, MacMurray and Trevor must pretend to be husband and wife, which weakens their mutual mistrust. Eventually, MacMurray and Trevor sort out the heroes from the villains, and the dope ring is scuttled...at least for the time being. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Fred MacMurray, Claire Trevor, Raymond Burr, Roy Roberts | Directed by: William Seiter

BREAKAWAY (1956)
(72 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this thriller, a secret formula purported to prevent metal fatigue during supersonic flight is stolen. Now, rival groups search for it. A kidnapping is also involved.
Starring: Tom Conway, Honor Blackman, Michael Balfour, Brian Worth | Directed by: Henry Cass

BROTHERS RICO, THE (1957)
(92 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
The Rico brothers are mobsters in the employ of syndicate head Sid Kubick. Richard Conte plays the one Rico brother who has forsaken crime. But the other Ricos (James Darren and Paul Picerni) haven't yet seen the light, causing a deep rift in the brothers' family bonds. Conte gets word that his brothers have been marked for murder, and tries to warn them. What he doesn't know, at least until the last sweat-inducing moments of the film, is that the syndicate boss himself is the man who has ordered the Rico boys wiped out. The Brothers Rico, adapted from a novel by French detective-story specialist George Simenon, is an interesting thriller deeply rooted in the post-noir style of police thrillers like The Line-Up, with its overt emphasis on crude violence and a dull, almost flat visual style. The strong performance by Richard Conte, as a man out of step with the rest of society, is lost in this film which is in essence a simple thriller, lacking any real noir ambience.
Starring: Richard Conte, Dianne Foster, Kathryn Grant, Larry Gates, James Darren | Directed by: Phil Karlson

BUNCO SQUAD (1951)
(67 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
RKO's Bunco Squad stars Robert Sterling as Sgt. Steve Johnson, a big-city detective dedicated to tracking down con artists. His current target is a gang of slicksters who are running a successful seance racket. Wealthy Jessica Royce (Elizabeth Risdon) is on the verge of bequeathing her fortune to the crooks, in exchange for communications from her deceased son. Posing as a couple of "marks," Johnson and girlfriend Grace Bradshaw (Joan Dixon) turn the tables on con-man Anthony Wells (Ricardo Cortez) and his confreres. On hand to reveal some of the techniques used by bunco artists is Dante the Magician, aka Harry A. Janssen, making the second of his two screen appearances (the first was in Laurel & Hardy's A-Haunting We Will Go). — Hal Erickson
Starring: Robert Sterling, Joan Dixon, Ricardo Cortez, Douglas Fowley | Directed by: Herbert I. Leeds

BURGLAR, THE (1957)
(90 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: C-
Professional burglar Nat Harbin (Dan Duryea) and his two associates, Baylock (Peter Capell) and Dohmer (Mickey Shaughnessy), set their sights on wealthy spiritualist Sister Sarah (Phoebe Mackay), who has inherited a fortune — including a renowned emerald necklace — from a Philadelphia financier. Using Nat's female ward, Gladden (Jayne Mansfield), to pose as an admirer and case the mansion where the woman lives, they set up what looks like a perfect break-in; even when Nat's car is spotted by a couple of cops, he bluffs his way through, gets the necklace, and makes the getaway. But the trio — plus Gladden — can't agree on how to dispose of the necklace, and soon their bickering becomes a lot less important than the fact that someone is on to what they've done — a woman (Martha Vickers) is working on Nat, while a man (Stewart Bradley) is working on Gladden. Equally serious, the trio kills a New Jersey state trooper while on their way to warn her. And among the cops chasing them is one with larceny in his heart and murder on his mind.
Starring: Dan Duryea, Jayne Mansfield, Martha Vickers, Mickey Shaughnessy | Directed by: Paul Wendkos

CALLING BULLDOG DRUMOND (1951)
(80 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
All the various Bulldog Drummond movie series had run their courses by 1951; nonetheless, MGM decided to revive the property (and simultaneously liquidate some "frozen funds") with the British-filmed Calling Bulldog Drummond. Walter Pidgeon stars as novelist Sapper's soldier-of-fortune, here retooled as a respectable retired military officer. Summoned to London by Scotland Yard, Drummond is assigned to break up a dangerous criminal gang. He is aided by female undercover officer Helen Smith (Margaret Leighton), who turns out to be not much help at all. Trapped in a bombed-out building and surrounded by hulking henchmen, Drummond seems to have run out of luck. Some of the film's brightest moments are provided by David Tomlinson as a traditional "silly ass" type who is lot smarter than he seems. Bernard Lee, the future "M" in the James Bond films of the 1960s, appears as a secondary villain. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Walter Pidgeon, Margaret Leighton, Robert Beatty, David Tomlinson | Directed by: Victor Saville

CAPTAIN CAREY, U.S.A (1950)
(82 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Alan Ladd plays the title role in Captain Carey USA. A former OSS operative, Captain Carey returns to Italy after the war to avenge the death of resistance worker Giulia (Wanda Hendrix). Much to his surprise, Carey finds that his "deceased" lover is not only still alive, but also the wife of a powerful Italian nobleman (Francis Lederer). He also discovers to his sorrow that the far-from-grateful Italian villagers hold the Americans responsible for their current financial travails. Still, Carey sticks around, hoping to flush out the traitor who'd caused the wartime deaths of several of his OSS colleagues. The box-office success of Captain Carey USA was enhanced by the incidental musical number "Mona Lisa," which subsequently won an Academy Award. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Alan Ladd, Wanda Hendrix, Francis Lederer, Joseph Calleia | Directed by: Mitchell Leisen

CAPTIVE CITY, THE (1952)
(91 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
One of several early-1950s films to capitalize on the Kefauver Committee's investigation of organized crime, The Captive City stars John Forsythe as crusading editor Jim Austin. While Austin prepares his testimony before the Committee, the film flashes back to the events which led to this courageous act. Victor Sutherland plays mob boss Murray Sirak, who has the entire police force of Austin's hometown under his thumb. Sirak in turns takes his orders from an unseen Mister Big, who of course is "above the law"--or so it seems. Based on the experiences of Time magazine reporter Alvin Josephy Jr. (who co-authored the script), Captive City contains the added fillip of a guest appearance by Senator Estes Kefauver himself.
Starring: John Forsythe, Joan Camden, Harold J. Kennedy, Marjorie Crossland | Directed by: Robert Wise

CAPTURE, THE (1950)
(67 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Virtually ignored at the time of its release, Capture has built up a small but enthusiastic following since its lapse into public domain. American oil man Lew Ayres kills a coworker whom he suspects of robbery. Thinking it over, Ayres wonders whether or not the man was innocent. He seeks out his victim's widow, played by Teresa Wright. They fall in love and marry, which does nothing to soothe Ayres' guilty conscience. When he discovers who was actually behind the robbery, Ayres goes after the real culprit, who is accidentally killed before justice can be done. Falsely accused of murder, Ayres now fully understands the untenable position of the man he'd killed so long before. The Capture was produced by Niven Busch, the then-husband of Teresa Wright.
Starring: Lew Ayres, Teresa Wright, Victor Jory, Jacqueline White, Jimmy Hunt | Directed by: John Sturges

CASE AGAINST BROOKLYN, THE (1958)
(82 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Case Against Brooklyn was based on an "expose" article by Ed Reid. Darren McGavin plays rookie cop Pete Harris, who goes undercover to help smash a Brooklyn bookie ring. The problem here as that the crooks have been bribing other cops to look the other way. As if Harris wasn't courting enough trouble by going up against his "own", he also falls in love with gambler's widow Lil Polombo (Maggie Hayes), even though he's already married to Jane Harris (Peggy McCay). Daniel B. Ullman's screenplay adheres to the facts as recorded by Ed Reid, right down to the semi-unhappy finale.
Starring: Darren McGavin, Maggie Hayes, Warren Stevens, Peggy McCay | Directed by: Paul Wendkos

CAST A DARK SHADOW (1955)
(84 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Dirk Bogarde digressed from his usual lightweight image to portray a smarmy murderer in Cast a Dark Shadow. He kills his first wife (Mona Washbourne), hoping to claim her inheritance. Surprise! The inheritance is a myth. Thus Bogarde sets his sights on barkeeper Margaret Lockwood, whom he knows to be heavily insured. But Lockwood is possessed of a naturally suspicious nature, making Bogarde's second murder plot a bit more delicate than his first. Cast a Dark Shadow is a too-literal adaptation of Janet Green's stage play Murder Mistaken. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Dirk Bogarde, Margaret Lockwood, Mona Washbourne, Kay Walsh | Directed by: Lewis Gilbert

CAUSE FOR ALARM (1951)
(74 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
While a man recuperates from a heart-attack, he obsesses with the thought that his wife and his doctor are having an affair, so decides to write a letter to the D.A. accusing the two of trying to kill him. After his wife mails the letter for him, he tells her of its contents which provokes his anger and he attacks her, dying on the spot from another heart attack. Though innocent, she is nevertheless desperate to somehow get the letter back. — Kristie Hassen
Starring: Loretta Young, Barry Sullivan, Bruce Cowling, Margalo Gillmore | Directed by: Tay Garnett

CELL 2455, DEATHROW (1955)
(77 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Cell 2455 Death Row is based on the autobiography of condemned prisoner and "jailhouse lawyer" Caryl Chessman. William Campbell plays the Chessman counterpart, here renamed Whit. A seriously disturbed misfit, Whit begins a life of crime, culminating in sexual assault as the "Lover's Lane Bandit." Condemned to the gas chamber at San Quentin, Whit spends six years fighting his sentence, gradually winning the support and sometimes the respect of various legal experts. The film ends in 1955 (the year of its production), some five years before Caryl Chessman's ultimate execution; accordingly, the film's "open-ended" finale has been removed from many TV prints. A more thorough and incisive study of the Chessman case was offered in the made-for-TV movie Kill Me If You Can, which starred Alan Alda.
Starring: William Campbell, Marian Carr, Kathryn Grant, Harvey Stephens | Directed by: Fred Sears

CHAINED FOR LIFE (1952)
(81 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
The conjoined twins Violet Hilton and Daisy Hilton, also seen in Tod Browning's classic Freaks and the smarmy Slash of the Knife, star in this interesting melodrama about love, betrayal, and murder. They play Vivian and Dotty Hamilton, joined-at-the-spine singers in a vaudeville show managed by the unscrupulous Ted Hinckley (Allen Jenkins). Hinckley pays a sharpshooter named Andre Pariseau 100 dollars a week to date Dotty as a publicity stunt. When the pair are married, Dotty's desire to be surgically separated from her sister leads the panicked Violet to shoot Pariseau dead, and she stands trial (with Dotty, naturally) for murder. Despite the exploitative ad campaign, this is a well-done melodrama presenting a realistic (?) situation in an engaging way. Viewers may still get the feeling that they might go to Hell for watching it, but at least it avoids the sleazy implications of Slash of the Knife. The British-born Hilton sisters were exploited in real life from a very early age, with their mother pimping them to various carnival freak shows around Britain and the U.S. Aside from their film and nightclub work, they were best known for an actual trial in which they were named as "the other women" in a divorce case. Their Pittsburgh hotel went belly-up in the 1950s and they ran a fruit-stand in Florida until they died in 1964 at the ages of 56.
Starring: Daisy Hilton, Violet Hilton, Allen Jenkins, Patricia Wright, Robert Keys | Directed by: Harry L. Fraser

CHASE A CROOKED SHADOW (1958)
(92 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Why has total stranger Richard Todd shown up at the villa of wealthy Anne Baxter? Why does he claim to be her long-lost brother? Is Todd planning to finagle Baxter out of her inheritance? Is someone going to end up seriously dead? The answers to these questions can be found in Chase a Crooked Shadow, a confounding chiller with more than a few adroit plot twists. Before the film has run its course, we learn that the true villain is not necessarily whom it appears to be—nor is the heroine all that she seems. Chase a Crooked Shadow was based on an 1943 Whistler radio play; the plot was later reworked into no fewer than three American made-for-TV movies. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Richard Todd, Anne Baxter, Herbert Lom, Alexander Knox | Directed by: Michael Anderson

CHICAGO CONFIDENTIAL (1957)
(73 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Chicago Confidential may not have been the best of the late-1950s "expose" films, but it certainly boasted one of the most impressive casts. Based on the factual best-seller by Jack Lait and Lee Mortimer, the film stars Brian Keith as a State Attorney who vows to bring corrupt Chicago union officials to justice. It turns out that the union crooks are in cahoots with a gambling syndicate, conspiring to frame uncooperative union leader Dick Foran for murder. With the considerable assistance of his coworker-fiancee Beverly Garland, Keith strives to prove Foran's innocence and punish the genuine miscreants. Crucial to the plotline is nightclub comedian Buddy Lewis, cast as an impressionist who helps to frame the troublesome Foran; also in the cast are such crime-flick perennials as Elisha Cook Jr., Paul Langton, Douglas Kennedy, Jack Lambert, John Indrisano, Phyllis Coates, and Thomas B. Henry. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Brian Keith, Beverly Garland, Dick Foran, Elisha Cook, Jr | Directed by: Sidney Salkow

CHICAGO SYNDICATE (1955)
(83 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Not long after starring in Las Vegas Shakedown, Dennis O'Keefe headed eastward to appear in Chicago Syndicate. This time, O'Keefe is cast as honest accountant Barry Amsterdam, determined to get the goods on Windy City gangster boss Arnie Valent (Paul Stewart). Insinuating himself into Valent's confidence, Amsterdam quietly begins gathering evidence. For a while it looks as though Amsterdam will go the way of his predecessor in Valent's operation, who ended up sleeping with the fishes, but in films of this nature justice usually prevails. Allison Hayes, who later played the title role in Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, is quite effective in the normal-sized part of the daughter of a slain accountant, while Abbe Lane plays the obligatory mob mistress (Lane's then-husband , bandleader Xavier Cugat, is also in the cast). — Hal Erickson
Starring: Dennis O'Keefe, Abbe Lane, Paul Stewart, Xavier Cugat | Directed by: Fred Sears

CITY OF FEAR (1959)
(81 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Fairly fast-paced, with only a lull here and there, this standard thriller by director Irving Lerner was one of his most successful films. It stars (Vince Edwards) as Vince, an escaped convict who grabs a metal vial from the prison's hospital before he makes his break. He thinks it is his ticket to the easy life because it contains heroin. Instead, the vial contains radioactive cobalt that could first sicken and then kill anyone who comes in close contact with it. The police are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. If they publicly announce a vial of deadly cobalt is on the loose, in the hands of an escaped convict, they might touch off a stampede. On the other hand, if they keep it a secret, who knows how many people will die.
Starring: Vince Edwards, John Archer, Steven Ritch, Patricia Blair | Directed by: Irving Lerner

CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS, THE (1953)
(90 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
John Auer directed and Steve Fisher wrote this police procedural film in the vein of the popular Detective Story of two years earlier. The film juggles around four characters through a particularly bad night in a Chicago precinct -- Johnny Kelly (Gig Young), a stressed out cop ready to crack; Sally "Angel Face" Connors (Mala Powers), a cheap strumpet lounge singer; Hayes Stewart (William Talman), a former magician and present thug; Penrod Biddel (Edward Arnold), a smooth and corrupt district attorney; and Sgt. Joe (Chill Wills), an Everyman character, known as "The Voice of Chicago." The skimpy plot concerns Kelly, who is having an affair with Angel Face and is ready to quit his job and leave his wife Kathy (Paula Raymond) at the drop of a hat. In order to get quick money to escape Chicago and start life anew with Angel Face, Kelly accepts an assignment and a payment from Biddel to escort low-life Stewart across the state line.
Starring: Gig Young, Mala Powers, William Talman, Edward Arnold, Chill Wills, Marie Windsor | Directed by: John H. Auer

CLASH BY NIGHT (1952)
(105 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
The opening credits appearing over a turbulent ocean serve as a foreshadowing of things to come in this standard-issue love triangle that shifts into high drama thanks to taut direction by Fritz Lang and a sizzling performance by Barbara Stanwyck. Returning to live with her brother, Joe (Keith Andes), at her family's home in a small fishing village, Mae Doyle (Stanwyck) has reached rock bottom. Reeling from the pain of her previous romances, Mae slowly pieces things together and begins dating Jerry (Paul Douglas), a simple-minded fisherman. More along Mae's speed is Jerry's slick, boozy pal Earl Pfeiffer (Robert Ryan), a film projectionist who makes his feelings for her known right away despite the fact that he is married. Mae spurns his advances and decides to marry Jerry. Meanwhile, Joe has grown close to ditzy factory worker Peggy (Marilyn Monroe). Some time later, Mae and Jerry have had a baby, and things appear happy, but Mae is not in love with Jerry, and soon finds herself in Earl's arms. Jerry discovers the affair, and during a confrontation with the deceitful couple, Mae reveals that she is leaving to be with Earl. After some booze and a pep talk from his Uncle Vince (J. Carrol Naish), Jerry confronts Earl and proceeds to nearly strangle him until Mae arrives. Jerry storms off, but when Mae comes to their home to retrieve the baby, she discovers that Jerry has taken the child. Desperately upset, she explains the situation to Earl, but as they talk, she begins to arrive at a new realization about her life and what it takes to find happiness. — Patrick Legare
Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Paul Douglas, Robert Ryan, Marilyn Monroe, J. Carrol Naish | Directed by: Fritz Lang

CLOAK WITHOUT DAGGER (1957)
(69 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
(AKA: Operation Conspiracy) In this WW II espionage drama, a secret agent must simultaneously capture a notorious spy out to steal highly classified information, and deal with his meddlesome girl friend who inadvertently botches his mission. After that fiasco, many years pass and the girl friend is a fashion reporter at a new show. There, the spy is masquerading as a waiter. The two old flames meet and rekindle their affair. This time, the woman is a real asset in capturing the enemy spy.
Starring: Allan Cuthbertson, Ivor Dean, Leslie Dwyer, Philip Friend, Patricia Haines | Directed by: Joseph Sterling

CLOUDED YELLOW, THE (1950)
(85 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
The Clouded Yellow stars Trevor Howard as David Sommers, a former member of the British Secret Service. After the war, Sommers takes a low-profile job cataloguing butterfly specimens. While thus employed, he make the acquaintance of Sophie Malraux (Jean Simmons), a curious young lady who seems to be hiding something. Indeed she is, as Sommers discovers when Sophie is brought up on murder charges. Championing her cause, Sommers helps Sophie escape, prompting Scotland Yard to put another ex-secret agent on the couple's trail. The chase extends from London to Liverpool, culminating in a tangled web of murder and madness. The Clouded Yellow was the first independent production supervised by Betty E. Box. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Jean Simmons, Trevor Howard, Sonia Dresdel, Barry Jones | Directed by: Ralph Thomas

CONFIDENCE GIRL (1952)
(81 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
As was his custom, director Andrew L. Stone filmed most of Confidence Girl away from the studio on actual locations. The title character, Mary Webb (Hillary Brooke), is in league with sharpster Roger Kingsley (Tom Conway). The pair's latest scam is to pose as a clairvoyant and a detective while trimming their unwitting victims. After making a tidy profit, however, Mary has a change of heart. But Roger knows when he's got a good thing going, and he'll do anything--anything--to keep Mary from turning herself in and spilling the beans. The huge supporting cast of Confidence Girl includes such ever-reliables as Jack Kruschen, John Gallaudet, Walter Kingsford, Tyler McVey, Paul Guilfoyle, Edmund Cobb, Roy Engel and Duke York. Andrew Stone's wife Virginia handled the editing duties.
Starring: Tom Conway, Hillary Brooke, Eddie Marr, Dan Riss | Directed by: Andrew L. Stone

CONVICTED (1950)
(91 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Convicted stars Glenn Ford as a hotheaded young man convicted of manslaughter. Broderick Crawford plays a sympathetic warden (formerly a tough DA) who tries to help Ford adjust to prison life, eventually giving the lad responsibilities in the warden's office. Ford witnesses the killing of a stoolie by another convict (Millard Mitchell), but adheres to the prison "code" and refuses to talk, even though it means he will be accused of the killing. Mortally wounded by a guard in a subsequent fracas, the real murderer confesses and Ford escapes the electric chair—into the arms of the warden's daughter (Dorothy Malone), with whom he has fallen in love. Convicted was the third film version of Martin Flavin's 1929 stage play The Criminal Code.
Starring: Glenn Ford, Broderick Crawford, Millard Mitchell, Dorothy Malone | Directed by: Henry Levin

COP HATER, THE (1958)
(75 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
On a boiling hot night in the middle of a steaming New York summer, Detective Mike Reardon is on his way to work when he is shot down execution style. His fellow officers at the 87th, led by detectives Steve Carelli (Robert Loggia) and Mike Maguire (Gerald S. O'Laughlin), can't come up with a motive. The investigation has barely started when Reardon's young partner Foster is ambushed and gunned down as well. Carelli and Maguire are the lead investigators on the double police homicide, tracing potential suspects and following up clues that all lead to blind alleys. Meanwhile, Miller, a reporter, does some investigating on his own and nearly gets a young detective killed by a street gang led by smart-mouthed punk Joe Sanchez (Jerry Orbach). Amid this chaos, Carelli tries to carry on a romance with a deaf-mute author named Teddy (Ellen Parker) and Maguire attempts not to neglect his wife too badly. Maguire is gunned down by the same shooter that killed the other two detectives, only he makes sure the killer leaves behind a few clues before he dies. Carelli can't make the pieces fit together — the only thing that the three victims had in common was that they worked in the 87th Precinct and they were all cops. He begins wondering if the fact that they were all police officers was relevant to the killings, but not the motive. Looking for a story, Miller reports Carelli's private suppositions, suddenly putting Teddy in jeopardy. Not knowing that the shooter is a step ahead of him, the detective races to her home. Carelli breaks the case and discovers that only one of the murders had an actual motive, one much closer to home than anyone on the squad would ever have guessed.
Starring: Robert Loggia, Gerald O'Loughlin, Ellen Parker, Shirley Ballard | Directed by: William A. Berke

COUNT FIVE AND DIE (1958)
(92 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Count Five and Die is a neat British-made programmer set just before the D-Day invasion. Nigel Patrick plays a British major who heads a group of special agents, dedicated to misleading the Nazis into thinking the invasion will take place in Holland. The Allied spies, which include American Jeffrey Hunter and Frenchwoman Annemarie Duringer operate under cover as the owners of a documentary filmmaking firm. The plan is nearly destroyed when one of the spies turns out to be a Nazi agent. The title Count Five and Die refers to the length of time its takes for the traditional cyanide capsules (always doled out to secret agents in films of this nature) to take effect.
Starring: Jeffrey Hunter, Nigel Patrick, Annemarie Düringer, David Kossoff, Claude Kingston | Directed by: Victor Vicas

COUNT THE HOURS (1953)
(76 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Director Don Siegel keeps the events in Count the Hours moving so quickly that no one has time to ponder the film's huge lapses in logic. MacDonald Carey stars as a defense attorney Doug Madison who races against time to save migrant ranchhand George Braden (John Craven) from execution. While Madison tells himself that his motives are altruistic, there are those who believe that the lawyer has designs on Braden's wife, Ellen (Teresa Wright). Sacrificing everything in the pursuit of justice, Madison finally finds the crucial evidence that will free his client—if he can deliver the goods, and the actual murderer, before the switch is thrown in the death house. Produced by Benedict Bogeaus, whose wife Dolores Moran plays a supporting role, Count the Hours was somewhat pointlessly retitled Every Hour Counts when released in England. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Teresa Wright, MacDonald Carey, Dolores Moran, Adele Mara | Directed by: Don Siegel

CRASHOUT (1955)
(82 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Six convicts plan a prison break and are successful, though their ringleader (William Bendix) is injured in the attempt. He promises to share the fortune in gold he has stowed away if they help him get to a doctor. — John Bush
Starring: William Bendix, Arthur Kennedy, Luther Adler, William Talman | Directed by: Lewis R. Foster

CRUEL TOWER, THE (1956)
(79 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
The Cruel Tower is a dog-and-pony variation of a well-worn triangle plot. John Ericson is a handsome young steeplejack, working side-by-side on a dizzying new structure with brooding partner Charles McGraw. Mari Blanchard is McGraw's beautiful young wife, whose history of illicit romances immediately arouses McGraw's suspicions vis-a-vis Ericson. The problem with all of these "dangerous profession" mellers is that the villain invariably hatches a scheme to make a murder look like an accident--and nearly always ends up the victim of his own scheme. For a while in The Cruel Tower, however, it appears as though John Ericson is really going to fall for Mari Blanchard.
Starring: John Ericson, Steve Brodie, Mari Blanchard, Charles McGraw, Alan Hale Jr. | Directed by: Lew Landers

CRIME AGAINST JOE (1956)
(69 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Down-and-out artist Joe Manning (John Bromfield) wakes up from a night of drunken revelry in a jail cell, where he's being held on suspicion for the murder of a nightclub singer. It so happens that the dead woman was clutching a "class of 1945" high school pin in her hand, and it was on the basis of this circumstantial evidence that Joe was incarcerated. Provided with a phony alibi by friendly carhop Slacks (Julie London), Joe sets about to find the real killer--all the while hoping that it isn't himself. Since there are quite a few 1945 alumni in the neighborhood, Joe really has his work cut out for him. Featured in the supporting cast of Crime Against Joe is corpulent Henry Calvin, the future "Sergeant Garcia" on TV's Zorro, as Joe's cabdriver buddy.
Starring: John Bromfield, Julie London, Henry Calvin, Joel Ashley, Patricia Blake | Directed by: Lee Sholem

CRIME IN THE STREETS (1956)
(91 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Frankie Dane (John Cassavetes) is the leader of the hornets, a local street gang that has had its share of rumbles and other trouble with the police. When one of his members is fingered to the police by a neighbor (Malcolm Atterbury) for having a gun, Frankie vows revenge, and when the same man humiliates him in public, he decides it's got to be murder. But only two members of the Hornets, mentally unstable Lou Macklin (Mark Rydell) and would-be full-fledged member "Baby" (Sal Mineo), are willing to go along, and even one of them is shaky -- the rest of the gang draws a line at killing. Social worker Ben Wagner (James Whitmore), who runs the local youth center, has been trying to reach out to the members of the Hornets and sees that something is splitting Frankie and a couple of the others off from the main gang, and is concerned enough to find out what it might be -- especially when Frankie's younger brother, a really nice kid named Richie (Peter J. Votrian), tells him that he thinks Frankie's planning to kill someone. He tries getting help from Frankie's mother (Virginia Gregg), who's too tired from her job to do much more than keep Richie from becoming like his brother, and Mr. Gioia (Will Kuluva), "Baby"'s father, who doesn't understand what went wrong between him and his son. A three-way battle of wills ensues as Frankie tries to hold his plan together and resist Wagner's efforts to intercede -- in the end, several lives are at risk, as Frankie ends up with his knife at the throat of his own brother, fully ready to use it.
Starring: James Whitmore, John Cassavetes, Sal Mineo, Mark Rydell, Denise Alexander | Directed by: Don Siegel

CRIME OF PASSION (1957)
(84 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Kathy (Barbara Stanwyck), the newspaper-columnist wife of LA police officer Doyle (Sterling Hayden), will stop at nothing to advance her husband's career. She's even willing to dally romantically with police inspector Pope (Raymond Burr) to see that her husband gets ahead. But when Pope decides that enough is enough, Kathy responds by killing him. So guess who is saddled with the responsiblity of investigating Pope's murder? A prime example of late 1950s film noir, Crime of Passion benefits from an excellent supporting cast (Fay Wray, Virginia Grey, Royal Dano) and the skilled direction of Gerd Oswald. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Sterling Hayden, Raymond Burr, Fay Wray | Directed by: Gerd Oswald

CRIME WAVE (1954)
(74 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
A car with two men visible in it pulls up to a Los Angeles service station at night, with a single attendant (Dub Taylor) working. As he starts to pump the gas, he doesn't see the third man come around the side until it's too late and he's knocked cold. The trio carries out their robbery but before they can finish, a motorcycle cop rolls up. A gun battle ensues, and one of the robbers is shot, as is the police officer. Now a manhunt is on for the trio, all escapees from San Quentin who were making their way south; the other two give the wounded man enough money to get to the apartment of a former cellmate of one of them, Steve Lacey (Gene Nelson). But Lacey is genuinely trying to go straight and live a clean, honest life with his wife, Ellen (Phyllis Kirk), and wants nothing to do with anyone he knew in prison, or with harboring an escaped prisoner. He's even more unhappy when Dr. Otto Hessler (Jay Novello), another ex-con and a veterinarian, arrives to treat the gunshot victim. But when the hood dies, matters get even more complicated -- Lacey's life becomes a nightmare as the police arrive, led by the hardboiled Det. Sgt. Sims (Sterling Hayden), who doesn't believe that any hood ever goes straight. Sims doesn't believe that Lacey's claim of knowing nothing of the escapees, and is ready to send him back to prison on a parole violation -- even though his parole officer (James Bell) believes him -- when he won't cooperate. And worse still, the other two escapees, Doc Penny (Ted de Corsia) and Ben Hastings (Charles Buchinsky, aka Charles Bronson), force their way into Lacey's home, insisting on hiding out there and threatening Ellen. And as they're now a man short, they want Steve's help on a major heist they're planning -- and will kill Ellen if he doesn't cooperate. Soon Lacey is up to his neck in a daylight bank robbery, timed to the minute, and his wife is at the mercy of a mentally deficient, sexually deviant confederate (Timothy Carey), while the police still seem to be following every trail but the right one. Steve realizes that he is the only one who is going to be able to save himself or his wife from this nightmare, and isn't convinced that he'll get out of it alive -- but by then, between being put on him by Sims and his unwanted companions, he's prepared to die in order to save Ellen.
Starring: Sterling Hayden, Gene Nelson, Phyllis Kirk, Ted de Corsia, Dub Taylor, Richard Benjamin, Charles Bronson | Directed by: André De Toth

CROOKED WEB, THE (1955)
(77 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Stan Fabian runs a drive-in restaurant with girlfriend Joanie Daniel, whose brother Frank turns up for a visit. Joanie has declined to marry Stan because he's strapped for cash, but Frank tempts him with a proposition, mentioning that he and a partner hid a stash of gold in Germany during the war. Stan accepts an offer to help recover the gold for a cut of the loot. What he doesn't know is that Joanie and Frank are actually undercover cops. A rich businessman's son was apparently killed by Stan during a deal gone wrong, but the German police are unable to extradite him to charge him with a crime. Frank pretends to shoot his partner, using blanks. He secretly meets with Berlin chief of police Koenig, pretending to be looking for the gold. Stan fears a double-cross, but confesses his wartime murder to Joanie, and is shocked to be placed under arrest.
Starring: Frank Lovejoy, Mari Blanchard, Richard Denning, John Mylong, Harry Lauter | Directed by: Nathan Juran

CRY DANGER (1951)
(79 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Dick Powell stars in this suspenseful melodrama, directed by Robert Parrish. Rocky Mulloy (Powell) has recently returned from prison, after being pardoned from a life sentence when new evidence clears him from a robbery conviction. Delong (Richard Erdman), a crippled Marine veteran who concocted the new evidence that got Mulloy released, thinks that Mulloy will be so grateful that he will cooperate with him and share some of the $100,000 Mulloy supposedly has hidden somewhere from the robbery. But Mulloy has other ideas — instead he wants the use his pardon as a chance to bring the real guilty parties involved in the crime to justice and to help out a needy friend who is still in the penitentiary. — Paul Brenner
Starring: Dick Powell, Rhonda Fleming, Richard Erdman, William Conrad | Directed by: Richard Parrish

CRY IN THE NIGHT, A (1956)
(75 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Natalie Wood plays what was touted as her first "grown up" role in the tense melodrama A Cry in the Night. Based loosely on the Caryl Chessman case, the film showcases Raymond Burr as a psycho who stalks and attacks young couples on Lover's Lane. Overpowering Wood's boyfriend, Burr kidnaps the girl and locks her up in a seedy one-room apartment. Though he barely lays a hand on her, Wood has every reason to be terrified of her captor, who has a disturbing habit of brutally killing small animals. Meanwhile, Wood's police-captain father Edmond O'Brien brusquely ignores all manner of civil liberties as he and fellow officer Brian Donlevy turn the town inside out in search of the girl and her abductor. Carol Veazie appears as Burr's blowsy, dominating mother, while Mary Lawrence offers an interesting characterization as Wood's plain-Jane sister, who is jealous of all the attention showered on her missing sibling. Cry in the Night is a surprisingly lively offering from the normally uninspired director Frank Tuttle.
Starring: Edmond O'Brien, Brian Donlevy, Natalie Wood, Raymond Burr | Directed by: Frank Tuttle

CRY OF THE HUNTED (1953)
(77 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
On the whole, the MGM B product of the 1950s contained some of the studio's best-ever "small" pictures. Filmed on location in the Louisana swamplands, Cry of the Hunted boils down to an extended chase, with escaped convict Vittorio Gassman as the fox and sheriff Barry Sullivan as the hound. Sullivan's deputy William Conrad secretly hopes that Gassman will get away, so that he, Conrad, can step into his boss' job. Polly Bergen is the requisite love interest, effectively deglamourized to fit in with her soggy surroundings. Cry of the Hunted is directed with flair by Joseph H. Lewis, who always managed to rise above the slimmest of budgets and the barest of production values.
Starring: Vittorio Gassman, Barry Sullivan, Polly Bergen, William Conrad | Directed by: Joseph H. Lewis

CRY TERROR! (1958)
(96 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Tight pacing conceals implausibilities in caper of psychopath Steiger forcing Mason to aid him in master extortion plot, filmed on N.Y.C. locations. Stevens good as Mason's freightened but resourceful wife.
Starring: James Mason, Rod Steiger, Inger Stevens | Directed by: Andrew L. Stone

CRY VENGEANCE (1954)
(81 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Vic Barron (Mark Stevens) is an ex-detective from San Francisco whose career is ruined and family is destroyed because of his dedication to his job. Three years before, he'd been close to breaking a gang with ties to some very powerful people. Then they tried to kill him by bombing his car; he was permanently disfigured, and his wife and child died in the blast, and then he was set up with planted money and sentenced to prison. Now he's out, and he's no longer a cop, but that won't stop him from finishing his last case or finding the man who planted the bomb. Neither his former friends on the force (who know he was innocent) nor the "persuasive" efforts of Roxey (Skip Homeier), a psychopathic strong-arm man, can get him to change his mind or his plans. Vic thinks he knows one of the men responsible, Tino Morelli (Douglas Kennedy), but it turns out that Morelli's been hiding out in Alaska, just as desperate in his desire not to be found as Vic has been to get revenge, and hiding from the same man. No sooner does the ex-cop come to appreciate this fact then he is set up for another fall -- this time for murder. But in the process, he finally figures out who was behind the destruction of his family; and he finds some things in life worth living for, if he can manage to stay alive to enjoy them.
Starring: Mark Stevens, Martha Hyer, Skip Homeier, Joan Vohs, Douglas Kennedy | Directed by: Mark Stevens

CUSTOMS AGENT (1950)
(72 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
William Eythe is the Customs Agent in this brisk Columbia programmer. The plot finds Bert Stewart (Eythe) stationed in China, where he goes undercover to join a gang of dope smugglers. His plan is to stop the wholesale stealing of valuable streptomycin, which the crooks are peddling to drug addicts. Marjorie Reynolds will surprise fans of her work in TV's The Life of Riley with her portrayal of the gang-leader's moll. Another TV favorite, Jim Backus, co-stars as one of the good guys. Customs Agent makes no demands upon the intellect but does succeed as slam-bang entertainment.
Starring: William Eythe, Marjorie Reynolds, Griff Barnett, Howard St. John | Directed by: Seymour Friedman

DAMNED DON'T CRY, THE (1950)
(103 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
A woman's desire to rise above her drab lower middle-class life take her down the road to destruction in this gripping crime melodrama. The story opens as she cowers insider her old home, fearing the inevitable arrival of the murderous gangsters pursuing her. Her tragic tale unfolds via flashback. It all began when she became frustrated by her humble life in a squalid factory town. She was married to a laborer and lived with her parents. Soon after her child accidentally dies, the distraught woman abandons her old life to take a job where she meets an exceptional, but dull as dishwater accountant. He is a bit spineless and so allows the woman to convince him to get involved with a powerful gangster. Though she had promised to marry the accountant, she reneges and becomes the illicit moll of the married gangster. Wanting her to be a bit more elegant so he can pass her off as a Texas heiress to his west-coast rival, the gangster hires an impoverished socialite to teach her social graces. Soon she appears as an elegant, cultured woman. Still, despite her sophisticated exterior, she is conniving and ruthless inside and tries to double-cross both her new lover and his rival. Eventually the two crime lords meet in a bloody confrontation that leaves one mobster dead. Her lover is about to shoot her but the accountant (who still loves her) intervenes and she escapes back to her home town. She waits there through the night and the next morning goes outside and finds her gangster lover waiting to get his revenge.
Starring: Joan Crawford, David Brian, Steve Cochran, Hugh Sanders, Richard Egan | Directed by: Vincent Sherman

DANGEROUS CROSSING (1953)
(75 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
In this suspenseful drama, based on a John Dickson Carr novel, blissfully happy newlywed Ruth Bowman (Jeanne Crain) boards a transatlantic ocean liner with her new husband John (Carl Betz). A few days later, however, John suddenly disappears. Ruth quickly discovers that her cruise ticket was made out under her maiden name, and that her "husband" never even bought one. To make matters worse, no one on board admits to ever having seen them together. Only the ship's doctor (Michael Rennie) believes the distraught bride's story. Together they discover the truth about her husband's disappearance. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Jeanne Crain, Michael Rennie, Casey Adams, Carl Betz | Directed by: Joseph Newman

DANGEROUS MISSION (1954)
(75 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
The 3D melodrama Dangerous Mission starts off with a bang when innocent Piper Laurie inadvertently witnesses the murder of her gangster boss. Though she doesn't get a particularly good look at the killer, she knows she's dead meat if she remains in town. Thus, Laurie skeedaddles to Montana's Glacier National Park, where most of the film takes place. Following her westward are Victor Mature and Vincent Price. One of these men is a federal agent, bound and determined to bring Laurie back to the East to testify; the other is the murderer, who intends to silence our heroine for keeps. Laurie doesn't know which is which, but the audience does. A bit poky at times (thanks in part to the uninspired editing of Gene Palmer), Dangerous Mission roars into life during a mid-film forest fire and a climactic chase through the glacier fields. Featured in the cast are William Bendix as a Montana — Hal Erickson
Starring: Victor Mature, Piper Laurie, William Bendix, Vincent Price | Directed by: Louis King

DANGEROUS PROFESSION, A (1950)
(79 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
The Dangerous Profession of the title is the bail-bond business. George Raft stars as Kane, a former cop turned professional bail-raiser. When one of his customers, robbery suspect Brackett (Bill Williams), is mysteriously murdered, Kane wants to know why. His reasons are twofold: he has an insatiable curiosity, and he's fallen in love with Brackett's widow Lucy (Ella Raines). As his business partner Farley (Pat O'Brien) looks on in mute bewilderment, Kane risks life and limb to solve the mystery. The plot doesn't always make sense, but in 1949 it was reassuring to see George Raft and Pat O'Brien harking back to their cinematic halcyon days of the 1930s. — Hal Erickson
Starring: George Raft, Ella Raines, Pat O'Brien, Bill Williams | Directed by: Ted Tetzlaff

DARK CITY (1950)
(97 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Though he had previously appeared in David Bradley's film adaptation of Julius Caesar, Dark City marked Charlton Heston's first role in a major Hollywood production. Danny (Heston) and his pals Augie (Jack Webb), Soldier (Henry Morgan), and Barney (Ed Begley Sr.) set up a poker game to take Arthur Winant (Don DeFore) for all his money, but after the fact they discover that the money he lost wasn't really his and, in desperation, Arthur killed himself. Arthur's brother Sidney (Mike Mazurki), a large man not known for his emotional stability, becomes enraged when he learns the facts about Arthur's death, and he vows to kill the men responsible. When his friends start dropping like flies, Danny hides out with his girlfriend, nightclub singer Fran Garland (Lizabeth Scott), and pays a visit to Arthur's widow Victoria (Viveca Lindfors) in hopes of finding out who the killer might be. Jack Webb and Henry Morgan later reformed after their first appearance together as criminals when they co-starred in the TV show Dragnet. — Mark Deming
Starring: Charlton Heston, Lizabeth Scott, Viveca Lindfors, Dean Jagger | Directed by: William Dieterle

DARK MAN, THE (1951)
(73 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
The Dark Man is a killer who opens the film by committing double murder. This is witnessed by young aspiring actress Molly Lester (Natasha Parry). The rest of the picture concerns Dark Man's efforts to put Molly out of the way. The plot is nothing new, though the settings—a provincial repertory theatre, a military rifle range—are rather novel. It is giving nothing away to reveal that the title character is portrayed by Maxwell Reed; Edward Underdown co-stars as the obligatory Scotland Yard representative, while future "Dr. Who" William Hartnell plays Underdown's superior.
Starring: Edward Underdown, Maxwell Reed, Natasha Parry, William Hartnell | Directed by: Jeffrey Dell

DATE WITH DEATH, A (1959)
(74 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
A transient finds the corpse of a murdered policeman and decides to steal his clothing and his identity to find the killers and bring them to justice. What makes this routine crime drama out of the ordinary is that it was shot in "Psychorama" a process in which subliminal messages were inserted to heighten the suspense. Used once before in director Harold Daniels' Terror in the Haunted House, it wasn't all that effective.
Starring: Robert Clarke, Kenne Duncan, Harry Lauter, Gerald Mohr | Directed by: Harold Daniels

DEAD BY MORNING (1955)
(68 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
(AKA: Miss Tulip Stays the Night) In this crime drama, a writer and his wife are sleeping peacefully in their beds when a mysterious woman shows up, gives the writer her gun, also hands him some jewels and asks for a place to sleep. Unfortunately, someone murders her during the night and the author is accused of the crime. Fortunately, he is able to prove his innocent by the story's end.
Starring: Diana Dors, Joss Ambler, Dame Cicely Courtneidge, Patrick Holt | Directed by: Leslie Arliss

DEADLINE USA (1952)
(87 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
An abundance of subplots are expertly woven together by screenwriter/director Richard Brooks in Deadline - USA. Humphrey Bogart stars as crusading editor Ed Hutcheson, whose newspaper is on the verge of closing thanks to the machinations of the mercenary daughter (Audrey Christie) of Mrs. Garrison (Ethel Barrymore), the paper's owner. Though he and his staff will all be out of work within a few days, Hutcheson intends to go out with a bang, exposing the criminal activities of "untouchable" gang boss Rienzi (Martin Gabel). Despite numerous disappointments and setbacks, Hutcheson achieves a pyrrhic victory as the film draws to a close. Throughout the story, the many pressures brought to bear upon a big-city newspaper—political, commercial, etc.—are realistically detailed, as is the relationship between Hutcheson and his ex-wife Nora (Kim Hunter). The cast of Deadline USA is uniformly excellent, from featured players Warren Stevens, Jim Backus, Paul Stewart Fay Baker and Ed Begley to such unbilled performers as Tom Browne Henry, Raymond Greenleaf, Tom Powers, and Kasia Orzazewski (essentially reprising her unforgettable characterization in Call Northside 777). — Hal Erickson
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Ethel Barrymore, Kim Hunter, Ed Begley, Sr | Directed by: Richard Brooks

DEATH IN SMALL DOSES (1957)
(79 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Pill poppin' truckers provide the focus of this anti-drug drama. Much of the story centers upon an investigator for the US Food and Drug Department who has been assigned to stop all truckers from taking amphetamines while they drive. The drivers take the pills to help them stay awake on long-hauls. Unfortunately, the "speed" is also causing major accidents. The investigator goes undercover as a driver to help find the main drug pushers. En route he falls for a beautiful woman. Unfortunately, he finds that she is one of the biggest pushers in the country. Though the film's original intent was very serious, it has become popular with fans of campy or cult films.
Starring: Peter Graves, Mala Powers, Chuck Connors, Merry Anders | Directed by: Joseph Newman

DEATH OF A SCOUNDREL (1956)
(120 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
A contemptuous and self-serving immigrant, Clementi Sabourin (George Sanders) pulls himself up by his bootstraps by instrumenting a series of cons and seductions which bilk several very wealthy persons out of most of their money. Most of the action is related in a series of flashbacks after Sabourin's body is found dead in a Park Avenue apartment. Death of a Scoundrel is a fictionalized adaptation of the life and mysterious death of Serge Rubenstein. — John Bush
Starring: George Sanders, Yvonne de Carlo, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Victor Jory | Directed by: Charles Martin

DEPORTED (1950)
(80 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
The real-life deportation of gangster Lucky Luciano was the inspiration for this romanticized and slightly crackbrained crime drama. Jeff Chandler plays the Luciano counterpart, who once he arrives in Italy renews his criminal activities. Chandler masterminds a black-market racket, capitalizing upon wartime shortages in Europe. He falls in love with a Contessa (Marta Toren), who is the benign patroness of the small village where he lives. Under her influence, Chandler abandons his life of crime, turns his back on the ill-gotten gains that he's already smuggled into Italy, and becomes a pillar of the community. And if you believe that, We have some land in Florida we'd like to show you.
Starring: Jeff Chandler, Märta Torén, Claude Dauphin, Marina Berti | Directed by: Robert Siodmak

DESTINATION MURDER (1950)
(72 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Producer-director Edward L. Cahn's Prominent Pictures produced this low-budget thriller-noir which was then sold outright to RKO. Joyce MacKenzie stars as Laura Mansfield whose father (Franklyn Farnum) is killed in cold blood by smalltime hoodlum turned messenger boy Jackie Wales (Stanley Clements). But the latter has a seemingly ironclad alibi and Laura goes undercover as a nightclub cigarette girl to trap him. Unbeknownst to the heroine, however, Wales is blackmailing Armitage (Albert Dekker), the ruthless nightclub operator who had hired him to murder Mansfield in the first place. But is Armitage the real "Mr. Big" or is someone else pulling the strings? — Hans J. Wollstein
Starring: Joyce MacKenzie, Stanley Clements, Hurd Hatfield, Albert Dekker | Directed by: Edward L. Cahn

DIABOLIQUE (1954)
(107 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
The greatest film that Alfred Hitchcock never made, Henri-Georges Clouzot's Diabolique is set in a provincial boarding school run by headmaster Michel Delasalle (Paul Meurisse). A ruthless lothario, he becomes the target of a murder plot concocted by his long-suffering invalid wife Christina (Vera Clouzot, the director's own spouse) and his latest mistress, an icy teacher played by Simone Signoret. A dark, dank thriller with a much-imitated "shock" ending, Diabolique is a masterpiece of Grand Guignol suspense. The simple murder plot goes haywire, and Michel's corpse disappears, prompting strange rumors of his reappearance which grow more and more substantial as the film careens wildly towards its breathless conclusion. Later remade as a greatly inferior 1996 Hollywood feature with Sharon Stone and Isabelle Adjani. — Jason Ankeny
Starring: Simone Signoret, Véra Clouzot, Paul Meurisse, Charles Vanel | Directed by: Henri-Georges Clouzot

DIAL 1119 (1950)
(75 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Louis B. Mayer's nephew Gerald proved himself an able director with the MGM "B" thriller Dial 1119. Marshall Thompson stars as an emotionally disturbed young man who pulls out a gun at a bar and holds the patrons hostage. As the police gather outside, the film concentrates on the various bar customers, each of whom has his or her own deep-rooted problems. Thompson is on the verge of killing everyone around him when a telephoned ruse breaks the crisis. A raw-nerved 75 minutes' worth of entertainment, Dial 1119 was a personal favorite of actress Virginia Field, who played one of the hostages. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Marshall Thompson, Virginia Field, Sam Levene, Leon Ames | Directed by: Gerald Mayer

DIAL M FOR MURDER (1954)
(105 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Based on the popular mystery play by Frederick Knott, Dial M For Murder is more talky and stagebound than most Hitchcock films, but no less enjoyable. British tennis pro Ray Milland suspects that his wealthy wife Grace Kelly is fooling around with handsome American Robert Cummings. Milland blackmails a disgraced former army comrade (Anthony Dawson) into murdering Kelly and making it look like the work of a burglar. But Milland's carefully mapped-out scheme does not take into account the notion that Kelly might fight back and kill her assailant. When the police (represented by John Williams) investigate, Milland improvises quickly, subtly planting the suggestion that his wife has committed first-degree murder. He almost gets away with it; to tell you more would spoil the fun of the film's final thirty minutes. Hitchcock claimed that he chose this single-set play because he was worn out from several earlier, more ambitious projects, and wanted to "recharge his batteries." Compelled by Warner Bros. to film Dial M for Murder in 3-D, Hitchcock perversely refused to throw in the standard in-your-face gimmickry of most stereoscopic films of the era--though watch how he visually emphasizes an important piece of evidence towards the end of the film.
Starring: Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings, John Williams | Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

DIPLOMATIC COURIER (1952)
(97 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
When undercover secret agent Tyrone Power is thwarted in his efforts to obtain a vital document with details of the Russian invasion of Yugoslavia by the death of the courier at the hands of two Russian agents, Siletti and Buchinski (aka Charles Bronson), it becomes his duty to go after the murderers and retrieve the papers. With more loops and turnabouts than a snake, the plot has surprises with agents, double agents, mistaken information and is, all in all, a surprisingly exciting spy vehicle. Michael Ansara and Lee Marvin also make brief appearances in this early cold war story. A script with a lot of holes in it is pulled off by the fine performances and tight direction given in this film. — Tana Hobart
Starring: Tyrone Power, Patricia Neal, Hildegarde Neff, Horace (Stephen) McNally, Karl Malden, Hugh Marlowe (Voice) | Directed by: Henry Hathaway

DON'T BOTHER TO KNOCK (1952)
(76 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Sex symbol Marilyn Monroe went dramatic in 1952's Don't Bother to Knock. Monroe plays Nell Forbes, a beautiful but suicidal young woman, recently released from a mental institution. She doesn't mention this on her resumé when she takes a baby-sitting job in a posh hotel. Jed Towers (Richard Widmark), a hotel guest, tries to make time with Nell after his own girlfriend, played by Anne Bancroft, has told him to take a hike. As Nell and Jed neck on the couch, the little girl whom Nell is tending (Donna Corcoran) surprises the spooning couple. This drives the psychotic Nell over the edge, forcing Jed to try to keep the baby-sitter from killing both herself and the child. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Richard Widmark, Marilyn Monroe, Anne Bancroft, Donna Corcoran, Elisha Cook Jr. | Directed by: Roy Ward Baker

DOUBLE DEAL (1950)
(65 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Petroleum engineer Buzz (Richard Denning) agrees to bring in a gusher for oil driller Reno (Carleton Young). When Reno is murdered, the oil well is inherited by Terry (Marie Windsor). Buzz decides to stick around when Reno's ruthless sister Lilli (Fay Baker) schemes to wrest the well away from Terry. He also hopes to find out the identity of Reno's murderer—and it's a real surprise, except maybe for dyed-in-the-wool "B" picture buffs. Produced independently by Bel-Air Productions, Double Deal was purchased outright by RKO Radio, which then handled distribution. The film was directed by Abby Berlin, on loan from Columbia Pictures. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Marie Windsor, Richard Denning, Taylor Holmes, Fay Baker | Directed by: Abby Berlin

DOUBLE EXPOSURE (1954)
(63 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
A lady photographer clicks a few revealing pix at the home of a wealthy woman. When the home's occupant commits suicide, the photographer is accused of prompting this tragedy. Inspector John Bentley suspects there's more to the case than is readily apparent. It turns out that the dead woman was actually murdered by a local bookie, who rearranged the evidence to suggest suicide. Filmed in London, Double Exposure was produced by Robert Baker and Monty Berman, the same team later responsible for the TV series The Saint.
Starring: Rona Anderson, John Bentley, Frank Forsyth, Alexander Gauge | Directed by: John Gilling

DOUBLE JEOPARDY (1955)
(70 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Mark Hill Rod Cameron is the attorney for Emmet Devrey, a real estate developer with a past, who is being blackmailed by his former partner Sam Baggett. When Sam's unfaithful wife Marge cooks up a scheme with her used car salesman lover Jeff Calder to bilk both Devrey and her alcoholic husband, Sam is killed and Devrey is accused of the crime. Mark is then called upon to prove his employer (and father of his fiancée) innocent. Without much suspense, Double Jeopardy is enjoyable in its portrayal of money both as aphrodisiac for the illicit lovers and as the reason for their mutual double cross.
Starring: John Litel, Robert Armstrong, Allison Hayes, Rod Cameron, Jack Kelly | Directed by: R.G. Springsteen

DOWN THREE DARK STREETS (1954)
(85 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Coadapted by The Gordons from their novel Case File FBI, Down Three Dark Streets stars Broderick Crawford as a no-nonsense FBI agent. Hoping to avenge the death of his partner Kenneth Tobey, Crawford almost single-handedly takes on the three investigations which Tobey had been pursuing. One involves a gang of car thieves; the second concerns a fugitive gangster; and the third deals with an extortion racket. Of the three leading ladies—Martha Hyer, Ruth Roman, Marisa Pavan—Ms. Pavan turns the most fascinating performance as the blind witness to a murder. The climax is staged around the fabled "Hollywood" sign that dominates the hills bordering the film capital. Most of the production personnel involved with Down Three Dark Streets would later set up shop at Dick Powell's Four Star Productions. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Broderick Crawford, Ruth Roman, Martha Hyer, Marisa Pavan | Directed by: Arnold Laven

DRIVE A CROOKED ROAD (1954)
(82 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Auto mechanic and wannabe race-car driver Eddie Shannon (Mickey Rooney) allows himself to be led perilously astray in Drive a Crooked Road. Responding to the come-hither looks of sexy Barbara Mathews (Dianne Foster), Eddie is inveigled into participating in a bank heist. Things then go from bad to worse to awful for both Eddie and Barbara, victims of circumstance in a larger-scale scheme masterminded by hoodlums Steve Norris (Kevin McCarthy) and Harold Baker (Jack Kelly). Without ever justifying their actions, Drive a Crooked Road manages to engender plenty of audience sympathy for the hapless hero and heroine. The film was written by Blake Edwards and directed by Richard Quine, the same team responsible for such Mickey Rooney comic vehicles as All Ashore and Sound Off! — Hal Erickson
Starring: Mickey Rooney, Dianne Foster, Kevin McCarthy, Jack Kelly | Directed by: Richard Quine

EDGE OF DOOM (1950)
(99 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
An unusually morbid film from producer Samuel Goldwyn, Edge of Doom stars Farley Granger as a sensitive young man trapped in an impoverished slum existence. Granger becomes unhinged when his beloved mother dies, and when an unfeeling elderly priest refuses to provide the woman with a lavish funeral, Granger savagely kills the priest. The boy's subsequent moody behavior is chalked down to grief over his mother, but a younger and more compassionate priest (Dana Andrews) suspects something is amiss. In as gentle a fashion as possible, the priest persuades Granger to confess to the crime and seek divine forgiveness. Joan Evans, a Goldwyn contractee for whom "big things" were predicted, plays the totally forgettable love interest for the tortured Granger. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Dana Andrews, Farley Granger, Joan Evans, Robert Keith | Directed by: Mark Robson

EDGE OF FURY (1958)
(77 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Michael Higgins plays an outwardly charming young man who befriends Doris Fesette and her two daughters, Jean Allison and Lois Holmes. The family is vacationing in a British resort town, next door to an unoccupied cottage. Higgins sweet talks his way into renting the cottage, so that he may drop in on the family any time he likes. One of those times, he reveals himself to be a homicidal maniac. Edge of Fury is based on Wisteria College, a novel by Robert M. Coates.
Starring: Michael Higgins, Jean Allison, Doris Fesette, Lois Holmes, Mary Boylan | Directed by: Irving Lerner / Robert J. Gurney Jr.

ENFORCER, THE (1951)
(87 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
When informer de Corsia dies, D.A. Bogart has to find another way to prove that Sloane is the head of a murder-for-hire ring. Loosely based on the true store of Murder Inc. this is a generally effective, moody thriller. Mostel is particulary good as a frightened crook.
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Zero Mostel, Ted de Corsia, Everett Sloane | Directed by: Bretaigne Windust

ES GESCHAH AM HELLICTAN TAG (1958)
(97 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
A Swiss-French coproduction, It Happened in Broad Daylight is an austere but shocking story of the hunt for a human monster. A forest community is terrorized by a child murderer, who per the title strikes in broad daylight. Whereas such a criminal might be more easily tracked down in the confines of a big city, the village police are obliged to comb miles and miles of mountains and wooded wilderness. A detective (Heinz Ruhmann) goes undercover to trap the murderer, posing as a workman with a wife (actually a local widow) and child. Veteran French character actor Michel Simon briefly appears as a falsely accused suspect, who commits suicide rather than face the shame of being branded a child killer. Slightly marred by some clumsy plot contrivances and by the rather crude dubbing in the English-language prints, It Happened in Broad Daylight is nonetheless one of the more accomplished European suspensers of the 1950s.
Starring: Heinz Rühmann, Sigfrit Steiner, Siegfried Lowitz, Michel Simon | Directed by: Ladislao Vajda

ESCAPE TO BURMA (1955)
(86 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this production from Benedict Bogeaus and RKO Radio, Robert Ryan stars as a fugitive from justice who hides out in the Far Eastern teak plantation managed by Barbara Stanwyck. As the two fall in love, Stanwyck comes to believe in Ryan's innocence. Upon the arrival of doggedly determined security officer David Farrar, Ryan and Stanwyck escape into the treacherous Burmese jungles. Like many of Bogeaus's productions of the 1950s, Escape to Burma was directed by Allan Dwan.
Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan, David Farrar, Murvyn Vye, Lisa Montell, Robert Warwick | Directed by: Allan Dwan

EXPERIMENT ALCATRAZ (1950)
(59 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Experiment Alcatraz stars John Howard as a doctor who develops a serum to cure radioactive poisoning. He tests it on several Alcatraz "lifers," who have volunteered for the experiment on the promise of freedom if they survive. A murder within the group casts aspersions on the doctor, but the mystery is solved before the allotted hour's running time is up. While hardly a surefire candidate for box office success, Experiment Alcatraz was purchased for release by RKO for a sum of $100,000. The film had been independently produced a year before its distribution, its lack of production polish betraying its shoestring origins. Coincidentally, leading man John Howard "continued" in the medical profession as the star of the mid-1950s TV series Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal.
Starring: John Howard, Joan Dixon, Walter Kingsford, Lynne Carter | Directed by: Edward L. Cahn

EYEWITNESS (1956)
(82 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this thriller a woman witnesses a robbery, runs away from the scene and is rundown by a bus. The two thieves, realizing that she could get them arrested, sneak into the hospital where they plan to kill her. Their repeated attempts all end in failure. At the end, one of the thieves, feeling guilty about killing her, murders the other thief and saves the woman's life.
Starring: Donald Sinden, Muriel Pavlow, Belinda Lee, Michael Craig | Directed by: Muriel Box

FAKE, THE (1953)
(81 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
In this crime drama an American is assigned to guard a US art exhibit in London to protect one of da Vinci's most priceless paintings, "Madonna and Child." A series of art thefts has put the museum officials on red alert and they anxiously await the painting's arrival. Unfortunately, the painting is stolen en route to the show and replaced by an imitation. The intrepid guard follows the thieves to a private gallery run by a wealthy criminal. The film contains some useful and interesting information on art forgeries.
Starring: Dennis O'Keefe, Hugh Williams, Coleen Gray, Guy Middleton | Directed by: Godfrey Grayson

FAMILY SECRET, THE (1951)
(85 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
A lawyer must make the most difficult decision of his life in this crime drama that begins when the attorney's son inadvertently kills his best friend. No one was around to see what happened and only his family is the wiser. But the death creates a rift in the family. His father wants him to confess while his mother begs him to stay quiet. Eventually she prevails and the father promises to keep the secret. Then he finds himself appointed to defend the innocent man accused of the killing.
Starring: John Derek, Lee J. Cobb, Jody Lawrance, Erin O'Brien-Moore | Directed by: Henry Levin

FAST AND THE FURIOUS, THE (1954)
(73 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Frank Webster (John Ireland) is a man on the run. Newly broken out of prison, the former truck driver and convicted murderer takes Connie Adair (Dorothy Malone) hostage at a lonely roadside diner and commandeers her car, a racing job than she intended to drive in a rally. At first Connie is as frightened as any woman should be in such a situation, but she soon sees that Frank is more than a wanted criminal -- he's an innocent man trying to redeem his life, and forced by circumstance to commit acts of violence. Soon the two are on the run together, lovers and fugitives using the cover of the road rally as a dodge so he can get to the border and freedom. Connie tries to convince Frank to take a stand, get the evidence out that framed him, and redeem his honor, as the authorities close in on the fast-driving pair. The second movie ever produced by Roger Corman, The Fast and the Furious marked the first release of Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson and the beginning of their American Releasing Corporation, soon to be renamed American International Pictures.
Starring: John Ireland, Dorothy Malone, Bruce Carlisle, Marshall Bradford, Jean Howell | Directed by: John Ireland / Edward Sampson Jr.

FAT MAN, THE (1951)
(77 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
The popular radio detective series The Fat Man was brought to the screen in 1951, with the series' original star J. Scott Smart retained in the title role. Smart plays porcine sleuth Brad Runyon, who tackles the mystery surrounding the murder of a Los Angeles dentist. With the assistance of general factotum Bill Norton (Clinton Sundberg), Runyon follows the trail of clues all the way to a three-ring circus. Famed Barnum & Bailey clown Emmett Kelly makes his screen debut as one of the suspects; others essential to the action are such up-and-comers as Rock Hudson, Julie London and Jayne Meadows. The film's flashback-within-flashback structure helps to enliven its more verbose passages. For the most part, The Fat Man plays more like a radio show than a movie—at least until the exciting climax, inventively staged by director William Castle.
Starring: Julie London, Rock Hudson, Clinton Sundberg, Jayne Meadows | Directed by: William Castle

FBI GIRL (1951)
(74 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Audrey Totter plays an FBI clerk who is pressed into more active duties by her bosses Cesar Romero and George Brent. Audrey's job is to uncover the criminal past of above-reproach politician Raymond Greenleaf. A pre-Perry Mason Raymond Burr plays a hulking hoodlum who suspects that Audrey is working for the feds. The comedians Tommy Noonan and Peter Marshall (yes, that Peter Marshall) shows up as guest stars on a TV program being watched by Audrey in the villain's lair. Overladen with up-to-date crime-busting technology, FBI Girl was based on a story by Rupert Hughes, the uncle of Howard R. Hughes.
Starring: César Romero, George Brent, Audrey Totter, Raymond Burr | Directed by: William A. Berke

FBI STORY, THE (1959)
(149 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
If Warner Bros.' pageantlike The FBI Story resembles an episode of Jack Webb's Dragnet at times, it's probably because the screenplay was by veteran Dragnet scrivener Richard L. Breen. The film meticulously details the history of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, from its formation in 1924 to the present day (1959, that is). The story is told through the eyes of FBI agent Chip Hardesty (James Stewart), who narrates the film. We see the FBI tackling such villains as the Ku Klux Klan, the mob, the Nazis and the communists. Subplots include the struggle by the federal agents to be given permission to carry firearms, a plight driven home when Hardesty's best friend (Murray Hamilton) is killed by gun-toting Baby Face Nelson (William Phipps). Offsetting moments like these are scenes of Hardesty's home life with his wife Lucy (Vera Miles), who at first opposed her husband's joining the bureau but who later becomesJ. Edgar Hoover's biggest fan. Excessively sentimental at times (it seems that the Hardesty family can never hold a party without receiving a terse telegram announcing yet another personal tragedy) and saddled with a rambling, stop-and-start continuity, the overall success of The FBI Story hinges upon its individual episodes, including a wowser of a pre-credits sequence involving matricidal mad bomber John Graham (Nick Adams). Since the film was made at a time when the FBI was considered to be of spotless reputation, don't expect to see any scenes of the bureau wiretapping civil rights leaders--or, for that matter, J. Edgar Hoover prancing around in drag.
Starring: James Stewart, Vera Miles, Murray Hamilton, Nick Adams, Ann Doran, Larry Pennell | Directed by: Mervyn LeRoy

FEARMAKERS, THE (1958)
(83 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this drama, a Korean war veteran, a victim of brainwashing while he was a POW, finally goes back to his home in Washington, DC, where he resumes his job at a public relations-opinion research firm. He soon discovers that his company is being run by communists after his partner mysteriously died. Now pro-communist propaganda seems to be their primary business. To stop them, the vet begins cooperating in a full-scale Senate investigation.
Starring: Dana Andrews, Dick Foran, Mel Tormé, Marilee Earle | Directed by: Jacques Tourneur

FEDERAL MAN (1950)
(67 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Former juvenile star William Henry is the all-grown-up hero of Federal Man. Henry is cast as a government agent who dogs the trail of illegal narcotics peddlers. This requires several trips south of the US-Mexico border and back again. Scenes of startlingly vivid violence are counterpointed with prosaic shots of the scientific paraphernalia used by modern-day crime fighters ("modern," of course, by 1950 standards). Though leading lady Pamela Blake is ill-served by her bland dialogue, veteran utility player George Eldredge enjoys one of the largest assignments of his career as the slimy gang leader. Like many crime films of the era, Federal Man adopts a documentary approach to its scripted scenes.
Starring: Lyle Talbot, William Henry, Pamela Blake, Robert Shayne | Directed by: Robert Emmett Tansey

FEMALE JUNGLE, THE (1956)
(56 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Held back from release for nearly a year, The Female Jungle finally received bookings on the strength of its "star", Jayne Mansfield. In fact, Jayne plays the relatively minor role of a trashy nympho; the emphasis is on neurotic police dectective Lawrence Tierney. Circumstantial evidence suggests that Tierney is responsible for the murder of a gorgeous film star--and since he was drunk at the time of the killing, even Tierney suspects himself. For a while, the number one candidate for the gas chamber is slimy gossip columnist John Carradine, but he's a bit too obvious to be culprit. Without giving away the ending, it can be noted that the murderer is played by a member of the film's production staff. Female Jungle was later reissued as Hangover.
Starring: Lawrence Tierney, John Carradine, Jayne Mansfield, Kathleen Crowley, James Kodl | Directed by: Bruno Ve Sota

FILE ON THELMA JORDAN, THE (1950)
(100 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
No one is as good as Barbara Stanwyck when she's bad. Here Stanwyck plays Thelma Jordon, a woman who late one night shows up in the office of happily married Assistant DA Cleve Marshall (Wendell Corey) to seek help in solving the string of robberies at her wealthy aunt's estate. Before Cleve can stop himself, he and Thelma are involved in an illicit affair. But Thelma is a mysterious woman, and Cleve can't help wondering if she is hiding something. His suspicions are confirmed when Thelma confesses to him that she is married to Tony Laredo, though she swears that she never wants to see him again. When Thelma's aunt is found murdered, Cleve's suspicions are aroused once again, but he is too love-struck to keep himself from being drawn into the complicated series of events that ultimately lead to his ruination. Siodmak directs with his usual skill and polish, but the film really belongs to Barbara Stanwyck who is magnificent as Thelma. Unlike the usual cold, passionless femme fatale of film noir, Thelma has a heart and a conscience. She comes to love Cleve, and has concern for his life and his future. However, despite her wish that her life could be different, she realizes that she belongs in Tony's world, and despite her attempts to sacrifice herself to save Cleve, he is doomed, by his love for her and by his own weaknesses. The File on Thelma Jordan is a romantic, unusual mystery, with a great performance and superior direction. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Wendell Corey, Paul Kelly, Joan Tetzel | Directed by: Robert Siodmak

FINGERMAN, THE (1955)
(85 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Director Harold D. Schuster, heretofore more at home with "outdoor" fare, does a nice job with the film noir trappings of Finger Man. Frank Lovejoy plays the title character, a career criminal named Casey Martin. In exchange for immunity from prosecution, Martin agrees to help the Feds net a larger fish—namely, big-time mobster Dutch Becker (Forrest Tucker). Torn between the two men is good-time girl Gladys Baker (Peggie Castle). The moment she casts her lot with Martin, Gladys seals both her doom and Becker's. Finger Man is stolen hands-down by the saturnine Timothy Carey as Becker's wacko triggerman (reportedly, Carey was nearly punched out by Frank Lovejoy when the latter caught on he was being upstaged).
Starring: Frank Lovejoy, Forrest Tucker, Peggie Castle, Timothy Carey | Directed by: Harold D. Schuster

FINGERPRINTS DON'T LIE (1951)
(67 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Lippert's Fingerprints Don't Lie stars Richard Travis as fingerprint expert James Stover. At the moment, Stover is attempting to solve the murder of a small-town mayor. When the most likely suspect has been collared, Stover determines that the fingerprints found at the scene of the crime have been forged. Thus it is that the actual murderer is still around and about. In fact, he's much closer to Our Hero than anyone might have suspected. Fingerprints Don't Lie co-stars Sheila Ryan (in one of her last film appearances before becoming Mrs. Pat Buttram) and Lippert's resident utility player Sid Melton.
Starring: Richard Travis, Sheila Ryan, Sid Melton, Tom Neal, Lyle Talbot | Directed by: Sam Newfield

FIVE AGAINST THE HOUSE (1955)
(84 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this film noir, five college students laughingly devise a perfect plan for robbing a casino in Reno. At first they do it just to pass the time, but one of them is deeply in debt and becoming increasingly distraught about it. He successfully cajoles his peers into carrying through with their plans.
Starring: Guy Madison, Kim Novak, Brian Keith, William Conrad | Directed by: Phil Karlson

FLIGHT TO HONG KONG (1956)
(88 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Tony Dumont (Rory Calhoun) is none too trustworthy at the beginning of Flight to Hong Kong. A dealer in contraband goods, Dumont is the bane of his girlfriend Jean Blake's (Dolores Donlon) existence. She wants him to go straight, but the other woman in his life, novelist Pamela Vincent (Barbara Rush), wants him to remain a crook—the better to provide material for a book she's writing. Dumont has a belated change of heart when he steps on the toes of the Mob once too often. Flight to Hong Kong also includes brief stopovers in San Francisco, Honolulu, Tangiers and Macao.
Starring: Rory Calhoun, Barbara Rush, Dolores Donlon, Soo Yong | Directed by: Joseph Newman

FLOODS OF FEAR (1958)
(82 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
After years of suffering through lookalike MGM musicals (at least, that was his complaint), Howard Keel was able to sink his teeth into a dramatic role in the British Floods of Fear. Serving a life term for murder, Donavan (Howard Keel) breaks out of jail with sadistic convict Peebles (Cyril Cusack), taking along a wounded guard (Harry H. Corbett) as hostage. It is Donavan's intention to exact revenge against the man who framed him, but this will have to wait: a driving rainstorm is threatening to precipitate a raging flood. Taking refuge in the tiny house owned by the terror-stricken Elizabeth (Anne Heywood), the convicts and their captives nervously wait out the storm. Slowly, Elizabeth and Donavan are drawn to one another, while Peebles threatens to erupt into a fit of homicidal rage at any moment. When the flood reaches the danger level, Donavan performs several self-sacrificial acts of courage, prompting Elizabeth to try to save him from ruining what's left of his life.
Starring: Howard Keel, Anne Heywood, Cyril Cusack, Harry H. Corbett | Directed by: Charles Crichton

FOOTSTEPS IN THE FOG (1955)
(90 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Footsteps in the Fog is a cat-and-mouse Victorian melodrama in the grand tradition. Jean Simmons plays scheming servant girl Lily Watkins, who was hired by sinister nobleman Stephen Lowry (Stewart Granger) and his ailing wife. The wife dies of "natural causes," but Lily knows better, and uses this knowledge to her advantage. In exchange for her silence, she forces Lowry to cater to her every whim. He is forced to go along lest he face the gallows, but in a switch reminiscent of the "lost" ending of 1987's Fatal Attraction, he sees to it that Lily herself is carted away by the constabulary. Filmed in appropriately dank Technicolor, Footsteps in the Fog is an unusual foray into Gaslight territory for director Arthur Lubin, normally a comedy specialist.
Starring: Stewart Granger, Jean Simmons, Bill Travers, Finlay Currie | Directed by: Arthur Lubin

FOOTSTEPS IN THE NIGHT (1957)
(55 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Wild Bill Elliot once again plays diligent police lieutenant Boyle in Footsteps in the Night. This time, Doyle investigates the murder of a friend, who was killed shortly after a high-stakes card game. The principal suspect is Henry Johnson (Douglas Dick), who was heavily in debt to the dead man. But Doyle finally deduces not only the identity of the actual killer (it's a real surprise!) but the misguided motivations that led to the crime. Much of the film was lensed just outside the studios of Allied Artists, fomerly Monogram and currently the home of Los Angeles' PBS outlet.
Starring: William "Wild Bill" Elliott, Don Haggerty, Eleanore Tanin, Douglas Dick | Directed by: Jean Yarbrough

FORBIDDEN (1953)
(85 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Forbidden bears traces of several earlier film noirs, with Tony Curtis filling the shoes vacated by the likes of Alan Ladd, Dick Powell and Robert Mitchum. Curtis acquits himself very nicely as a small-time hood sent to Macao by gangster Lyle Bettger to locate Joanne Dru, the widow of another gangster. It will not spoil the film to reveal here that Curtis and Dru fall in love as he escorts her back. Nor is there any surprise in the revelation that hero and heroine decide to dodge Bettger once they learn that they've both been set up for extermination. Forbidden was directed by Rudolph Mate, a former cinematographer who could probably find long, looming shadows in the Sahara Desert at high noon.
Starring: Tony Curtis, Joanne Dru, Lyle Bettger, Marvin Miller, Mamie Van Doren | Directed by: Rudolph Maté

FORBIDDEN CARGO (1954)
(85 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Nigel Patrick plays a suave but dead-serious British narcotics agent in this sporadically exciting crime melodrama. Patrick is determined that the drug traffic will not spread into his territory. He finds an unexpected ally in Joyce Grenfell, an inveterate bird-watcher. Ms. Grenfell aids Patrick in trapping a brother-sister smuggling team (Elizabeth Sellars and Terence Morgan). Apart from the always delightful Joyce Grenfell, Forbidden Cargo is humorless Dragnet material transplanted to the high seas.
Starring: Nigel Patrick, Elizabeth Sellars, Terence Morgan, Jack Warner | Directed by: Harold French

FOURTEEN HOURS, THE (1951)
(92 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Henry Hathaway directed this high-tension drama about a man teetering on the verge of self-destruction and how his dilemma affects those around him. Robert Cosick (Richard Basehart) is a desperate and despondent young man who has never gotten along with his parents (Robert Keith and Agnes Moorehead) and believes his girlfriend Virginia (Barbara Bel Geddes) no longer loves him. Cosick creeps onto the ledge of a skyscraper in downtown New York and threatens to jump; for the next 14 hours, Dunnigan (Paul Douglas), a policeman who was passing by, tries to talk him down, searching for a way to convince him that life is worth living. A crowd forms on the street below as Dunnigan talks with Cosick; Danny (Jeffrey Hunter) and Ruth (Debra Paget) meet as they watch the grim spectacle and discover how much they have in common. Meanwhile, in a building across the street, a young woman about to sign her divorce papers (Grace Kelly) finds herself wondering if she should give up on her marriage so hastily as she watches Cosick debate about throwing away his life. Fourteen Hours marked Grace Kelly's screen debut; Ossie Davis and Brian Keith also appear in small roles.
Starring: Richard Basehart, Paul Douglas, Barbara Bel Geddes, Jeffrey Hunter, Agnes Moorehead, Grace Kelly | Directed by: Henry Hathaway

GAMBLING HOUSE (1951)
(80 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Gambling House is a low-key remake of the 1943 Cary Grant vehicle Mr. Lucky. Victor Mature stars as Marc Fury, a foreign-born gambler who is currently facing deportation. Always looking out for Number One, Fury seeks out a legal loophole so he can sidestep naturalization—and, incidentally, avoid paying his income tax. His civic responsibilities awakened by pretty social worker Lynn Warren (Terry Moore), Fury does an 180-degree turnaround, going so far as to shake down underworld kingpin Joe Farrow (William Bendix) for $50,000, which he promptly donates to a patriotic organization headed by Warren. A surprisingly melodramatic finale caps this easy-to-take yarn. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Victor Mature, Terry Moore, William Bendix, Zachary A. Charles, Cleo Moore | Directed by: Ted Tetzlaff

GANG WAR (1958)
(75 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In a seminal version of his Death Wish characterization, Charles Bronson plays Alan Avery, a mild-manned L.A. schoolteacher who elects to stay mum after witnessing a gangland slaying. Forced to testify against the killers by the cops, Avery is turn terrorized by the Mob, who subsequently bring about the death of Avery's pregnant wife Edie (Gloria Henry). Meek and mild no longer, the outraged Avery embarks upon a one-man vendetta against the villains. The climax occurs in the posh mansion of gang boss Maxie Matthews (John Doucette)—who, as it turns out, isn't really worth killing. Based on a novel by Ovid Demaris, Gang War was one of a group of inexpensive second features released by 20th Century-Fox for the drive-in crowd.
Starring: Charles Bronson, Kent Taylor, Jennifer Holden, John Doucette | Directed by: Gene Fowler, Gene Fowler, Jr.

GANGSTER STORY (1959)
(70 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Actor Walter Matthau directed his first and only feature film with the black-and-white crime drama Gangster Story. In an unusual noncomedic role, Matthau plays Jack Martin, a local gangster who wants to run his own crime syndicate in the neighborhood run by Earl Dawson (Bruce McFarlan). They eventually team up and plan a heist. Carol Grace plays the reform-minded girlfriend.
Starring: Walter Matthau, Carol Grace, Bruce MacFarlane, Garry Walberg, Raikin Ben-Ari, David Leonard | Directed by: Walter Matthau

GARMENT JUNGLE, THE (1957)
(88 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Vincent Sherman replaced an uncredited Robert Aldrich as director of this noirish and atypically pro-union film from the 1950's. Tulio Renata (Robert Loggia), an organizer for the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, campaigns to unionize the employees of dress factory owner Walter Mitchell (Lee J. Cobb). Viscerally opposed to the union, Mitchell has hired Artie Ravidge (Richard Boone) to thwart Renata's efforts. In a complex oedipal sub-plot, Walter's son Alan (Kerwin Matthews) returns home and joins the firm following the suspicious death of his father's partner. Alan is more sympathetic to the union and attempts to persuade his father to sign a contract. Only after Ravidge kills Renata, and the elder Mitchell finally admits to himself that Ravidge is a thug who also killed his partner, does he agree to negotiate with the union. Before he can do so, however, he, too, is murdered by Ravidge's goons. It is then left to Alan, increasingly involved with Renata's widow Theresa (Gia Scala), to run the business, bring Ravidge to justice, and settle with the union. Similar to Herbert Biberman's Salt of the Earth (1954) in its overt support of the labor movement, The Garment Jungle is clearly a liberal, not a radical, film. Rather than advocate class warfare, it asserts that honest unions and decent capitalists can work together honorably. The film's real fire is found in the personal conflicts between Tulio and Theresa and Walter and Alan. Cobb, Loggia, and Scala perform with intense and multi-dimensional passion. Particularly noteworthy is Theresa's fury at her husband for taking excessive, and ultimately fatal, risks.
Starring: Lee J. Cobb, Robert Loggia, Richard Boone, Valerie French, Joseph Wiseman, Harold J. Stone | Directed by: Vincent Sherman

GIRL ON THE BRIDGE, THE (1951)
(76 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Hugo Haas wrote, produced, directed and starred in the tawdry but fascinating Girl on the Bridge. Like most of Haas' films, this one deals with the ill-fated romance between a middle-aged man and a much-younger woman. Saved from suicide by kindly watchmaker David (Haas), unwed mother Clara (Beverly Michaels) takes a job at his store, and eventually accepts his proposal of marriage. Their happiness is shattered by the arrival of the girl's lover Mario (Robert Dane), whose cousin Harry (John Close) extorts a tidy sum of money from David. When he can stand no more, David murders Harry, but the evidence points to Mario. At first willing to allow Mario to fry for the crime, David relents when he realizes that Mario has reformed and that Clara is still in love with the younger man. However, David's ultimate solution to set things straight is not one to be tried out by the viewer at home!
Starring: Hugo Haas, Beverly Michaels, Robert Dane, Anthony Jochim | Directed by: Hugo Haas

GIRLS IN PRISON (1956)
(87 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Girls in Prison is a typical babes-behind-bars affair, elevated by a better than usual cast. Richard Denning stars as a prison chaplain who believes inmate Joan Taylor's story that she's been framed. But Joan's cellmates, convinced that the girl has salted away several thousand dollars of stolen money, stage a breakout and force the girl to join them. Adele Jergens and Helen Gilbert do their usual "hard-boiled dame" routines as Joan's so-called friends, while Phyllis Coates forever leaves "Lois Lane" behind with a chilling portrayal of a psycho. Veteran thespians Jane Darwell, Raymond Hatton and Mae Marsh also make worthwhile contributions to the proceedings. The 1994 Girls in Prison, produced as part of the cable-TV "Rebel Highway" series, utilizes the title of the 1956 film and nothing else.
Starring: Richard Denning, Joan Taylor, Adele Jergens, Helen Gilbert | Directed by: Edward L. Cahn

GLASS TOMB (1955)
(59 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
A carnival freak show provides the setting for this murder mystery. The trouble begins when the "Starving Man" the world's longest survivor of a fast is found dead inside his glass cage. It is later learned that he was killed because he had witnessed the murder of an extortionist.
Starring: Liam Redmond, Sydney Tafler, Eric Pohlmann, Arnold Marle | Directed by: Montgomery Tully

GLASS WEB, THE (1953)
(81 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
John Forsythe plays a successful television writer, Don Newell, who works on the "Crime of the Week" anthology series. Newell is being blackmailed by one of the program's actresses (Kathleen Hughes), who threatens to tell his wife of their clandestine affair. Arriving at the actress' apartment for a showdown, Newell discovers that the woman has been murdered. Though the writer is the principal suspect, the real killer is Henry Hayes (Edward G. Robinson), "Crime of the Week"'s research expert, who was also a blackmail victim. The inability of the police to solve the murder becomes the subject of the next "Crime of the Week" program. Hayes tries to deflect attention from himself by building up evidence against Newell, which the writer is compelled to use in his script. But Newelltumbles to Hayes' guilt, and includes this fatal clue in his "Crime of the Week" playlet. Hayes tries to kill Newell during the live broadcast, but the police arrive on the scene and shoot down Hayes. Although The Glass Web was originally released in 3-D, it is surprisingly light on "stereoptic" special effects.
Starring: Edward G. Robinson, John Forsythe, Kathleen Hughes, Marcia Henderson | Directed by: Jack Arnold

GOOD DIE YOUNG, THE (1954)
(100 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
The Good Die Young is a psychological crime yarn, exploring the motivations of four participants in an armed robbery. American ex-GI Joe (Richard Basehart) hopes to use his share of the haul to bring his British wife to the US. Professional boxer Mike (Stanley Baker) finds himself unable to work in his chosen profession when his hand is broken, while his life savings are stolen by his disreputable brother-in-law. American airman Eddie (John Ireland) has deserted upon discovering that his wife (Gloria Grahame) is unfaithful. And shabby aristocrat Rave (Laurence Harvey) needs to pay off his wife's gambling debts. In other words, all four amateur criminals would have been better off staying single, which may or may not be the subliminal message of The Good Die Young. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Laurence Harvey, Gloria Grahame, Richard Basehart, Joan Collins | Directed by: Lewis Gilbert

GREAT SAINT LOUIS BANK ROBBERY, THE (1959)
(85 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Based on an actual bank heist (and even using the St. Louis policemen who took part in thwarting the original robbery), this fairly ho-hum caper film stars Steve McQueen as the driver of the getaway car for the four bank robbers. The four men go over their plan several times, including dry runs to cover every possible contingent. These preparations take up most of the film, so that by the time the thieves are ready to do it, the audience has been ready forever. The actual scenario when the thieves walk into the bank is fast-paced, and as might be expected, even the best-laid plans cannot foresee everything.
Starring: Steve McQueen, David Clarke, James Brolin, Cleavon Little, Lee Van Cleef | Directed by: Charles E. Guggenheim / John Stix

GUILTY BYSTANDER (1950)
(92 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Guilty Bystander is based on the 1949 book of the same title by Wade Miller (a pseudonym for two authors, Bill Miller and Robert Wade), in which they introduced the character of police detective Max Thursday, a private detective who subsequently appeared in five more novels. Guilty Bystander is a strangely compelling, very atmospheric film noir. The movie is not quite entirely satisfying, but its offbeat casting and the odd, meandering story (which is largely seen through the hung-over haze of its main character) can hold the interest of casual viewers, and it makes superb visual and dramatic use of actual New York locations, including the inside of a subway tunnel. Zachary Scott is perfect as the alcoholic, tormented Max Thursday, offering a performance several layers deeper than his work as Fielding Carlisle in Flamingo Road during the prior year -- he not only looks completely dissipated, but he seems like he is really tearing himself apart inside. Faye Emerson deglamorized her look for the part of Thursday's ex-spouse, and is utterly convincing as a somewhat attractive housewife and single mother. Mary Boland overacts somewhat in the role of Smitty, the rooming house owner who is closer to the plot than Thursday guesses. J. Edward Bromberg, in what was his final performance, gives a memorably convincing turn as a vicious gangster with a heart condition; and Sam Levene is spot-on perfect as Thursday's ex-boss, Capt. Mark Tonetti. Among the supporting players are several faces that would become more familiar in the next ten to 15 years, including Kay Medford as a woman of easy virtue and big ambitions, and Harry Landers as a strong-arm man. The camera work, even in the daylight shots, is harsh and shadowy, in keeping with the way that the panicked, struggling alcoholic Thursday sees things, and many of the exterior shots have the look of newsreel footage, giving it startling verisimilitude -- the violence, when it comes, is always shown at odd angles that don't reveal more to us than Thursday is able to perceive in whatever state he is in at a particular moment.
Starring: Zachary Scott, Faye Emerson, Mary Boland, Sam Levene | Directed by: Joseph Lerner

GUNMAN IN THE STREETS (1950)
(88 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Eddie Roback (Dane Clark), an American army deserter turned criminal, is going to trial in Paris after a ten-month delay when he is sprung on his way to court in a pitched gun battle. A manhunt ensues with the police just a few paces behind, including a nicely staged scene in a department store in which Roback manages to improvise an escape, only to be standing by across the street from his intended destination as his waiting confederates are taken by the police. Investigators try to get ahead of him by reaching out his girlfriend, Denise Vernon (Simone Signoret). Feigning innocence, she makes contact with the wounded Roback, who is turned away by his former associates in his attempts to find shelter and escape. She eventually finds him a hiding place in the studio of Max Salva, a lecherous photographer with a sadistic streak, who may have given Roback up to the police. Denise tries to find him a way out of the country, with money from an American writer, Frank Clinton (Robert Duke), while the police slowly catch on to Roback's whereabouts, drawing the net ever closer. Several battles of wits unfold at once, drawing the viewer in, across intertwining, overlapping plot elements. Even nature raises its hand against Roback as a crippling fog slows his seemingly easy escape to Belgium. All of the players are drawn together for a final confrontation that is every bit as violent as anything seen in American crime films of the period.
Starring: Simone Signoret, Dane Clark, Fernand Gravey, Robert Duke | Directed by: Frank Tuttle, Boris Lewin

GUNS, GIRLS AND GANGSTERS (1958)
(70 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
This generically-titled crime caper stars Mamie Van Doren as Vegas nightclub singer Vi Victor and Lee Van Cleef as her gangster husband Mike Bennett. While Mike is stuck in prison, Vi has an affair with his former cellmate Chuck Wheeler (Gerald Mohr), who masterminds a $2 million armored car heist. Mike busts out of jail and claims the ill-gotten gains for himself. He also reclaims Vi, whose fidelity can be easily bought. Practically every member of the cast is dead by the final fade-out; it wouldn't be sporting to reveal here who survives.
Starring: Mamie van Doren, Gerald Mohr, Lee Van Cleef, Grant Richards, Elaine Edwards | Directed by: Edward L. Cahn

HANDLE WITH CARE (1958)
(82 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this drama, a law student discovers corruption in city hall while researching a class project involving mock grand-jury work.
Starring: Dean Jones, Joan O'Brien, Thomas Mitchell, John Smith | Directed by: David Friedkin

HANGMAN'S WHARF (1950)
(73 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this crime drama, a doctor follows up on a emergency call and finds himself later accused of murder. Fortunately, a sleuth believes the physician is innocent and begins working to prove it.
Starring: John Witty, Genine Graham, Patricia Laffan, Patience Rentoul | Directed by: Cecil H. Williamson

HARBOR OF MISSING MEN (1950)
(60 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: C
Republic's Harbor of Missing Men stars Richard Denning as a two-fisted smuggler named Brooklyn. Double-crossed by his partners, Brooklyn is forced to go on the lam lest he be shot full of holes by his smooth-talking boss Danzinger (George Zucco). Hiding out in the home of a Greek fishing captain, Brooklyn vows to reform when he falls in love with Angelike (Aline Towne) the captain's daughter. The film concludes with a burst of violence, retribution and redemption. Harbor of Missing Men features cult-favorite character actor Percy Helton in a meatier role than usual as a waterfront habitue named Rummy Davis.
Starring: Richard Denning, Barbara Fuller, Steven Geray, George Zucco | Directed by: R. G. Springsteen

HE RAN ALL THE WAY (1951)
(77 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
This is the final film of talented actor John Garfield, who died at the age of 39 shortly after filming was finished. He plays a hardened thug who gets involved with plans for robbing a payroll truck. Unfortunately, he isn't very bright. During the caper, something goes awry and the would-be robbers panic. Gunplay ensues and only Garfield is able to escape with the cash. While on the lam, he is discovered by a kind-hearted, poor girl who takes him to her family's run-down apartment to recover until her parents, who have gone out, return. They become lovers and he is still there when the parents return. Once again he panics and threatens the family with his gun. He plans to leave in the morning and take the girl with him, but first he needs a car. The father later learns that the guard, wounded by the crook, has died. Knowing that he is dealing with a ruthless killer, the father begins plotting the robber's demise. After a long night for the family, the thief grabs the girl and prepares to leave, not realizing that the angry father lies in wait. — Sandra Brennan
Starring: John Garfield, Shelley Winters, Wallace Ford, Gladys George | Directed by: John Berry

HEAT WAVE (1954)
(68 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Alex Nicol stars as writer Mark Kendrick, who becomes involved in an affair with his murderous neighbor Carol Forrest (Hillary Brooke).
Starring: Alex Nicol, Hillary Brooke, Paul Carpenter, Monte de Lyle | Directed by: Ken Hughes

HELL BOUND (1957)
(69 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Drugs are the focus of the exploitation film set in the Los Angeles harbor. The plot centers around a villain's evil scheme to raid a ship and abscond with surplus war drugs. To help him get backers for the heist, he begins showing criminals a slide show depicting his scheme. A young woman accompanies one of the leader's gang members as he takes the slide show to various gangsters. The woman falls in love with an ambulance driver and gets him involved in the scheme. During the actual caper, the mastermind is killed, the drugs are safe, and the driver and the woman walk away from the whole thing unscathed.
Starring: John Russell, June Blair, Stuart Whitman, Margo Woode | Directed by: William J. Hole Jr.

HELL'S FIVE HOURS (1958)
(73 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Hell's Five Hours begin ticking away when Nash (Vic Morrow), a disgruntled employee of a rocket-fuel manufacturing plant, goes berserk. Wielding a home-made bomb, Nash threatens to blow himself, his hostages and the plant to smithereens. Nash's supervisor Mike (Stephen McNally) takes it upon himself to talk Nash into surrendering, playing for time while all the fuel is pumped out of the plant's supply tanks and the rockets are removed from the premeses. Mike has only five hours (hence the film's title) to convince Nash to come to his senses. Hell's Five Hours makes up in tension what it lacks in production finesse.
Starring: Stephen McNally, Coleen Gray, Vic Morrow, Maurice Manson | Directed by: Jack L. Copeland

HIDDEN FEAR (1957)
(83 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Filmed on location in Copenhagen, Hidden Fear stars John Payne as an American lawman whose Denmark-based sister Natalie Norwick is in big, big, trouble. Arrested for the murder of her music hall partner, Natalie hopes that Payne can clear her name. Following the evidence trail, the detective meets the murder victim's girlfriend Anne Neyland, who in turn leads our hero to a vicious counterfeiting gang, headed by ex-Nazi Alexander Knox. Conrad Nagel, who evidently went along for the ride to get a free vacation, appears briefly as Neyland's American sugar daddy. Given only a limited release, Hidden Fear hid from view until it was picked up for an ABC network telecast in 1963.
Starring: John Payne, Alexander Knox, Conrad Nagel, Natalie Norwick | Directed by: André De Toth

HIGHLY DANGEROUS (1950)
(88 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Britain's Margaret Lockwood is teamed with Hollywood's Dane Clark in Highly Dangerous. Set in a mythical Iron Curtain country, the film casts Lockwood as an entomologist who hopes to stop a planned volley of bacteriological warfare. Facing danger at every turn, our heroine is rescued time and again by a two-fisted American reporter (Clark). The story culminates in a glass-enclosed hothouse, where the two protagonists race against time to neutralize thousands of poisonous insects. One bizarre sequence finds a drug-benumbed Lockwood imagining herself as the star of a popular British radio serial! Future Saint mentor Roy Baker directed from a script supplied by no less than Eric Ambler.
Starring: Margaret Lockwood, Dane Clark, Marius Goring, Naunton Wayne | Directed by: Roy Ward Baker

HIGHWAY 301 (1950)
(83 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Filmmaker Andrew Stone was always a staunch believer in realism at all costs. Thus it was that much of Highway 301 was lensed on a genuine (and very busy) interstate highway. Based on fact, the film recounts the bloody exploits of the notorious "Tri-State Gang," which preyed upon truck drivers. Gang leader George Legenza (Steve Cochran) will kill anyone who stands in his way—even his own henchmen. Before meeting his well-deserved demise, Legenza leads the authorities on a not-so-merry chase through Virginia, North Carolina and Maryland. A few welcome comic moments are provided by Virginia Grey, playing the soap-opera-fan wife of one of the gang members.
Starring: Steve Cochran, Virginia Grey, Gaby André, Edmon Ryan | Directed by: Andrew L. Stone

HIGHWAY DRAGNET (1954)
(71 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Highway Dragnet is best known to modern movie buffs as the first film to carry Roger Corman's name in the credits. Corman was one of six screenwriters contributing to this location-filmed suspense melodrama, which stars Richard Conte as an ex-Marine on the lam from a murder charge. Conte hitches a ride from glamour-magazine photographer Joan Bennett, who is travelling cross-country with her principal model, Wanda Hendrix. True to audience expectations, the murderer will at one time or another be an occupant of Bennett's car, though it won't be the person whom the police are looking for. The tense climax takes place in a flooded tract house, with the killer stalking the next potential victim. Criticized for its low production values at the time of its release, Highway Dragnet actually stands up pretty well when seen today. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Richard Conte, Joan Bennett, Wanda Hendrix, Reed Hadley | Directed by: Nathan Juran

HIS KIND OF WOMAN (1951)
(122 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
His Kind of Woman directed by veteran John Farrow, is a convoluted mystery thriller which tries unsuccessfully to combine slapstick comedy with excessive violence, resulting in a film that depends more on stereotypes than on plot development. Nick (Raymond Burr), is a deported gang boss who needs to get back to the United States to run his operation. Dan Miller (Robert Mitchum) is a hard-up guy, who is persuaded, both by a series of beatings and a substantial sum of money, to sell his identity to Nick. Lenore (Jane Russell) a singer, poses as a heiress, trying to marry a millionaire. They all meet up in a resort in Mexico where Nick intends to have plastic surgery to alter his looks. There, a number of double-crosses, shootings, and chases all culminate in an exciting confrontation aboard ship. His Kind of Woman, a Howard Hughes production designed to be a showcase for Jane Russell, is entertaining when viewed as a comedy. As a serious film-noir thriller, it lacks suspense and depth. However, the film has its moments, and Robert Mitchum is in his element as the loner anti-hero. — Linda Rasmussen
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, Vincent Price, Raymond Burr, Charles McGraw, Mamie Van Doren | Directed by: John farrow

HIT AND RUN (1957)
(84 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this thriller, a middle-aged husband is insanely jealous of his trophy wife, a showgirl. The young bride soon becomes romantically involved with one of her husband's employees. Together they conspire to kill the old goat. The treacherous wife then leaves her late husband's estate to his twin brother, an ex-con recently released from prison. In an interesting plot twist, it is discovered that the lovers actually murdered the twin brother, not the husband. The husband then begins exacting his revenge.
Starring: Cleo Moore, Hugo Haas, Vince Edwards, Dolores Reed | Directed by: Hugo Haas

HITCH-HIKER, THE (1953)
(71 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Daniel Mainwaring took this story right out of the headlines of the day, penning this true story of a mass murderer who was eventually executed in San Quentin's gas chamber. Released during McCarthy's witch-hunt, Mainwaring was not given credit because Howard R. Hughes, who produced it under RKO, refused to give credit to any "radicals." The story is that of two men on a fishing trip who pick up a hitchhiker. He turns out to be a sadistic psychopath who has committed multiple murders, a sociopath who hates humanity because of his own abuse as a child. He also has an affliction which terrifies these two men: an eye which is permanently open, thereby never allowing them to know if he is really asleep or just faking it—something which he does with regularity to scare them...letting them take off and then meeting up with them just as they feel they have escaped from him. A tense thriller skillfully directed by the only female director of the time, Ida Lupino, it is a suspenseful tale of terror on the highways. — Tana Hobart
Starring: Edmond O'Brien, Frank Lovejoy, William Talman, José Torvay, Ida Lupino | Directed by: Ida Lupino

HOLLYWOOD STORY (1951)
(76 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Economically utilizing the Universal Studio itself as a "set," Hollywood Story is a murder mystery centered in the film capital. The story concerns a long-unsolved homicide case involving several silent-film stars (an echo of the William Desmond Taylor scandal of 1922). Producer Richard Conte decides to make a movie based on the case, and to this end rounds up its surviving participants, including a once-great star/director (Henry Hull) reduced to bit parts. The denouement holds no surprises for mystery fans, but is effectively staged by director William Castle. Hollywood Story is given the aura of verisimilitude by the presence of several silent-movie celebrities (including William Farnum and Francis X. Bushman) as "themselves." Also appearing in an unheralded bit part is Elmo Lincoln, moviedom's first "Tarzan."
Starring: Richard Conte, Julie Adams, Richard Egan, Fred Clark, Jim Backus | Directed by: William Castle

HOMICIDAL (1961)
(87 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Homicidal represents producer/director William Castle's slant on Hitchcock's Psycho. The film concerns a young woman named Miriam Webster (Patricia Breslin) who seemingly has everything a girl could want - including a successful flower shop business, and a handsome beau, Karl (Glenn Corbett), who works as a pharmacist. Events take a turn for the worse, however, when Miriam's half-brother, Warren, returns from Europe - with a rather unpleasant friend in-tow: a blonde named Emily (Jean Arless). Emily promptly sets about destroying Miriam's life: the newcomer attempts to wheedle Karl away from Miriam, then rips the flower shop to pieces, then ultimately reveals a little taste for knife-wielding that directly threatens Miriam's safety. Like The Tingler and other Castle outings, this one originally featured a gimmick, preserved in the video release: a "fright-break" just prior to the climax, which allowed terrified audience members approximately 45 seconds to get out of their seats and leave the theater - to avoid the prospect of being "frightened to death." One look at Jean Arless's credit in the cast listing betrays the final twist in this one, directly (and unapologetically) lifted by Castle from Psycho.
Starring: Glenn Corbett, Patricia Breslin, Eugenie Leontovich, Alan Bunce, Richard Rust | Directed by: William Castle

HONG KONG CONFIDENTIAL (1958)
(67 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Director Edward L. Cahn always knew how to make lemonade from a lemon; his B pictures of the late 1950s displayed a raw energy that many of his higher-budgeted films of the 1930s lacked. Hong Kong Confidential is a backlot cheapie starring Gene Barry and second-feature stalwarts Beverly Tyler and Allison Hayes. Barry plays a secret agent, in Hong Kong to rescue an Arabian prince from his kidnappers. The villains, of course, are Soviet spies, easily recognizable by their baggy suits and flabby accents. Also in the cast of Hong Kong Confidential is Ed Kemmer, who'd once starred in that baby-boomer favorite Space Patrol.
Starring: Gene Barry, Beverly Tyler, Allison Hayes, Noel Drayton | Directed by: Edward L. Cahn

HOODLUM EMPIRE (1952)
(98 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
The Kefauver Committee's ongoing investigation of organized crime spawned several "Torn from Today's Headlines!" films in the early 1950s. Republic's Hoodlum Empire concerns the efforts by gangster Joe Gray (John Russell) to get out of the rackets after WW II. Part of Gray's "reclamation" is to testify at a public hearing, prompting a series of flashbacks. Part of the fun is to guess who all the "fictional" criminals are really supposed to be: Luther Adler's character may be called "Nicky Mancini," for example, but for all intents and purposes Adler is playing Frank "Fifth Amendment" Costello. Other famous underworld personages are impersonated by Claire Trevor, Forrest Tucker and Roy Barcroft, while the steadfast Estes Kefauver counterpart is portrayed by Brian Donlevy.
Starring: Brian Donlevy, Claire Trevor, Forrest Tucker, Vera Ralston, Gene Lockhart | Directed by: Joseph Kane

HOODLUM, THE (1951)
(61 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
The Hoodlum is tailor-made for the roughneck talents of actor Lawrence Tierney. The film details the rise and fall of a habitual criminal, and the havoc he wreaks on the lives of his loved ones. Things really go downhill when the "hero" (Tierney) seduces and abandons his brother's sweetheart (Allene Roberts), whereupon the girl commits suicide. Lawrence Tierney's "reel" brother is played by his real brother Edward; presumably, Tierney's more famous sibling Scott Brady was occupied elsewhere. The best performance is delivered by Lisa Golm as the Hoodlum's long-suffering mother.
Starring: Lawrence Tierney, Edward Tierney, Allene Roberts, Marjorie Riordan | Directed by:

HOUR OF 13, THE (1952)
(80 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
The Hour of 13 is a leisurely remake of the 1934 thriller The Mystery of Mr. X. The year is 1890: London is being plagued by a series of murders. The victims are all policemen, and the killer seems to be operating in a deliberate pattern. Suave jewel thief Nicholas Revel (Peter Lawford) is compelled to seek out the killer, lest he himself be accused of murder by his friendly enemy, Inspector Connor (Roland Culver). Filmed at MGM's British facilities, The Hour of 13 makes excellent use of several topnotch English supporting actors, including Dawn Addams, Derek Bond, Leslie Dwyer, Michael Hordern, and Colin Gordon. The original Mystery of Mr. X made the tactical blunder of revealing the killer's identity in the opening credits; happily, Hour of 13 does not repeat this error. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Peter Lawford, Dawn Addams, Roland Culver, Derek Bond | Directed by: Harold French

HOUSE BY THE RIVER (1950)
(88 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Fritz Lang was the guiding hand of this laudable Republic Studios melodrama. Louis Hayward stars as a wealthy wastrel who tries to seduce the family maid. She resists, and he kills her. Long jealous of his brother Lee Bowman, Hayward does his best to pin the blame for the murder on his sibling. Also affected by Hayward's arrogant dementia is his long-suffering wife Jane Wyatt. Originally, director Lang had proposed that the unfortunate maid be a black woman, and that the killing take place accidentally during some harmless flirtation on Hayward's part. He was vetoed by the timorous Republic staff (even the slightest hint of miscegenation was taboo in 1950), but House by the River turned out pretty well all the same. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Louis Hayward, Lee Bowman, Jane Wyatt, Dorothy Patrick | Directed by: Fritz Lang

HOUSE OF BAMBOO (1955)
(102 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Samuel Fuller directed and cowrote this typically hard-boiled drama set in Japan following World War II. Eddie Kenner (Robert Stack) is given a special assignment by the Army to get the inside story on Sandy Dawson (Robert Ryan), a former GI who has formed a gang of fellow servicemen and Japanese locals who use their muscle to take over Tokyo's pachinko racket and commit a series of train robberies, targeting deliveries of military ammunition. Eddie is supposed to gather evidence on the murder of a soldier believed to have fallen in with the gang, and Eddie tries to blend in with the group to find out how they work. Hoping to learn more, Eddie also begins romancing Mariko (Shirley Yamaguchi), a Japanese woman who was married to the slain gangster, and he learns that the ruthless Dawson kills men who are injured during robberies rather than leave them behind to possibly testify against him. After a burglary goes wrong, Dawson becomes convinced that there's an informer in the group; wrongly believing it's Griff (Cameron Mitchell), Dawson kills his loyal soldier and makes Eddie his second in command. Veteran Japanese actor Sessue Hayakawa appears as Inspector Kito, a Japanese police detective working with Eddie to crack the case. — Mark Deming
Starring: Robert Ryan, Robert Stack, Shirley Yamaguchi, Cameron Mitchell | Directed by: Samuel Fuller

HOUSE OF BLACKMAIL (1953)
(72 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
When a hitchhiker gets a ride with a woman driving to meet a blackmailer, the hitchhiker is blamed for the murder of the blackmailer when he dies due to electrocution by high tension wires.
Starring: John Arnatt, Alexander Gauge, Mary Germaine, Hugo Schuster, William Sylvester | Directed by: Maurice Elvey

HOUSE OF NUMBERS (1957)
(92 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
House of Numbers might have worked better as a farce comedy than a deadly serious melodrama, but everyone involved tries hard not to raise a chuckle. Jack Palance plays a dual role, as an imprisoned gangster and the gangster's twin brother. During a visit to the gangster, the brother switches places, allowing himself to be incarcerated as the real criminal walks free. The scheme involves the complete cooperation of Barbara Lang, wife of one of the Palance boys, who expectedly wavers in her loyalties. Based on a novel by Jack Finney, House of Numbers strived for realism by staging several scenes on location at San Quentin. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Jack Palance, Barbara Lang, Harold J. Stone, Edward Platt | Directed by: Russell Rouse

HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (1958)
(75 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
A perennial favorite of the "Shock Theatre" TV circuit, House on Haunted Hill stars Vincent Price as sinister gent (you're surprised?) Frederick Loren, who resides in a sinister mansion on a sinister hill, where seven murders have occurred. He makes a proposal to several strangers, offtering $10,000 to anyone who can last the entire night. Loren festively gives each of his guests a tiny coffin containing a loaded handgun, designed to protect them from the spooks that emerge in the house over the course of the night. The picture hinges on its surprise ending, which packs in several by-now-familiar twists. When originally released to theaters, House on Haunted Hill was accompanied by one of those gimmicks so beloved of producer/director William Castle: the gimmick was "Emergo," and it involved a prop skeleton that "emerged" from the side of the screen at a crucial moment to frighten the audience. Like most of Castle's best films, House didn't really need the gimmick, but its presence added to the fun -- especially when second- and third-time viewers responded to "Emergo" by bombarding the skeleton with popcorn and empty soda bottles.
Starring: Vincent Price, Carol Ohmart, Richard Long, Alan Marshal, Carolyn Craig, Elisha Cook, Jr. | Directed by: William Castle

HOUSE ON TELEGRAPH HILL, THE (1951)
(93 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
After surviving the hell of a Nazi death camp, a refugee faces even greater dangers in America in this tale of murder, deceit, and assumed identities. Victoria Kopwelska (Valentina Cortese) is a Polish woman imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp near the end of World War II. Desperate to survive, Victoria learns that her best friend has family in the United States, and if they are ever freed, she pledges to take Victoria to America with her. Victoria's friend, however, is killed shortly before American troops can liberate the camp. With nowhere to go, Victoria steals her friend's papers and sails to America, where she is accepted as her friend by her family. Victoria learns that she is now the godmother to a young boy, as well as the heir to a sizable fortune, following the death of her "aunt." Alan Spender (Richard Basehart), the boy's guardian, has been making secret plans to get his hands on the money, and Victoria's arrival causes him to draft a new scheme. Alan begins wooing Victoria, hoping to take her hand in marriage and then murder her, gaining her estate in the process. However, after several accidents befall the youngster, Victoria begins to believe that her new sweetheart is up to no good. The House on Telegraph Hill was directed by Robert Wise, who went on to helm such blockbusters as West Side Story and The Sound of Music. — Mark Deming
Starring: Richard Basehart, Valentina Cortese, William Lundigan, Fay Baker | Directed by: Robert Wise

HOUSTON STORY, THE (1956)
(79 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: C
One of the many "exposes" of corporate corruption filmed in the 1950s, Houston Story was ground out with stingy efficiency by Columbia Pictures. Gene Barry plays a crafty oilman who with the aid of several hand-picked henchmen steals gasoline from his rivals. Edward Arnold, he of the wicked laugh and deadly glare, is a mobster boss who persuades Barry to siphon his hard-earned stealings into the coffers of the Syndicate. The covetous oilman agrees, planning to turn the tables on the criminals and take over the Syndicate himself. Houston Story is of interest for its cast of TV stars-to-be: Future "Bat Masterson" and "Burke's Law" headliner Gene Barry, daytime-drama leading lady Jeanne Cooper, and "Perry Mason" costar Barbara Hale (in a blonde wig).
Starring: Gene Barry, Barbara Hale, Edward Arnold, Paul E. Richards | Directed by: William Castle

HUMAN DESIRE (1954)
(90 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Carl Buckley (Broderick Crawford) needs the intervention of his beautiful wife Vicki (Gloria Grahame) to keep his job, so Vicki meets with Carl's boss Owens (Grandon Rhodes), and Carl's job is secure. Insanely jealous, Carl finds Vicki with Owens on board a train and kills Owens. Jeff Warren (Glenn Ford), an off-duty train engineer protects Vicki and they begin an affair. Still obsessively jealous, Carl becomes an alcoholic and blackmails Vicki into staying with him. Vicki persuades Jeff to kill Carl, but at the last minute Jeff relents, taking on the letter which Carl has used to blackmail Vicki with. Vicki leaves town on the train with Carl — all the while taunting him with her infidelity. Carl is overcome with a jealous rage that ultimately leads to tragedy. Directed by Fritz Lang), Human Desire an updated remake of Jean Renoir's adaptation of Emile Zola's novel, La Bete Humaine, is a grim sordid story in which desperate people try to relieve their desolate lives with cheap pleasures. Gloria Grahame is perversely alluring as the sexually driven Vicki and Broderick Crawford evokes some empathy as the obsessed Carl. — Linda Rasmussen
Starring: Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Broderick Crawford, Edgar Buchanan | Directed by: Fritz Lang

HUMAN JUNGLE, THE (1954)
(82 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: C-
In the tradition of Dragnet and The Lineup, this is devoted to a typically busy day at a police precinct station house. Despite the presence of such recognizable actors as Gary Merrill and Regis Toomey, the film successfully adopts a documentary approach. The plot concerns a new police chief (Gary Merrill) who is determined to clean up a crime-ridden slum district. The ads for The Human Jungle offered teasing full-body shots of costar Jan Sterling in a skimpy negligee; hopefully the fans lured in by this come-on weren't disappointed once they found how little they actually saw of Ms. Sterling (figuratively and literally) in the film itself. The Human Jungle was an "in between" production for Allied Artists, which in 1954 was trying to divest itself of the "poverty row" onus placed upon its predecessor, Monogram Pictures.
Starring: Gary Merrill, Jan Sterling, Paula Raymond, Emile G. Meyer | Directed by: Joseph Newman

HUNT THE MAN DOWN (1950)
(68 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Gig Young was just beginning to toughen up his previously lightweight screen image when he starred in Hunt the Man Down. In a tense, tight, 68 minutes, public defender Paul Bennett (Young) dedicates himself to freeing an innocent man who has already spent 12 years in jail. Accused of murder, transient Richard Kinkaid (James Anderson) had been unable to afford proper legal representation at his first trial. With no new evidence, Bennett is obliged to solve the murder himself, and to do that he must track down the original witnesses to the crime. The cast is a film buff's paradise, ranging from leading ladies Lynne Roberts and Carla Balenda to featured players Harry Shannon, Iris Adrian, Mary Anderson, Gerald Mohr, Cleo Moore and prolific voiceover artist Paul Frees.
Starring: Gig Young, Lynne Roberts, Mary Anderson, Willard Parker, Cleo Moore | Directed by: George Archainbaud

HUNTED, THE (1952)
(84 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
If the plot of the 1993 Kevin Costner film A Perfect World seemed vaguely familiar, perhaps it's because it bears a more than passing resemblance to the British-made 1952 thriller The Hunted (U.S. title: Stranger in Between). Dirk Bogarde stars in this emotional melodrama as an escaped murderer, sloshing through the North Country mud. Bogarde is reluctantly saddled with a fugitive orphan boy (Jon Whitely), who insists upon tagging along. The murderer ends up sacrificing his freedom to rescue the injured boy from certain death. While The Hunted was greeted with moderate enthusiasm in Britain, its virtues were trumped by the French film critics of the era.
Starring: Dirk Bogarde, Jon Whiteley, Elizabeth Sellars, Kay Walsh, Charles McGraw | Directed by: Charles Crichton

I BURY THE LIVING (1958)
(80 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Unjustly ignored by many books on the horror film, I Bury the Living is a bone-chilling little mood piece, almost completed dominated by Richard Boone. Expertly avoiding the obvious throughout the film, Boone gives a thoroughly credible performance of a troubled man who labors under the misapprehension that he is God. Boone plays the new chairman of a large cemetery; in his office is a map of the grounds, with black pins representing the occupied plots, and white pins representing plots that have been purchased but not yet filled. When Boone inadvertently mixes up the black and white pins, several of the plot owners suffer untimely deaths. Inevitably, Boone becomes convinced that he has the power of life and death—a conviction that doesn't completely dissipate once the secret behind the sudden deaths is revealed. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Richard Boone, Theodore Bikel, Peggy Maurer, Howard I. Smith | Directed by: Albert Band

I CONFESS (1953)
(95 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Based on the turn-of-the-century play Our Two Consciences by Paul Anthelme, Hitchcock's I Confess is set in Quebec. Montgomery Clift plays a priest who hears the confession of church sexton O.E. Hasse. "I...killed...a man" whispers Hasse in tight closeup—and, bound by the laws of the Confessional, Clift is unable to turn Hasse over to the police. But police-inspector Karl Malden has a pretty good idea who the guilty party is: all evidence points to Clift. It seems that the dead man had been blackmailing Anne Baxter, who was once in a factually innocent, but seemingly exploitable compromising position with Clift. Tried for murder, Clift is released due to lack of evidence, but he is ruined in the eyes of the community. Then it is Hasse's turn to make that One Fatal Error. I Confess is frequently dismissed as a lesser Hitchcock, due mainly to the quirky performance of Montgomery Clift (who, it is said, steadfastly refused to take direction). Today, four decades removed from its on-set intrigues, the film has taken its place as one of the best of Hitchcock's "between the classics" efforts. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Montgomery Clift, Anne Baxter, Karl Malden, Brian Aherne | Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

I DIED A THOUSAND TIMES (1955)
(109 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
I Died a Thousand Times is a scene-by-scene remake of the 1941 crime-drama classic High Sierra. Jack Palance steps into the old Humphrey Bogart role as Roy "Mad Dog" Earle, the ageing bank robber who intends to pull off one last heist before retiring. Sprung from prison by likeable crime boss Big Mac (Lon Chaney Jr.), Earle is commissioned to mastermind the robbery of a resort hotel. His partners in crime include the hotheaded, immature Babe (Lee Marvin) and Red (Earl Holliman), as well as "inside man" Mendoza (Perry Lopez). Also along for the ride is Marie (Shelley Winters), a dance-hall girl whom Babe has picked up. Marie falls in love with Earle, but he has eyes only for Velma (Lori Nelson), the club-footed daughter of a farmer (Ralph Moody) whom Earle had earlier befriended. Intending to use his share of the loot to finance Velma's operation, Earle goes through with the robbery, only to be thwarted by the ineptitude of his partners, the treachery of the late Big Mac's successors, and, finally, the fickle Velma. With the faithful Marie by his side, Earle makes a desperate escape into the High Sierras, but fate is still against him. Essentially an itinerary of what has previously "clicked" in High Sierra, I Died a Thousand Times makes a few concessions to changing tastes and mores; the stereotype comedy-relief character played by black actor Willie Best in the original film, for example, has been replaced by the more "acceptable" (at least by 1950s terms) stereotyped Mexican played by Gonzales-Gonzales. While the 1955 film cannot match the excellence of its 1941 role model, I Died a Thousand Times works pretty well on its own terms.
Starring: Jack Palance, Shelley Winters, Lori Nelson, Lee Marvin, Lon Chaney, Jr., Earl Holliman | Directed by: Stuart Heisler

I WAS A COMMUNIST FOR THE FBI (1951)
(83 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
The real Matt Cvetic was a borderline alcoholic with a nasty disposition (he once allegedly beat his sister-in-law so badly she required hospitalization). But Cvetic was also a fervent anti-communist, and so, for a brief period in the early 1950s, he was a folk hero. I Was a Communist for the F.B.I. is the semi-true story of how Cvetic (played by Frank Lovejoy) renounced his friends and family and embraced the Red cause--on behalf of the F.B.I., for whom he was a volunteer undercover agent. The film recounts how Cvetic used his job as a Pittsburgh steelworker to contact various American Communist cell leaders, and how he exposed their insidious plans to overthrow the American government. Since the script infers that among the Reds' "subversive" plans was the Civil Rights Movement, I Was a Communist for the FBI is an embarrassing experience when seen today. Cvetic's memoirs were better dramatized by a 1951 radio series of the same title, starring Dana Andrews.
Starring: Frank Lovejoy, Dorothy Hart, Philip Carey, James Millican, Richard Webb | Directed by: Gordon M. Douglas

I, THE JURY (1953)
(87 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Mike Hammer, author Mickey Spillane's brutal-but-eloquent private eye, made his screen debut in this cleaned-up cinemadaptation of the Mickey Spillane best-seller I, the Jury. Galvanized into action by the murder of a friend, Hammer (Biff Elliot) barges into the rarefied worlds of art collecting and psychoanalysis. Along the way, he gets beaten up several times by nameless thugs, and also administers several bloody beatings himself. He also indulges in Spillane's standard gay- and commie-bashing, with nary a "politically correct" moment in the film's 87 minutes. The finale is lifted directly from the deathless final pages of the original novel, right down to Hammer's laconic "It was easy!" The cast includes the requisite bosomy females, including Peggie Castle, Margaret Sheridan, Frances Osborne, Mary Anderson and twin sisters Tani Seitz and Dran Seitz. The male supporting players range from Preston S. Foster as Hammer's "friendly enemy-" police-department contact to an unbilled Joe Besser as an elevator operator. Originally filmed in 3D, I the Jury was released in 2D in most theaters. The property was remade in 1982, with Armand Assante as Hammer.
Starring: Biff Elliot, Preston S. Foster, Peggie Castle, Margaret Sheridan, Elisha Cook, Jr., Frances Osborne | Directed by: Harry J. Essex

I'LL GET YOU (1953)
(79 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Released in the U.S. by Lippert Studios, I'll Get You was filmed in Britain as Escape Route. George Raft stars as Steve Rossi, an FBI man, sent to London on the trail of an international kidnapping ring. The villains specialize in abducting nuclear scientists, then smuggling them behind the Iron Curtain. Rossi's British contact is military intelligence agent Joan Miller (Sally Gray). Several false leads and red herrings later, the two agents close in on the kidnappers on the docks of the Thames. But the terrorists aren't about to give up peaceably, a fact that leads to an explosive finale.
Starring: George Raft, Sally Gray, Clifford Evans, Reginald Tate | Directed by: Seymour Friedman, Peter Graham Scott

I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS (1951)
(81 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
George Raft plays Lucky Nick Cain, a successful American gambler who acts as an advance man for a posh Italian casino. Colleen Gray is a tourist who loses all her money at the casino, but Cain falls in love with her and tries to make good her debts. Cain and the girl find themselves in jeopardy when both are framed for a murder. The gambler does a little detective work on his own, and traces the killing to a gang of counterfeiters. Lucky Nick Cain was one of several "tax shelter" European films made by the notoriously improvident George Raft.
Starring: George Raft, Coleen Gray, Charles Goldner, Walter Rilia | Directed by: Joseph Newman

ILLEGAL (1955)
(88 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Once again Edward G. Robinson takes a script from the trash bin and makes it into a palatable movie. A remake of The Mouthpiece, this is the story of a district attorney with a conscience. When he discovers that a man he's sent to the electric chair was innocent, he takes to the bottle. His assistants encourage him to get off the booze, stop prosecuting and, instead, become a defense attorney. He agrees but his first client is a notorious gangster who has been in business for so long because of leaks from Robinson's own office when he was the district attorney. Push comes to shove and soon, through multiple machinations and mishaps, Robinson becomes the defender of his former assistant on charges of murder.
Starring: Edward G. Robinson, Nina Foch, Jayne Mansfield, Hugh Marlowe, DeForest Kelley | Directed by: Lewis Allen

IN A LONELY PLACE (1950)
(94 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
A haunting work of stark confessionalism disguised as a taut noir thriller, In a Lonely Place — Nicholas Ray's bleak, desperate tale of fear and self-loathing in Hollywood — remains one of the filmmaker's greatest and most deeply resonant features. It stars Humphrey Bogart as Dixon Steele, a fading screenwriter suffering from creative burnout; hired to adapt a best-selling novel, instead of reading the book itself he asks the hat-check girl (Martha Stewart) at his favorite nightclub to simply tell him the plot. The morning after, the girl is found brutally murdered, and Steele is the police's prime suspect; however, the would-be starlet across the way, Laurel Gray (Gloria Grahame), provides him with a solid alibi, and they soon begin a romance in spite of Gray's lingering concerns that the troubled, violent Steele might just be a killer after all. During production, Ray's real-life marriage to co-star Grahame began to crumble, and his own vulnerability and disillusionment clearly inform the picture; the brooding, bitter Steele — a role ideally suited to Bogart's wounded romanticism — is plainly a doppelganger for Ray himself (the site of his first Hollywood apartment is even employed as the set for Steele's home), and the film's unflinching examination of the character's disintegration makes for uniquely compelling viewing. — Jason Ankeny
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame, Frank Lovejoy, Carl Benton Reid | Directed by: Nicholas Ray

INFERNO (1953)
(90 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Brief and very much to the point, Inferno is a grim, fascinating tale of survival. Breaking his leg on a vacation trip, millionaire Carson (Robert Ryan) is left in the middle of the desert by his wife Geraldine (Rhonda Fleming) and his business partner Joseph Duncan (William Lundigan). Ostensibly, they have driven off to seek medical aid for Carson; in fact, they intend to leave him in the desert to die of thirst and exposure. When the truth of his dilemma is made clear, Carson vows to live long enough to exact revenge against his wife and partner. Virtually a one-man show for the most part, Inferno maintains its level of taut suspense from start to finish — and what a finish. The first 3D effort from 20th Century-Fox, Inferno was remade for television in 1973 as Ordeal, with Arthur Hill in the Robert Ryan part and Diana Muldaur and James Stacy as his would-be murderers.
Starring: Robert Ryan, Rhonda Fleming, William Lundigan, Larry Keating | Directed by: Roy Ward Baker

INSIDE THE MAFIA (1959)
(72 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Thanks to the notorious gangland conference in Appalachian, New York, the word "Mafia" was on everyone's lips in 1959. Rushing to capitalize on this fact was the low-budget expose Inside the Mafia. Grant Richards plays a Lucky Luciano type who is about to return to the US after several years' deportation. Richards arranges for an upstate New York gangland meeting, where minor mob functionary Cameron Mitchell plans to depose big boss Ted DeCorsia. Mitchell also intends to murder Richards so that he can rule the Mafia unfettered. But Richards is still master of his own fate, and he guns down his competition during the gang conference before surrendering to the police. Inside the Mafia told the public little that wasn't already known, but the film served its purpose of cashing in on a "hot" title.
Starring: Cameron Mitchell, Elaine Edwards, Ted de Corsia, Grant Richards, Frank Gerstle | Directed by: Edward L. Cahn

INSURANCE INVESTIGATOR (1951)
(60 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: C
Richard Denning is Insurance Investigator Tom Davison in this Republic second feature. Davison has been assigned to look into a huge double-indemnity claim. Nancy Sullivan (Audrey Long), the victim's daughter, thinks that her father's death was no accident. As it turns out, Nancy is right on the money, but it takes Davison five reels to get to the truth. Veteran moviegoers will have no trouble unraveling the mystery before Davison does, if only because of the typecasting of such supporting players as Reed Hadley, John Eldredge, Hillary Brooke, Jonathan Hale and Roy Barcroft. Ironically, Hadley would later star as upright Lt. Braddock on TV's Racket Squad.
Starring: Richard Denning, Audrey Long, John Eldredge, Hillary Brooke | Directed by: George Blair

INTENT TO KILL (1958)
(89 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
British melodrama maven Jimmy Sangster adapted his screenplay for Intent to Kill from a novel by Michael Bryan. Richard Todd plays a Montreal doctor who is in love with his pretty American assistant Betsy Drake. Todd is saddled with a viper-tongued wife (Catherine Boyle), who wants him to leave the provinces for a posh practice in London. The good doctor's problems are intensified when he is obliged to perform delicate brain surgery on a hated South American president (Herbert Lom), who has been targeted for assassination by a "trusted" colleague (Carlo Giustini). Only the intervention of police detective Paul Carpenter saves Todd from stopping a bullet himself. The heated intrigues of Intent to Kill are contrasted by the wintry Montreal exteriors.
Starring: Richard Todd, Betsy Drake, Herbert Lom, Warren Stevens, Alexander Knox, Jackie Collins | Directed by: Jack Cardiff

INVASION U.S.A. (1952)
(74 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
A handful of strangers are suddenly thrown together as America goes face-to-face against the Communist threat in this curious example of Cold War exploitation. A few people are enjoying drinks in a Manhattan cocktail lounge - television reporter Vince Potter (Gerald Mohr), vacationing tractor tycoon George Sylvester (Robert Bice), cattle baron Ed Mulfory (Erik Blythe), Congressman Arthur Harroway) (Wade Crosby), aimless party girl Carla Sandford (Peggie Castle), and cheerfully dunderheaded bartender Tim (Tom Kennedy). As they discuss the state of the world and their disinterest with U.S. defense and paying taxes, one Mr. Ohman (Dan O'Herlihy) begins swirling his brandy snifter, and before long the other patrons are lulled into a hypnotic state, where they're given a sneak preview of what to expect when an unnamed Communist nation invades the West Coast. Mulfory is able to return home just in time to see his ranch flooded by enemy sabotage, armed troops take over Sylvester's factory, the Congressman watches as Reds seize power, and the suddenly patriotic Carla falls in love with Vince as he covers the brave but futile resistance dished out by our ill-equipped and poorly-prepared military forces. Spectacularly paranoid and loaded with often tattered stock footage, Invasion USA was shot in a mere seven days on a budget of $127,000, and ended up earning its producers well over a million dollars upon its initial release in 1952. Superman fans take note: Phyllis Coates and Noel Neill, both of whom played Lois Lane in the 50's television series The Adventures of Superman, appear in Invasion USA's supporting cast. — Mark Deming
Starring: Gerald Mohr, Peggie Castle, Dan O'Herlihy, Robert Bice | Directed by: Alfred E. Green

JAIL BAIT (1954)
(70 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Jail Bait was the place where Edward D. Wood Jr.'s career as a director entered the mainstream. Having exposed the world of transvestism in Glen or Glenda, he now turned to less ambitious fare in an effort at commercial success. Loosely patterned after the television series Dragnet, Jail Bait tells the story of Don Gregor (Clancey Malone), the spoiled, arrogant son of a successful plastic surgeon (Herbert Rawlinson), who is out for some kicks and excitement and hooks up with Vic Brady (Timothy Farrell), a career criminal. Opening with Don's arrest for illegal possession of a pistol, the film tracks his interaction with a pair of detectives (Lyle Talbot, Steve Reeves); his deceiving of his sister (Dolores Fuller) and his father; the robbery that goes wrong and leads him to murder an ex-cop; and his attempt to go straight, which gets him killed. That action, and Brady's attempt to force Dr. Gregor to alter his face, leads to a bizarre revenge that makes up the final 15 minutes of the movie. Little of this plot is unfolded skillfully -- Wood was already out of his depth in directing actors -- but having access to Howco's finances (meager as they were) and facilities gives Jail Bait a slightly smoother, less emaciated look than most of Wood's later movies. Coupled with the fact that he was trying to do a straight crime film, and the resulting restraint he showed in the writing, Jail Bait can just about "pass" as a normal, albeit very low-budget film, although, as with all of Wood's movies, there is still an unintended laugh every minute or so. And just to show how close to the edge Wood was working even at the outset of his career, in terms of using marginal talent, neophyte performers, and one-time successful actors, Bela Lugosi was not the first leading actor in a Wood movie to die during production -- that distinction went to Herbert Rawlinson, who played Dr. Gregor here. The former silent-era leading man reportedly died the night after he finished shooting his role in Jail Bait.
Starring: Dolores Fuller, Lyle Talbot, Steve Reeves, Herbert Rawlinson | Directed by: Edward D. Wood Jr.

JEOPARDY (1953)
(69 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
The answer is: A turgid melodrama. The question: What is Jeopardy? Barbara Stanwyck stars as a suburbanite on a Mexican vacation with her husband (Barry Sullivan) and son (Lee Aaker). The threesome runs afoul of escape convict Ralph Meeker. Stanwyck's dilemma: Attempting to rescue her husband from drowning, while staving off the carnal demands of Meeker, who holds Stanwyck and her son at gunpoint. Jeopardy is on and off in only 69 minutes, but 64 of those minutes seem far longer. Trivia note: When dramatized on Lux Radio Theater, Jeopardy costarred child actor Harry Shearer, later a comic regular on Saturday Night Live. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Barry Sullivan, Ralph Meeker, Lee Aaker | Directed by: John Sturges

JOHNNY ONE-EYE (1950)
(78 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Johnny One-Eye was adapted from one of Damon Runyon's lesser-known stories. Pat O'Brien and Wayne Morris star as Martin Martin and Dane Cory respectively, former partners in crime who have long since split up. When a new district attorney puts the heat on, Cory, anxious to save his own hide, accuses Martin of an unsolved murder. Holed up in abandoned house, Martin is befriended by a little girl (Gayle Reed) and her dog. It so happens that the girl is the daughter of the crusading DA, and thereby hangs the rest of this tale. Produced by Benedict Bogeaus, Johnny One-Eye co-stars Bogeaus' wife Dolores Moran as a moll named Lily White. The film represented the last directorial assignment of Robert Florey, who retired shortly afterward.
Starring: Pat O'Brien, Gayle Reed, Wayne Morris, Dolores Moran | Directed by: Robert Florey

JOHNNY ROCCO (1958)
(84 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Young schoolboy Johnny Rocco (Richard Eyer) has a stuttering problem. Though this in itself is not unusual, the source of Johnny's nervous impediment is off the beaten track: Johnny's father (Stephen McNally) happens to be a high-ranking mobster. When Lois (Coleen Gray), the boy's teacher, takes a special interest in Johnny's plight, she finds her life in danger. Rival mobsters and police officials alike pursue Johnny and Lois because of privileged "inside" information that the boy carries in his head. The script for Johnny Rocco was based on a story by actor Richard (I Led Three Lives) Carlson.
Starring: Richard Eyer, Stephen McNally, Coleen Gray, Russ Conway | Directed by: Paul Landres

JUGGLER, THE (1953)
(86 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
A man finds himself running from both the police and his own troubling memories in this drama. Hans Muller (Kirk Douglas), a German Jew, was once a well-known juggler before he was committed to a concentration camp; Muller survived, but his wife and children did not. After the war, Muller and many other displaced people found themselves in a temporary camp in Israel; his experiences have left him upset and confused, and several of the guards notice that he's behaving oddly. Muller flees the camp after one day, but while running away, he's stopped by Kogan (Richard Benedict), an Israeli policeman. When Kogan asks to see Muller's papers, he immediately flashes back to an unsetting memory in which a Nazi officer asked the same question; Muller panics, attacks the cop, and flees for Mount Carmel. In the morning, Muller encounters a group of children who believe the story he tells them: that he's a tourist from the United States. One of them, Yehoshua (Joseph Walsh), is making his way to a kibbutz in Syria, and Muller, who hopes to get to some friends in Egypt, joins him. Muller entertains the young man by teaching him to juggle, and they become close friends. When Yehoshua is injured by a land mine, Muller rushes him to a hospital, where he meets Ya'el (Milly Vitale), a woman who lost her husband to Arabs. A romance soon blossoms between Muller and Ya'el, and he confesses to her that he's on the run from the police; meanwhile, Israeli Detective Karni (Paul Stewart) is combing the nation, searching for the juggler — not to arrest him, but to convince him that he's not wanted for murder, and that others want to help him. Michael Blankfort, who wrote the original novel upon which The Juggler was based, adapted the screenplay and also served as executive producer.
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Milly Vitale, Paul Stewart, Alf Kjellin | Directed by: Edward Dmytryk

JULIE (1956)
(98 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Julie is most enjoyable if one doesn't take it too seriously. Doris Day plays stewardess Julie Benton, whose off-in-the-coop musician husband Lyle Benton (Louis Jourdan) makes clear his intentions to murder his wife — just as he'd done with wife number one. To make a long story short, the climax takes place on a plane in flight. Hoping to kill Julie (not to mention all the other passengers), Lyle shoots the pilot and copilot, then commits suicide. It is up to Julie to bring the plane in safely, as she nervously follows the radioed directions from the control tower. The thing of it is, this is the most believable scene in the picture! Silent film star Mae Marsh, a "regular" in the films of director Andrew L. Stone, appears in the closing scenes as an hysterical passenger. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Doris Day, Louis Jourdan, Barry Sullivan, Frank Lovejoy | Directed by: Andrew L. Stone

KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL (1952)
(98 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
This no-nonsense "expose" film is enhanced by the tight, unadorned direction by Phil Karlson. John Payne plays an ex-con who just can't seem to get a break. Payne is picked up on suspicion of participating in a robbery masterminded by former Kansas City cop Preston S. Foster. On the run from the law, Payne assumes the identity of a dead crook. In this guise, he insinuates himself into Foster's gang, hoping to get the goods on the top guy. Complications ensue when Payne falls in love with Foster's comparatively honest daughter Coleen Gray. — Hal Erickson
Starring: John Payne, Coleen Gray, Preston S. Foster, Lee Van Cleef | Directed by: Phil Karlson

KEY MAN, THE (1957)
(63 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: C
In this drama, the host of a radio crime show finds himself mixed up with real gangsters after he re-creates a notorious murder on the air. He uses his knowledge of criminology to foil the gang's wicked scheme.
Starring: Paula Byrne, Dennis Castle, Maudie Edwards, Colin Gordon, Angela Lansbury | Directed by: Montgomery Tully

KILL HER GENTLY (1958)
(72 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: C
Ex-mental patient Jeff Martin (Griffth Jones) holds his loving wife Kay (Maureen Connell) responsible for all his troubles. He'd like to murder Kay, but knows full well that he'd never get away with it. Fate intervenes in the form of Connors (Marc Lawrence) and Svenson (George Mikell), two escaped convicts who invade the Martin household. Taking advantage of the situation, Martin offers to help Connors and Svenson elude the law, if they will kill his wife in exchange. But the scheme doesn't go off as planned, partly because one of the convicts happens to have the glimmer of a conscience.
Starring: Marc Lawrence, George Mikell, Griffith Jones, John Gayford | Directed by: Charles Saunders

KILL ME TOMORROW (1958)
(80 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this sad drama, a boozy reporter must cope with a series of personal disasters begin with the death of his wife in a car crash. Next he loses his job. Finally he learns that his son must have a $5,000 eye operation in Switzerland. In desperation he decides to ask his old boss for his job back. Upon arriving to his office, he finds the man dead. He is then offered money by the killer, a diamond smuggler to take the murder rap. What else can the desperate man do? Later he confesses all to Scotland Yard. Unfortunately, they do not believe him. The smuggler hears of the attempt, and thinking the police believe the reporter, attempts to prevent the boy's plane from taking off. The late editor's niece gets involved and makes sure the plane does take off. She then captures the smuggler and his gang.
Starring: Pat O'Brien, George Coulouris, Ronald Adam, Tommy Steele | Directed by: Terence Fisher, Francis Searle

KILL OR BE KILLED (1950)
(67 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Kill or be Killed is a leisurely crime caper, largely filmed in Mexico. Playing a sympathetic role for a change, Lawrence Tierney stars as Robert Warren, a tough but honest lug who is framed on a murder charge. Hiding out at a jungle plantation, Warren falls in love with Maria (Marissa O'Brien), the wife of plantation owner Marek (Rudolph Anders). Luck of luck, Marek and his partner Sloma (George Coulouris) are inextricably linked with the murder for which Warren is being pursued. The last two reels make up in excitement what they lack in credibility.
Starring: Lawrence Tierney, George Coulouris, Marissa O'Brien, Rudolph Anders | Directed by: Max Nosseck

KILLER IS LOOSE, THE (1956)
(73 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
In this thriller, "Foggy" (Wendell Corey) is a bank teller who got his nickname for the thick spectacles he must wear. Foggy is also an inside man for a gang of thieves planning to rob his bank. Unfortunately, their plan goes awry and he is arrested. During the ensuing scuffle, his wife is accidentally killed and the crook blames the arresting officer (Joseph Cotten). While he stands trial, Foggy lets on that he plans on getting revenge by killing the officer's wife. Later he is transferred to a prison farm. The fearsome former clerk busts out of prison and kills a few people on his way to the policeman's home. The panicked policeman attempts to secure protection for his wife, but the cops decide to use the woman as a decoy to draw the criminal to them. — Sandra Brennan
Starring: Joseph Cotton, Rhonda Flemming, Wendell Corey, Alan Hale, Jr | Directed by: Bud Boetticher

KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK, THE (1950)
(79 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
A married team of diamond smugglers enter New York to fence their purloined gems unaware that the wife is carrying the highly contagious, deadly smallpox virus. The crooks ensconce themselves in a hotel without realizing that the wife's every move is being monitored by a Treasury agent. The husband directs her to stay put while he goes off on business. Actually he is going out to tryst with his conniving sister-in-law. Back in the room, the wife feels ill and so creeps out to see a doctor. The T-man loses her trail. The doctor doesn't recognize the dread disease until much later and so the woman is free to travel about leaving a trail of death behind her. Once again she is followed, but the agents have a hard time keeping up with her. Eventually she finds her husband and learns the truth. Not only has he been unfaithful, he and her sister are planning to abscond with the jewels. A struggle between man and wife ensues culminating in the husband's death. Afterward the woman goes to authorities and before succumbing to the disease, provides them with a badly needed list of those she contacted. — Sandra Brennan
Starring: Evelyn Keyes, Charles Korvin, William Bishop, Dorothy Malone | Directed by: Earl McEvoy

KILLER'S KISS (1955)
(67 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Stanley Kubrick's second film, Killer's Kiss was summed up by one influential critic as an experiment in esoterica. Filmed on a budget of $40,000 (raised by Kubrick's relatives), the 65-minute, black-and-white drama is a true "noir" film, shot mostly at night in a variety of seedy Manhattan locations. The plot concerns the efforts of boxer Jamie Smith (who also narrates the film) to rescue nightclub dancer Irene Kane from the lecherous maneuvers of club owner Frank Silvera. The much-admired climax finds Smith, Silvera, and the villain's henchmen pursuing each other in a warehouse filled with grotesque-looking store mannequins. Director-writer-photographer-editor Kubrick didn't like the happy ending imposed on the film by its distributor (United Artists), but it was a lot more logical and satisfying than the filmmaker's own planned denouement. The imperiled leading lady Irene Kane later became famous as TV commentator and journalist Chris Chase; also appearing in the film is Kubrick's then-wife Ruth Sobotka.
Starring: Frank Silvera, Jamie Smith, Irene Kane, Jerry Jarret | Directed by: Stanley Kubrick

KILLING, THE (1956)
(85 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
The Killing was director Stanley Kubrick's first major film effort — though, like Kubrick's earlier films, it was economically produced with an inexpensive cast. In a variation of his Asphalt Jungle role, Sterling Hayden plays veteran criminal Johnny Clay, planning one last big heist before settling down to a respectable marriage with Fay (Colleen Gray). Teaming with several cohorts, Johnny masterminds a racetrack robbery. The basic flaw is that all the crooks involved are losers and small-timers who find themselves in way over their heads despite their supposed cleverness. None of the participants is more pathetic than George Peatty (Elisha Cook Jr.), who is goaded into the robbery by his covetous and far-from-faithful wife (Marie Windsor). As in a Greek tragedy, Johnny's best-laid schemes go awry. Prominently featured in the cast of The Killing are offbeat character actors Tim Carey and Joe Turkel, who'd show up with equally showy roles in future Kubrick productions. The Killing is based on the novel Clean Break by Lionel White. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Marie Windsor, Elisha Cook, Jr., Vince Edwards | Directed by: Stanley Kubrick

KIND LADY (1951)
(78 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
This remake of the 1935 version is considered far superior to the original. It is the harrowing story of a kindly old British woman with a love of art who is tricked into allowing an artist, his wife, and another couple into staying in her house. They then begin holding her prisoner in her home while they ransack her art collection. Eventually she is able to escape and facilitate the crooks' capture. — Sandra Brennan
Starring: Ethel Barrymore, Maurice Evans, Angela Lansbury, Keenan Wynn | Directed by: John Sturges

KISS BEFORE DYING, A (1956)
(94 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Budd Corliss (Robert Wagner) is an ambitious, poor boy from the wrong-side-of-the-tracks who murders his girlfriend Dorothy (Joanne Woodward) — making the death look like a suicide — when her pregnancy eliminates his chances of being accepted by her wealthy family. Her sister Ellen (Virginia Leith), refusing to believe that Dorothy has committed suicide, begins to investigate on her own. She meets Budd, and ignorant of his prior relationship with Dorothy begins a relationship with him. When Ellen discovers that Budd knew Dorothy, the stage is set for a final, dramatic showdown as Ellen fights to revenge her sister and save her own life. The script, adapted from the novel of the same name written by Ira Levin is excellent and tension-filled. Joanne Woodward is fine in a touching performance as the vulnerable and trusting Dorothy. A wooden performance by Robert Wagner in the pivotal central role mars the film and destroys some of its credibility, as Wagner, though handsome, lacks the charm and charisma necessary to make the character of Budd believable. Also, despite an excellent performance by Mary Astor as Budd's class-conscious, greedy mother, the film fails to achieve any sympathy for Budd or understanding of the motivations that drove him to do what he did. — Linda Rasmussen
Starring: Robert Wagner, Jeffery Hunter, Joanne Woodward, Robert Quarry | Directed by: Gerd Oswald

KISS ME DEADLY (1955)
(105 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Regarded by many critics as the ultimate film noir, and by many more as the finest movie adaptation of a book by Mickey Spillane, Kiss Me Deadly stars Ralph Meeker as Spillane's anti-social private eye Mike Hammer. While driving down a lonely road late one evening, Hammer picks up a beautiful blonde hitchhiker (Cloris Leachman), dressed in nothing but a raincoat. At first, Hammer assumes that the incoherent girl is an escaped lunatic; his mind is changed for him when he and the girl are abducted by two thugs. The men torture the girl to death as the semiconscious Hammer watches helplessly. He himself escapes extermination when the murderers' car topples off a cliff and he is thrown clear. Seeking vengeance, Hammer tries to discover the secret behind the girl's murder. Among those who cross his path in the film's tense, tingling 105 minutes are a slimy gangster (Paul Stewart), a turncoat scientist (Albert Dekker), and the dead woman's sexy roommate (Gaby Rodgers). All clues lead to a mysterious box — the "Great Whatsit," as Hammer's secretary Velda (Maxine Cooper) describes it. Both the box and Velda are stolen by the villains, at which point Hammer discovers that the "Whatsit" contains radioactive material of awesome powers. The apocalyptic climax is doubly devastating because we're never quite certain if Hammer survives (he doesn't narrate the story, as was the case in most Mike Hammer films and TV shows). Director Robert Aldrich and scriptwriter Jack Moffit transcend Kiss Me Deadly's basic genre trappings to produce a one-of-a-kind melodrama for the nuclear age. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Ralph Meeker, Albert Dekker, Paul Stewart, Wesley Addy | Directed by: Robert Aldrich

KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE (1950)
(102 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Based on a novel by Horace McCoy (They Shoot Horses, Don't They), Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye offers James Cagney at his nastiest. The star plays career criminal Ralph Cotter, who gets things started by violently busting out of jail, then murdering his partner in crime. Seeking out female companionship, he "courts" his ex-partner's sister Holiday (Barbara Payton) by beating her black and blue. After committing a robbery, he is approached by two crooked cops who want a piece of the action. Blackmailing the cops, Cotter gains control of the situation. Is there any way to stop this fascinating creep? Filmgoers in Ohio never found out, because Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye was banned in that state as "a sordid, sadistic presentation of brutality and an extreme presentation of crime with explicit steps in commission." Supporting Cagney are Luther Adler as his equally crooked lawyer, Ward Bond and Barton MacLane as the dishonest cops, and Cagney's brother William (who produced the film) as Ralph Cotter's brother. — Hal Erickson
Starring: James Cagney, Barbara Payton, Helena Carter, Ward Bond | Directed by: Gordon M. Douglas

LADY OF VENGEANCE (1957)
(75 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Old-timer Dennis O'Keefe and newcomer Ann Sears star in the British melodrama Lady of Vengeance. O'Keefe plays an American publisher headquartered in London, whose young ward (Eileen Elton) is driven to suicide. The distraught O'Keefe hires a professional criminal (Anton Diffring) to plot the murder of the man responsible for the girl's death, with the proviso that the victim undergo the torments of the damned before he is finally killed. Trouble is, the wrong man is targeted for the publisher's revenge. Nominal leading lady Ann Sears does what she can with the nondescript role of O'Keefe's secretary.
Starring: Dennis O'Keefe, Ann Sears, Anton Diffring, Patrick Barr | Directed by: Burt Balaban

LAS VEGAS SHAKEDOWN (1955)
(79 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Another "torn from today's headlines" crime drama, Las Vegas Shakedown stars Dennis O'Keefe as honest casino operator Joe Barnes. When not fending off gangster boss Sirago (Thomas Gomez), who wants a big piece of the action, Barnes endeavors to dodge pretty schoolteacher Julia Rae (Colleen Gray), who is writing a thesis on the futility of gambling. The episodic storyline occasionally cuts away to small-town banker Raff (Charles Winninger), who tries to have a little fun at the gaming tables despite the interference of his wife (Elizabeth Patterson), and a bevy of attractive divorcees who've set their cap for Barnes. Filmed on location, Las Vegas Shakedown comes to a head when the disgruntled Sirago resorts to all-out violence to take over Barnes' operation. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Dennis O'Keefe, Coleen Gray, Charles Winninger, Thomas Gomez | Directed by: Sidney Salkow

LAS VEGAS STORY, THE (1952)
(88 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
The Las Vegas Story features two of Hollywood's most impressive physiques. Victor Mature stars as Dave Andrews, a policeman, while Jane Russell plays Linda, the love of his life. Assuming that Andrews has forgotten her, Linda marries Lloyd Rollins (Vincent Price) on the rebound. All three main characters are reunited in Las Vegas, where they become enmeshed in a robbery scheme that results in murder. Clearly inspired by Casablanca, the film even includes a philosophical piano player, portrayed by Hoagy Carmichael who also wrote the film's incidental songs. Though Las Vegas Story was largely scripted by Paul Jarrico, producer Howard Hughes refused to give Jarrico screen credit because of the latter's alleged pro-communist sympathies. Jarrico promptly sued Hughes and RKO, sparking one of the more famous cause celebres of the Blacklist era. As it turned out, nobody came out ahead with The Las Vegas Story: the film posted a loss of $600,000.
Starring: Jane Russell, Victor Mature, Vincent Price, Hoagy Carmichael, Brad Dexter, Gordon Oliver | Directed by: Robert Stevenson

LAST MILE, THE (1959)
(81 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
A late '50s upgrade of the 1931 film by the same title, this version of trouble on death row by Howard Koch is more violent than its predecessor — a hint of the trend toward shock for its own sake that would one day dominate action films and thrillers. The setting is a cell block of nine inmates scheduled for execution and the first half of the drama focuses on the horror of that last walk. A grim death in the electric chair is in no way glossed over. All nine prisoners are more appealing than any single guard, giving rise to the question of whether or not the men should exchange places. Then "Killer" John Mears (Mickey Rooney) comes along. His vicious attitude infects the environment and his plans to break out of prison are the catalyst for tragedy.
Starring: Mickey Rooney, Clifford David, Harry Millard, John McCurry | Directed by: Howard W. Koch

LIFE AT STAKE, A (1954)
(78 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
(AKA: Key Man) Down-on-his-luck Los Angeles architect and builder Edward Shaw (Keith Andes) is approached by Doris Hillman (Angela Lansbury) with a business proposal: buying land together, on which he would build houses that she would then sell, using her experience as a former real estate broker. Her husband, Gus Hillman, a wealthy businessman, would be willing to contribute half a million dollars as capital for the venture. Doris quickly seems interested in more than a purely professional relationship. Shaw starts an affair with her and accepts the business offer. However, an accidental discovery leaves him convinced that the Hillmans' interest lies less in the long-term profits of the venture than in the $175,000 key man insurance policy he took on himself as a precondition for the deal, and that an attempt on his life is imminent. Madge, the younger sister of Doris, develops a romantic interest in Shaw as well. Without knowing what Doris has planned, she reveals to Shaw that her sister was married previously to a man who died in Wyoming when his car crashed over a bridge. Shaw ends up drugged by Gus Hillman and barely keeps his car from going off a cliff. The police are skeptical about his story and the insurance company refuses to cancel the policy, Hillman having portrayed Shaw as a man who is trying to steal his wife. Madge teams with Shaw to try to foil her sister's scheme, but Doris lures him to a mountain cabin and shoots him with a gun. A wounded Shaw sees both Hillmans struggle then fall to their deaths through a clifftop doorway, just minutes before Madge and the cops arrive.
Starring: Angela Lansbury, Keith Andes, Douglas Dumbrille, Claudia Barrett, Jane Darwell | Directed by: Paul Guilfoyle

LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE (1951)
(91 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
In Lightning Strikes Twice, Ruth Roman stars a Shelley Carnes, a stage actress who champions the cause of Richard Trevelyan (Richard Todd), whom she believes has been falsely accused of murdering his wife. Freed on a technicality, Trevelyan is nonetheless adjudged guilty in the court of public opinion. Carnes stands by her man, eventually marrying him. On the wedding night, however, it appears that Carnes has made a horrible mistake. It won't be long before she, too, will fall into the clutches of a killer--but is it Trevelyan? Based on a novel by Margaret Echard, Lightning Strikes Twice is given novelty value through its unique setting: instead of taking place in the standard Big City, the events transpire in the wide-open spaces of Texas. Of the supporting actors, Mercedes McCambridge stands out as a woman scorned, while Zachary Scott does his usual as a lazy playboy.
Starring: Richard Todd, Ruth Roman, Mercedes McCambridge, Zachary Scott, Frank Conroy, Kathryn Givney | Directed by: King Vidor

LIMPING MAN, THE (1953)
(76 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
His Hollywood career temporarily in the doldrums in 1953, Lloyd Bridges headed to Britain to star in The Limping Man. Bridges plays an ex-GI who arrives in London to visit his wartime amour (Moira Lister). Before anyone knows what's happened, our hero is mixed up in a murder case. The victim was killed by a mysterious "limping man," who is also an expert sharpshooter. Just when it seems that events have overwhelmed the GI and his lady love, the story suddenly. . .well, that would be tattling, wouldn't it? The Limping Man was released Stateside by Lippert Productions.
Starring: Lloyd Bridges, Moira Lister, Alan Wheatley, Leslie Phillips, Helene Cordet | Directed by: Cy Raker Endfield

LINEUP, THE (1958)
(86 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Based on the TV series of the same name, The Lineup is a typically bold and brutal effort from director Don Siegel. Eli Wallach plays Dancer, the wholly evil head of a San Francisco drug ring. Dancer's strategy is to plant small amounts of heroin on unwary tourists vacationing in Mexico, so that the dope traffic can pass by the border guards undetected. By the seventh reel, the scheme begins to unravel, resulting in a thrill-packed car chase through the hills of Frisco, with Dancer holding a child hostage as leverage against the cops. Robert Keith offers a unique characterization as a wheelchair-bound criminal, while Warner Anderson, a carryover from the Lineup TV series, represents Law and Order. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Eli Wallach, Robert Keith, Warner Anderson, Richard Jaeckel | Directed by: Don Siegel

LOAN SHARK (1952)
(79 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Loan Shark was one of several independently-produced films made by George Raft in the early 1950s. Raft plays Joe Gargan, a good guy who pretends to turn bad to trap a gang of usurious loan sharks. In order to convince the crooks that he's on their side, Gargan is forced to call it quits with his sweetheart Ann Nelson (Dorothy Hart). Once he's accepted by the villains, Gargan dreams up an elaborate new method of siphoning money from an unsuspecting public. Inevitably, however, the villains get wise to Gargan's subterfuge, and for a while it looks like curtains for our hero. One of the most appealing aspects of Loan Shark is the no-frills cinematography of Joseph Biroc, who went on to such loftier pursuits as The Towering Inferno. — Hal Erickson
Starring: George Raft, Dorothy Hart, Paul Stewart, Helen Westcott | Directed by: Seymour Friedman

LONG DARK HALL, THE (1951)
(86 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Rex Harrison's extramarital relationship with Patricia Wayne comes to an end when Wayne is murdered. All evidence points to Harrison; we know that he's innocent, but the detectives don't have this advantage. With his faithful wife Lilli Palmer at his side, Harrison goes on trial for his life. Anthony Dawson, the genuine murderer, intends to confess after Harrison is hanged. Thanks to a governmental quirk, Dawson's letter reaches the authorities just a few steps ahead of the hangman. Anthony Bushell, co-director of Long Dark Hall, is featured as Harrison's defense attorney. The film was co-scripted by Hollywood's Nunnally Johnson and based on a novel by Edgar Lustgarden.
Starring: Rex Harrison, Lilli Palmer, Henrietta Barry, Ronald Simpson, Raymond Huntley, Denis O'Dea | Directed by: Reginald Beck / Anthony Bushell

LONG MEMORY, THE (1952)
(96 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
John Mills followed his successful Gentle Gunman with the tensioned-filled meller The Long Memory. Convicted for a murder he did not commit, Davidson (Mills) spends 12 long years in prison. Upon his release, he vows to get even with the three witnesses who perjured themselves and clenched his conviction. Returning to the scene of the crime, he begins gathering clues as to the whereabouts of the witnesses. That's when he discovers that the alleged murder victim is alive and well! John McCallum co-stars as Inspector Lowther, who has spent the past dozen years mulling over the Davidson case, wondering if the man was innocent after all. For the sake of plot convenience, it turns out that Lowther is married to one of the lying witnesses! The Long Memory was based on a novel by Howard Clewes.
Starring: John Mills, John McCallum, Elizabeth Sellars, Geoffrey Keen | Directed by: Robert Hamer

LOOPHOLE (1954)
(79 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Bank teller Mike Donovan (Barry Sullivan) takes the first step on the road to Perdition when he fails to report a $49,000 shortage. Accused of theft, Donovan is fired from his job. He is then prevented from finding other employment by Javert-like insurance investigator Gus Slavin (Charles McGraw). Despite many setbacks, Donovan holds out the hope that he'll be able to clear his name, but even his loyal wife Ruthie (Dorothy Malone) doesn't believe this will ever happen. Filmed on location in Los Angeles and Malibu, Loophole nevers loosens its grip on the viewer for a single second.
Starring: Barry Sullivan, Dorothy Malone, Charles McGraw, Don Haggerty | Directed by: Harold D. Schuster

M (1951)
(88 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
It took nerve for director Joseph Losey to attempt a remake of Fritz Lang's classic chiller M, but by and large Losey was up to the challenge. David Wayne steps into the old Peter Lorre role as the compulsive child-murderer who is tracked down and then placed on trial by the criminal underworld. Whereas the original was set in Berlin, the remake takes place in Los Angeles. Syndicate chieftain Marshall (Martin Gabel) organizes his fellow crooks in order to bring "M" to justice, thereby keeping the police off their own backs. Found guilty by his "peers" and sentenced to death, "M" makes an impassioned plea for his life, explaining that he is unable to stop himself from committing his unspeakable crimes. Filmed just before Joseph Losey was banned from Hollywood in the wake of the communist witch-hunt, M features such fellow blacklist victims as Howard da Silva, Luther Adler and Karen Morley.
Starring: David Wayne, Luther Adler, Howard Da Silva, Raymond Burr, Steve Brodie | Directed by: Joseph Losey

MACAO (1952)
(81 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
The tendency is to scoff at Macao as just another example of Josef von Sternberg's late-career exercises in exoticism; true, it has its problems, including a weak plot and a slightly hasty pace, but it is still an extraordinary film for its time and its personnel. The real sparkplug for the movie is Jane Russell as out-of-work singer Julie Benson, who inadvertently gets the plot rolling when she ends up in a cabin with a lout who won't take no for an answer. Her plight, and a flying shoe, brings in laconic, slightly mysterious traveler Nick Cochran (Robert Mitchum), who seems to have something to hide and manages to get his wallet (including passport) lifted by the opportunistic Julie. Crossing paths with them is Lawrence Trumble (William Bendix), a good-natured lunkhead salesman coming to Macao for the gambling. And gambling, among other less legal activities, is what local hood Halloran (Brad Dexter) is all about. He's just hot enough in international crime circles to attract the authorities, who can't touch him in Macao; he's already had one New York detective killed and expects another to arrive, and he's keeping an eye on any suspicious, unfamiliar Westerners arriving, which leads him to Julie, Cochran, and Trumble. Halloran has other, obvious plans for Julie, especially when obliging corrupt police chief Thomas Gomez points her to a singing job at his club, much to the distress of his one-time girlfriend (Gloria Grahame); he dismisses Trumble as a lovable clown. But Nick has cop written all over him and is hiding something. All of the pieces fit together neatly in the end, and everyone is keeping at least one secret that will surprise viewers.
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, William Bendix, Thomas Gomez, Gloria Grahame | Directed by: Josef Von Sternberg

MAKE HASTE TO LIVE (1954)
(90 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
A gangster is sentenced to prison for killing his wife, but the woman isn't really dead: she's alive and well, raising her daughter in New Mexico. After 18 years, though, the husband comes back looking for revenge. Dorothy McGuire and Stephen McNally star in the 1954 film.
Starring: Dorothy McGuire, Stephen McNally, Mary Murphy, Edgar Buchanan | Directed by: William Seiter

MAN BAIT (1952)
(78 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
The Last Page was the original British title for the 1952 murder meller Man Bait. Hollywood's George Brent plays a married bookstore owner who is blackmailed by scheming Diana Dors. The subsequent chain reaction of events leads to the death of Brent's invalid wife. It gets worse when Dors is killed by her partner-in-crime Peter Reynolds, and Brent is accused of the crime. The bookseller's faithful secretary Marguerite Chapman comes to the rescue. As with many British programmers of the 1950s which starred American actors, The Last Page was distributed in the U.S. by Lippert Productions.
Starring: George Brent, Marguerite Chapman, Diana Dors, Raymond Huntley | Directed by: Terence Fisher

MAN BETWEEN, THE (1953)
(101 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
It wasn't a particularly good story, but I liked the atmosphere of Berlin after the war, and I wanted to work again with James Mason. Thus did director Carol Reed explain his decision to return to thrillers with The Man Between. Unfortunately, political conditions forced Reed out of Berlin before shooting wrapped, compelling him to complete the picture in the studio. Even so, the story of East Berliner Ivo Kern (Mason) who rescues Susanne Mallison (Claire Bloom), a British woman trapped in the Soviet Zone, is a minor masterpiece of suspense. Despite great danger to himself, Kern takes it upon himself to escort Mallison back to her family in West Berlin. After a daring dash through the countryside, the seeming impossible is achieved—but only through a conspicuous act of self sacrifice. Never completely satisfied with The Man Between, Carol Reed grudgingly admitted "It made back its money."
Starring: James Mason, Claire Bloom, Hildegarde Neff, Geoffrey Toone | Directed by: Carol Reed

MAN FROM CAIRO, THE (1954)
(82 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: C
It's hardly a coincidence that George Raft made so many films outside the U.S. when he began to have income-tax problems in the early 1950s. The Man From Cairo casts Raft as an American vacationing in Algiers. In short order, he becomes involved with a group of mercenaries who are searching for a fortune in gold that was lost somewhere in the desert during WW II. Gianna Maria Canale co-stars as a sexy nightclub chanteuse who, like everyone else in the film, isn't all she seems to be. This Italian-financed melodrama was released in Great Britain as Crime Squad. — Hal Erickson
Starring: George Raft, Gianna Maria Canale, Massimo Serato, Guido Celano | Directed by: Ray Enright

MAN IN THE ATTIC (1953)
(82 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Man in the Attic is a sweat-stained remake of the oft-filmed Mary Belloc Lowndes suspense story The Lodger. Jack Palance plays a mild, secretive pathologist who rents an attic apartment in the heart of London. Palance falls in love with dancer Constance Smith, daughter of the landlady, but she doesn't seem interested. Meanwhile, several unsolved murders of women have been committed on the fogbound London streets—and all of the victims are showgirls. Unlike Hitchcock's 1926 version of The Lodger, the most likely suspect is indeed the "Jack the Ripper" character hunted by the police. The only surprise in Man in the Attic is that the London bobbies didn't arrest Jack Palance on sight long before the movie started. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Jack Palance, Constance Smith, Byron Palmer, Frances Bavier | Directed by: Hugo Fregonese

MAN IN THE DARK (1953)
(70 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Filmed in 3D, Man in the Dark stars Edmond O'Brien as Steve Rawley, a man with a past. Thing of it is, Rawley knows nothing about that past: a former gangster, he underwent an operation that not only altered his appearance, but also wiped out all criminal tendencies--not to mention all memory of his past misdeeds. Rawley is kidnapped by his former mob cohorts, who demand that he cough up the $130,000 that he salted away during his gangster days. Audrey Totter co-stars as Peg Benedict, who loves Rawley for what he is, not what he was. Man in the Dark is a remake of the 1936 Ralph Bellamy vehicle The Man who Lived Twice.
Starring: Edmond O'Brien, Audrey Totter, Ted de Corsia, Horace McMahon, Nick Dennis | Directed by: Lew Landers

MAN IN THE NET, THE (1959)
(97 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Murder mystery by director Michael Curtis involves an artist and his alcoholic psychologically disturbed wife — who disappears one day. John Hamilton (Alan Ladd) has retreated to the New England countryside to pursue a potential career as an artist, but his wife Linda (Carolyn Jones) wants to go back to New York. She is observed as being both drunk and a little strange, while John is clearly the anchor in the relationship. When Linda disappears, John is immediately suspected of doing away with his troublesome wife, and so a net of suspicion and circumstantial evidence closes in ever-tightening circles around him.
Starring: Alan Ladd, Carolyn Jones, Diane Brewster, Charles McGraw | Directed by: Michael Curtiz

MAN IN THE SHADOW (1957)
(80 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Man in the Shadow is a better-than-usual Albert Zugsmith production starring Jeff Chandler as the newly appointed lawman in a corrupt southwestern town. A Mexican laborer has been murdered, a crime which powerful land baron Orson Welles wants the sheriff to ignore. Chandler bucks Welles' wishes and investigates the killing, with the trail of evidence leading inexorably to Welles...but what's the motive? Man in the Shadow is unimportant enough on its own, but the fact that it was produced at all would have a far-reaching effect on cinematic history. It was during shooting of this western that producer Albert Zugsmith and actor Orson Welles agreed to collaborate on the Welles-directed masterpiece Touch of Evil (58). — Hal Erickson
Starring: Jeff Chandler, Orson Welles, Colleen Miller, Ben Alexander | Directed by: Jack Arnold

MAN IN THE VAULT (1956)
(73 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Frank Gruber's novel The Lock and the Key was adapted for the big screen by Burt Kennedy as The Man in the Vault. William Campbell stars as a locksmith who is forced to work for a gang of thieves. The bad guys want Campbell to make duplicates of the keys to a safety deposit box containing nearly a quarter of a million dollars. As if this wasn't enough for our hero to worry about, he has to choose between his mercenary sweetheart Karen Sharpe and gang moll Anita Ekberg (poor fellow!) The film benefits from its on-location photography in and around Beverly Hills. Man in the Vault was produced by John Wayne's Batjac company, and directed by one of the Duke's favorite coworkers, Andrew V. McLaglen (son of frequent Wayne costar Victor McLaglen).
Starring: William Campbell, Karen Sharpe, Anita Ekberg, Berry Kroeger, Mike Mazurki | Directed by: Andrew V. McLaglen

MAN INSIDE, THE (1958)
(90 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
A stellar cast redeems the tawdry European-filmed melodrama 3DThe Man Inside3D. Nigel Patrick plays Sam Carter, a mild-mannered British clerk who spends half his life fantasizing about stealing a valuable diamond. When he is finally able to pull off this heist, it is at the cost of another man's life. Escaping to the Continent, Sam lives like a king, throwing his money around and romancing an unending stream of willing females. Private detective Milo March (Jack Palance) suspects that Sam is in some way tied in with the jewel theft, as are several less reputable types. Among the latter category are femme fatale Trudie Hall (Anita Ekberg) and two-bit crooks Lomer (Bonar Colleano, whose last film this was) and Rizzio (Sean Kelly). Anthony Newley also shows up briefly as a comedy-relief cabbie. If 3DThe Man Inside3D seems like a dry run for the "James Bond" films of the 1960s, it may be because the film was produced by Albert "Cubby" Broccoli and scripted by Richard Maibaum, both mainstays of the Bond series.
Starring: Jack Palance, Anita Ekberg, Nigel Patrick, Anthony Newley | Directed by: John Gilling

MAN WHO CHEATED HIMSELF, THE (1950)
(81 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Lee J. Cobb stars as Ed Cullen, a San Francisco police lieutenant, embroiled in a clandestine romance with married socialite Lois Frazer (Jane Wyatt). When Lois kills her husband Howard (Harlan Warde), the flustered Cullen vows to cover for her. He arranges the evidence to suggest that Howard was shot during a robbery. Things get sticky when Cullen is assigned to investigate the case, together with his more honest younger brother Andy (John Dall). How can Cullen escape detection without destroying his brother's standing with the force? Man Who Cheated Himself is worth seeing if only to watch Jane Wyatt play against her established screen image. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Lee J. Cobb, John Dall, Jane Wyatt, Lisa Howard, Charles Victor, Charles Arnt | Directed by: Felix E. Feist

MAN WITH A CLOAK, THE (1951)
(81 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Set in 19th-century New York, this mystery begins when a Frenchwoman shows up at the home of one of Napoleon's former marshals. The alcoholic man is badly crippled and slowly dying, but this doesn't stop the forthright lady from pushing him to change his will to include his estranged grandson so that he can help out the struggling French Republic. Unfortunately, the dying man's conniving housekeeper and butler, already planning murder to get the money themselves, overhear her and begin plotting her demise. — Sandra Brennan
Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Joseph Cotton, Louis Calhern, Leslie Caron, Jim Backus | Directed by: Fletcher Markle

MAN WITH MY FACE, THE (1951)
(86 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Adapted by Samuel W. Taylor from his own novel, The Man with My Face is an acting tour de force for Barry Nelson. The star is cast as an accountant who returns home late one evening, only to discover that a look-alike has taken his place. So persuasive is the phony man that the real one is regarded as an impostor. Even his wife (Lynn Ailey) and business partner (John Harvey) seem to have fallen for the look-alike's subterfuge. Accused of bank robbery, the poor man must rely on his ex-sweetheart Mary (Carole Mathews) and her brother Walt (Jack Warden in his film debut) to help him clear himself and expose his "evil twin." The climax borrows a gimmick from an earlier "doppelganger" melodrama, The Black Room (1935). Man with My Face was filmed on location in Puerto Rico.
Starring: Barry Nelson, Lynn Ainley, Jack Warden, Carole Mathews, John Harvey | Directed by: Edward J. Montagne Jr.

MANTRAP (1953)
(79 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
(aka: MAN IN HIDING) Paul Henreid stars in the compact British noir thriller Man in Hiding. Henreid plays a detective, out to capture a slippery murderer. At one point, our hero is forced by circumstances to elude the law himself. Future "Miss Moneypenny" Lois Maxwell, former "Saint" Hugh Sinclair, and Kieron Moore costar. For the record, in later years Henreid would claim that he did so many inexpensive foreign films in the 1950s because he'd been politically blacklisted in the US; who are we to doubt him? Man in Hiding was also released as Man-Trap.
Starring: Paul Henreid, Lois Maxwell, Kieron Moore, Hugh Sinclair | Directed by: Terence Fisher

MASK OF THE DRAGON (1951)
(51 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Lippert's Mask of the Dragon was filmed simultaneously with Fingerprints Don't Lie, utilizing the same director and cast. Richard Travis plays Phil Ramsey, a private eye, headquartered in San Francisco. He is obliged to investigate the murder of an old friend, a Korean war vet who had recently delivered a jade dragon to a Chinatown merchant. Aided by heroine Ginny O'Donnell (Sheila Ryan), Ramsey follows the trail of clues to a deserted TV studio (actually Los Angeles' KTLA). Sid Melton provides comedy relief as the head villain's dopey henchman. Though cheaply produced, Mask of the Dragon doesn't stint entertainment-wise.
Starring: Richard Travis, Sheila Ryan, Sid Melton, Michael Whalen, Lyle Talbot | Directed by: Sam Newfield

MIAMI EXPOSE (1956)
(73 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Like most Sam Katzman efforts of the late 1950s, Miami Expose laid claim to being "torn from today's headlines." Lensed on location, the film stars Lee J. Cobb as dedicated police lieutenant Bart Scott. Though he'd like nothing better than to smash Miami's gambling racketeers, Scott is forever stymied by legal loopholes. It becomes personal when an old friend of Scott's is killed during a turf war between ageing gambling czar Raymond Sheridan (Alan Napier) and hot-headed upstart Louie Ascot (Michael Granger). Patricia Medina plays Lila Hodges, sole witness to the murder, who is placed in protective custody by Scott all part of a master plan to bring the syndicate bosses out in the open. Also appearing as a "bought" politician is Edward Arnold, who died during production.
Starring: Lee J. Cobb, Patricia Medina, Edward Arnold, Michael Granger | Directed by: Fred Sears

MIAMI STORY, THE (1954)
(75 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this Miami-set crime drama, a secret society of residents united against the ever-encroaching Mafia, hire a reform mobster to help them stop the violence by exposing the Mafia to public scrutiny.
Starring: Barry Sullivan, Luther Adler, Adele Jergens, Beverly Garland | Directed by: Fred Sears

MIDNIGHT STORY, THE (1957)
(89 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this tense murder mystery, a San Francisco traffic officer vows to find the killer of the kindly priest who raised him. Unfortuantely, his superiors assign the case to others. Angrily the cop quits the force and launches his own investigation. The cop's prime suspect is the priest's best friend. When this friend invites the cop to live with him and his lovely cousin, the cop accepts, hoping that he can prove the friend's innocence. Sure enough, the priest's friend is innocent. Relieved, the cop begins a romance with the cousin that culminates in their marriage. It is then that a terrible secret is revealed.
Starring: Tony Curtis, Marisa Pavan, Gilbert Roland, Ted de Corsia, Jay C. Flippen | Directed by: Joseph Pevney

MOB, THE (1951)
(87 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: C
Broderick Crawford plays Johnny Damico, a detective who suddenly finds himself up to his neck in trouble and his career on the line. Going home in the rain one night, he finds himself just a few feet from a shooting on a dark street, where the gunman claims to be a detective from another precinct, flashing a real badge — and then slipping away. Damico discovers that the victim of the shooting was a witness who was to have appeared before a grand jury investigating waterfront crime, and that the same man who shot him also murdered the chief investigator on the case just a few hours earlier (which is where the badge came from). Damico could lose his job, but instead he's given the chance to redeem himself — he's sent undercover and given a new identity as New Orleans tough-guy Tim Flynn, who insinuates himself onto the New York waterfront when he arrives on ship. He manages to hook up with union thug Joe Castro (Ernest Borgnine) and his strong-arm man Gunner (Neville Brand), who try to frame him for a murder that also gets a potential stoolie out of the way and that hooks Damico up with crooked police sergeant Bennion. After following one blind alley involving a federal agent (Richard Kiley) working as a longshoreman, Damico manages to get an intro to Blackie Clegg (Matt Crowley), the man working behind Castro, Gunner, et al, who's as cool and slippery as they come and as sadistic as he is vengeful.
Starring: Broderick Crawford, Betty Buehler, Richard Kiley, Neville Brand | Directed by: Robert Parrish

MUGGER, THE (1958)
(74 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this crime drama, a police psychiatrist sets out to capture a whacko purse snatcher who has been scarring the faces of his female victims as he makes off with their bags. When a girl is killed, all evidence points to the mugger, but when he is captured he fervently denies it. The police then begin looking for the real culprit and discover that the killer is the dead girl's brother-in-law and close friend of the shrink.
Starring: Kent Smith, Nan Martin, James Franciscus, Stefan Schnabel | Directed by: William A. Berke

MURDER AT 3AM (1953)
(60 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this murder mystery, a police detective begins suspecting that his sister's newest beau is a murderer. Unfortunately, he is dead wrong.
Starring: Philip Saville, Dennis Price, Rex Garner, Leonard Sharp | Directed by: Francis Searle

MURDER BY CONTRACT (1958)
(85 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Murder by Contract was more professionally beneficial for its star, Vincent Edwards, than its director, the underrated Irving Lerner. Edwards plays hitman-for-hire Claude, who goes about his work with quiet, detached and deadly efficiency. After several "minor" killings (adroitly and subtly conveyed by director Lerner), Claude is assigned the task of murdering mob witness Billie Williams (Caprice Toriel). Despite his qualms about killing a woman-not because he's got a sentimental streak, but because women are "difficult" to kill without a lot of extra preparation-he accepts the job. His first two attempts come to naught, due to circumstances beyond his control. While laying the groundwork for his third try, Claude finds out that his two trusted associates (Herschel Bernardi and Phillip Pine) have been ordered to kill him because of his earlier failures. Wearily, he disposes of his ex-comrades and gets down to the business at hand. Had Murder by Contract been made a few years later, Claude may have triumphed in the end, but the state of censorship in 1958 dictated a less happy fate for the "hero". Enhancing the low-key ambience of Murder by Contract is the matter-of-fact cinematography of Lucien Ballard and the muted one-guitar musical score by Carlo Lodato. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Vince Edwards, Phillip Pine, Herschel Bernardi, Caprice Toriel | Directed by: Irving Lerner

MURDER IS MY BEAT (1955)
(77 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Mr. Dean's body is found face down in the fireplace, his features burned beyond recognition. Detectives Patrick (Paul Langton) and Rawley (Robert Shayne) arrest nightclub-singer Eden Lane (Barbara Payton) and she is convicted of the crime. On the way to prison, Eden sees a man through the train window, identifying him as the murderer, and Patrick and Eden jump from the train to search for the man. In a series of plot twists, the murderer is found, and Eden and Patrick are reunited. Directer Edgar G. Ulmer uses flashbacks and elliptical editing to good effect, but the film lacks any strong visual or narrative center. Barbara Peyton delivers a great performance as the ambiguous, mysterious femme-fatale. While still of some interest, Murder is My Beat lacks the power and grim vision of Ulmer's bleak gem, Detour.
Starring: Paul Langton, Barbara Payton, Robert Shayne, Selena Royle | Directed by: Edgar G. Ulmer

MURDER ON APPROVAL (1956)
(70 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Tom Conway essays one of his last starring roles in the British melodrama Murder on Approval. Conway is cast as special investigator Duke Martin (a character he'd later essay in the 1956 feature Breakaway), in London to investigate the authenticity of a rare postage stamp called the Barbados Overplate. Someone is willing to commit murder to get his or her hands on the stamp, which puts a crimp in Duke's efforts to romance every beautiful woman he meets. Delphi Lawrence is the principal female attraction, while Michael Balfour provides laughs as Martin's obligatory ex-convict assistant. Distributed in the US by RKO Radio, Murder on Approval was originally released in England as Barbados Quest.
Starring: Tom Conway, Delphi Lawrence, Brian Worth, Michael Balfour | Directed by: Bernard Knowles

MURDER WITHOUT TEARS (1953)
(64 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: C
Craig Stevens offers a seminal version of his "Peter Gunn" TV characterization in Allied Artists' Murder Without Tears. Stevens plays homicide detective Steve O'Malley, who doesn't buy Warren Richards' (Eddie Norris) alibi that he killed Mrs. Norris while suffering an alcoholic blackout. If Richards is able to persuade the jury that he wasn't responsible for his actions, he'll get off, and under the "double jeopardy" law will not be forced to stand trial again. O'Malley intends to see that Richards is duly punished — even if he has to take matters in his own hands. Joyce Holden co-stars as the woman torn between her love for O'Malley and her obligation to Richards.
Starring: Craig Stevens, Joyce Holden, Richard Benedict, Clair Regis | Directed by: William Beaudine

MY FORBIDDEN PAST (1951)
(70 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
This period melodrama stars Ava Gardner as Barbara Beaurevel, a woman who inherits a substantial fortune from her grandmother. The source of the Beaurevel estate is a subject much whispered about among polite company, but Barbara hopes to wipe away its stigma by using her money to help others through good works. Barbara is in love with Dr. Mark Lucas (Robert Mitchum), but since the good doctor is married, there is little she can do to win his affection. Barbara persuades Paul (Melvyn Douglas) to try to seduce Dr. Lucas' wife Corinne (Janis Carter) in hopes of driving him away from her. Not long after this plan fails, Barbara finds a way to truly prove her love to Dr. Lucas. Corrine is murdered, Dr. Lucas is accused of the crime, and Barbara realizes that the testimony that could save his life would mean having to reveal the truth about her grandmother's shameful past. — Mark Deming
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Ava Gardner, Melvyn Douglas, Lucile Watson | Directed by: Robert Stevenson

MY GUN IS QUICK (1957)
(88 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Robert Bray, best known to baby-boomers as "Ranger Corey" on TV's Lassie, is cast as Mickey Spillane's rough-edged private eye Mike Hammer in My Gun is Quick. Mike's mission this time out is to solve a murder and a jewel robbery. He faces opposition from two warring criminal gangs, but when has that ever stopped him in the past? Co-starring as a typically Spillanesque cool blonde is Whitney Blake, who like Bray later gained TV fame in a more sedate role on the weekly sitcom Hazel (incidentally, Ms. Blake is the mother of actress Meredith Baxter). Not quite as accomplished as Robert Aldrich's classic Mike Hammer yarn Kiss Me Deadly, My Gun is Quick works well within its modest limits.
Starring: Robert Bray, Pat Donahue, Whitney Blake, Don Randolph | Directed by: George White / Phil Victor

MYSTERY STREET (1950)
(93 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
This taut film noir offers viewers an interesting look into the state of forensic criminology back in 1950 while also subtly offering some sharp social commentary. The grim Boston-set tale begins as blonde tart Vivian Hedron goes to cheap bar and seduces Henry Shanway so she can swipe his car. She then speeds away to a remote beach to meet her lover James Harkley, one of the monied Boston Harkleys who is also very married. Just after Hedron tells him she is carrying his child, he shoots her, takes off clothes After that, he throws her naked corpse into the ocean and Shanway's car into a local marsh. Time passes and Hedron's skeleton finally washes up on the beach. Lieutenant detective Morales is assigned the case. To learn the girl's identity, Morales enlists the aid of a medical expert from Harvard. They later discover that she was pregnant while searching the sand around her body and finding bones from the fetus. The police also dredge the swamp and find Shanway's car. Though he reported it stolen, he still becomes the prime suspect. Fortunately, the medical evidence does not support Shanway's guilt and Morales continues the investigation. Harkley has his own problems for Hedron's greedy landlady discovered Harkley's phone number in her late tenants apartment and has also stole the murder weapon. Armed with this proof, she begins blackmailing Harkley. Eventually, Harkley decides to kill the troublesome woman but finds both the detective and his wife Grace Harkley waiting for him. He escapes, but by this time it is too late and it is not long before justice is served. — Sandra Brennan
Starring: Ricardo Montalban, Sally Forrest, Bruce Bennett, Elsa Lanchester | Directed by: John Sturges

NAKED ALIBI (1954)
(86 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Ross Hunter hadn't yet completely graduated to glossy, star-studded soap operas when he produced the taut crime meller Naked Alibi. Chief of detectives Joseph E. Conroy (Sterling Hayden) is busted after failing to prove that "solid citizen" Al Willis (Gene Barry) is a maniacal cop-killer. Despite his lack of authority, Conroy puts so much heat on Willis that the latter skips town with his floozy lady friend Marianna (Gloria Grahame). Conroy follows the two fugitives to a wide-open border town, then slowly and methodically maps out the villain's doom. Essentially a cat-and-mouse game for most of its running time, Naked Alibi slowly but surely builds up to a nailbiting rooftop-chase climax. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Sterling Hayden, Gloria Grahame, Gene Barry, Marcia Henderson | Directed by: Jerry Hopper

NAKED STREET, THE (1955)
(84 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
A ruthless crime lord saves his sister from social embarrassment by working diligently to get the gangster who fathered her unborn baby off death row and out of prison so he can do the decent thing and marry the girl. The freed gangster is not thrilled with his new bride, but stays loyal until the woman miscarries. He then returns to crime and begins messing with other women, something that outrages his wife's nefarious brother and leads him to frame the cocky youth and get him sent back to prison and certain death. Just before he is to die, the youth tells his story to a sympathetic reporter, who decides to go after the real troublemaker.
Starring: Anthony Quinn, Anne Bancroft, Peter Graves, Farley Granger | Directed by: Maxwell Shane

NARROW MARGIN, THE (1952)
(70 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
The Narrow Margin is generally considered a "model" B picture; some film buffs go farther than that, labelling this 1952 RKO suspenser as the best low-budget studio production ever made. Nail-hard detective Walter Brown (Charles McGraw) is assigned to protect gangster's widow Mrs. Neall (Marie Windsor) as she rides the train from Chicago to LA, en route to testifying at a grand jury. There's no love lost between the ill-tempered Neall and Brown, especially since Brown's partner (Don Beddoe) was killed by mobsters while shielding Neall from harm. On the train, Brown makes the acquaintance of a likeable woman (Jacqueline White) and her playful young son. He also comes in contact with a rather secretive fat man (Paul Maxey), who may well be a mob assassin. Not long before the train pulls into California, Brown is approached by small-time crook (Peter Brocco), who offers the detective a great deal of money if he'll permit Neall to be silenced. Brown appears to be tempted, but this is only a smokescreen to throw the crooks off the trail. The Narrow Margin was remade (and unnecessarily padded and attenuated) in 1990. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Charles McGraw, Marie Windsor, Jacqueline White, Gordon Geberl | Directed by: Richard Fleischer

NEVER TRUST A GAMBLER (1951)
(79 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Never Trust a Gambler proves the veracity of its title by offering up a particularly unsavory specimen in the form of Steve Garry (Dane Clark). Vowing that he's sworn off gambling, Steve is taken back by his loving ex-spouse Virginia Merrill (Cathy O'Donnell). In fact, Steve is merely using Virginia as a shield, to avoid testifying as a witness in a San Francisco murder trial. It seems that he's the murderer, and as such is obliged to kill again to cover his tracks. Poor, deluded Virginia doesn't catch on to her former husband's perfidy until it's nearly too late. Never Trust a Gambler is well-stocked with reliable supporting players, including Tom Drake, Jeff Corey, Myrna Dell and especially Rhys Williams.
Starring: Dane Clark, Cathy O'Donnell, Jeff Corey, Tom Drake | Directed by: Ralph Murphy

NEW ORLEANS UNCENSORED (1955)
(76 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Hot on the heels of Warner Bros.' New York Confidential came Columbia's New Orleans Uncensored. Lensed in semi-documentary fashion by future horror maven William Castle, the film stars Arthur Franz as New Orleans dockworker Dan Corbett. Attempting to remain honest, Corbett runs afoul of crime kingpin Zero Saxon (Michael Ansara), who controls the dockworkers union and runs a smuggling operation on the side. When his best friend is killed by Saxon's goons, Corbett agrees to cooperate with the authorities in bringing the racketeer to justice. As a means of "balancing" the picture, several real-life New Orleans civic leaders and union heads--all with purportedly clean records--appear as themselves.
Starring: Arthur Franz, Beverly Garland, Michael Ansara, Mike Mazurki | Directed by: William Castle

NEW YORK CONFIDENTIAL (1955)
(87 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
New York Confidential is based on the Jack Lait-Lee Mortimer bestseller of the same name. Richard Conte plays Nick Magellan, a "torpedo" for Manhattan crime boss Charlie Lupo (Broderick Crawford). Pleased with Magellan's work, Charlie promotes him to the topmost rungs of the Syndicate. He regrets this act of largesse when the powers-that-be demand that Lupo be rubbed out. . .by good old Magellan. The most fascinating aspect of New York Confidential is that there isn't a sympathetic character in the bunch; even Anne Bancroft as Lupo's maladjusted daughter is a bit on the obnoxious side. The original Lait-Mortimer book was later adapted into a 1958 TV series, starring Lee Tracy.
Starring: Richard Conte, Broderick Crawford, Marilyn Maxwell, Anne Bancroft, J. Carrol Naish, Mike Mazurki | Directed by: Russell Rouse

NIAGARA (1953)
(92 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Belated honeymooners Polly (Jean Peters) and Ray Cutler (Casey Adams) arrive at their Niagara Falls cottage only to find that Rose (Marilyn Monroe) and George Loomis (Joseph Cotten) have not yet checked out. Though the Cutlers temporarily take another cabin, the lives of the two couples are bound together for the next two days. Polly discovers that Rose is having an affair and that George, though emotionally unstable, has good reason for his jealous rage. George accurately suspects that Rose openly flaunts her sexuality to make him act crazy in front of witnesses. This is part of Rose's plan: her lover Patrick (Richard Allan) will kill George and make it look like suicide or a disappearance. Instead, George kills Patrick, and he returns to kill Rose, but finds Polly instead. As she had been sympathetic to him, he asks her not to tell anyone that he is alive so he can simply disappear. But, realizing that he wants to kill Rose, Polly informs the police. What follows is escalating terror, with George stalking Rose, Rose desperately trying to leave town, the police searching for both of them, and finally George and Polly adrift in a boat heading for the precipice. In Henry Hathaway's Technicolor film noir, Niagara Falls serves as an apt metaphor for the destructive power of out-of-control carnal and murderous obsessions
Starring: Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotton, Jean Peters, Max Showalter, Denis O'Dea | Directed by: Henry Hathaway

NIGHT AND THE CITY (1950)
(95 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Jules Dassin's Night and the City opens with cheap grifter Harry Fabian (Richard Widmark) running for his life through the streets of London. Harry wants to be big-time, and he does not care how he raises cash for his schemes. Like a junkie, he uses and steals from his girlfriend Mary (Gene Tierney), a singer at the Silver Fox, a seedy nightclub owned by the physically grotesque Phil Nosseross Francis L. Sullivan. Harry, who also works for Phil steering unsuspecting customers to the club, comes up with a plan to wrest control of professional wrestling from promoter and underworld kingpin Kristo (Herbert Lom) by manipulating Kristo through his father, retired wrestling great Gregorius (Stanislaus Zbyszko). For financial backing, Harry turns to Phil and Phil's wife Helen Googie Withers, both of whom give him the money, but only to further their own ends. When Gregorius is accidentally killed by his protege's upcoming opponent, Strangler (Mike Mazurki), and Phil realizes that Helen is leaving him for Harry, the scheme quickly unravels. Truly a glimpse of hell, Night and the City's distorted visuals and dark symbolism depict an underworld from which there is no escape and in which redemption comes at a very high price. — Steve Press
Starring: Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney, Googie Withers, Hugh Marlowe, Francis L. Sullivan | Directed by: Jules Dassin

NIGHT HOLDS TERROR, THE (1955)
(86 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Though based on a true story, the principal inspiration for The Night Holds Terror was the success of Paramount's The Desperate Hours. Jack Kelly plays well-to-do businessman Gene Courtier, who makes the mistake of his life when he picks up hitchhiker Victor Gosset (Vincent Edwards). Soon afterward, Gosset and his criminal confederates (John Cassavetes, David Cross) are holding Courtier and his family hostage. Upon learning that Courtier has a lot of money in the bank, the trio kidnap the businessman and hold him for ransom. Working in concert with Courtier's wife Doris (Hildy Parks), the FBI manages to keep apace with the criminals via the telephone system. Only occasionally resorting to family-held-captive cliches, The Night Holds Terror is an effective suspenser. Leading lady Hildy Parks later became an influential TV and theatrical producer.
Starring: Jack Kelly, Hildy Parks, Vince Edwards, John Cassavetes | Directed by: Andrew L. Stone

NIGHT OF THE HUNTER (1955)
(93 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Adapted by James Agee from a novel by Davis Grubb, The Night of the Hunter represented legendary actor Charles Laughton's only film directing effort. Combining stark realism with Germanic expressionism, the movie is a brilliant good-and-evil parable, with "good" represented by a couple of farm kids and a pious old lady, and "evil" literally in the hands of a posturing psychopath. Imprisoned with thief Ben Harper (Peter Graves), phony preacher Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum) learns that Ben has hidden a huge sum of money somewhere near his home. Upon his release, the murderously misogynistic Powell insinuates himself into Ben's home, eventually marrying his widow Willa (Shelley Winters). Eventually all that stands between Powell and the money are Ben's son (Billy Chapin) and daughter (Sally Jane Bruce), who take refuge in a home for abandoned children presided over by the indomitable, scripture-quoting Rachel Cooper (Lillian Gish). The war of wills between Mitchum and Gish is the heart of the film's final third, a masterful blend of horror and lyricism. Laughton's tight, disciplined direction is superb — and all the more impressive when one realizes that he intensely disliked all child actors. The music by Walter Schumann and the cinematography of Stanley Cortez are every bit as brilliant as the contributions by Laughton and Agee. Overlooked on its first release, The Night of the Hunter is now regarded as a classic. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Lillian Gish, Shelley Winters, Billy Chapin | Directed by: Charles Laughton

NIGHTFALL (1957)
(78 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Commercial artist James Vanning (Aldo Ray) and his friend, Dr. Edward Gurston (Frank Albertson), are on a hunting and fishing trip in Wyoming when they stop to help two men whose car has crashed. The pair, John (Brian Keith) and Red (Rudy Bond), turn out to be escaped bank robbers, on the run with 350,000 dollars in stolen cash after a clean getaway, and they don't plan on leaving any witnesses — Gurston is shot dead by Red, using Vanning's hunting rifle, but Vanning survives by accident, knocked cold but alive. He awakens to discover the stolen money, accidentally left behind, and runs with it from the returning killers — he gets away but loses the bag in the blizzard that hits. He manages to make it to the nearest town, but not before the doctor's body is found, with a bullet in it from Vanning's rifle. Now the prime suspect in the murder, Vanning takes it on the lam, hiding out for months — unbeknowst to him, however, he's been under observation for most of that time by Ben Fraser (James Gregory), an investigator from the insurance company whose policy covered the bank that was robbed; and has been found by John and Red — and all of them think that Vanning can lead them to the missing money. But John and Red are perfectly prepared to torture and even maim Vanning to get the money, and they get their chance when he lets his guard down one night to talk to Marie Gardner (Anne Bancroft), a young model he meets in a bar. He manages to get away from his captors after a fierce struggle and makes his way to her place; after convincing her that it's not the police he's running from (which is not entirely true), they take off together, with Fraser and the two hoods only a half-step behind, headed to Wyoming and the spring thaw so he can hunt for the bag and the missing money and prove his innocence.
Starring: Aldo Ray, Brian Keith, Anne Bancroft, Jocelyn Brando | Directed by: Jacques Tourneur

NIGHTMARE (1956)
(89 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Jazz musician Stan Grayson (Kevin McCarthy) wakes up from a dream in which he has killed a man during a struggle in a bizarre mirrored room. However, thumbprints on his neck, a strange key in his pocket, and a haunting, otherworldly musical riff in his head quickly convince him that it was not just a dream. Afraid that he might be a murderer, yet not recalling the events of the nightmare, he confides in his brother-in-law (and New Orleans homicide detective) René Bressard (Edward G. Robinson), who tells him that he's been working too hard and drinking too much. But as Grayson is almost magnetically drawn back to the scene of the apparent crime, Bressard angrily comes to believe that Stan was lying and knew exactly what he had done. Grayson, paralyzed by his guilt, can barely find the strength to try to clear himself. McCarthy portrays a sense of overwhelming panic almost as well as he does in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), and Robinson's tough cop is warmly textured with a sly sense of humor. Nightmare is a far superior remake of director Maxwell Shane's own first adaptation of the Cornell Woolrich story, Fear in the Night (1947). With a larger budget and better cast, Shane creates a shadowy, hypnotic world of seedy urban nightclubs and cheap hotels; even a picnic on the bayou evokes a feeling of dread. Woolrich would have felt right at home. — Steve Press
Starring: Edward G. Robinson, Kevin McCarthy, Connie Russell, Virginia Christine | Directed by: Maxwell Shane

NO ESCAPE (1953)
(76 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
aka: City on a Hunt Also known as City on a Hunt, No Escape stars Lew Ayres and Marjorie Steele as mixed-up victims of circumstance. John Tracy (Ayres), a drunken songwriter, has reason to believe that he's murdered artist Peter Hayden (James Griffith). So does Pat Peterson (Steele), a blue-collar girl whom Hayden had tried to seduce. Both John and Pat take it on the lam, with her boyfriend, police detective Simon Shayne (Sonny Tufts), in hot pursuit. The twist ending isn't much of a surprise, but it's still crammed with suspense. No Escape represents a rare directorial effort by screenwriter Charles Bennett, whose previous scripting credits include several Alfred Hitchcock thrillers.
Starring: Lew Ayres, Marjorie Steele, Sonny Tufts, Lewis Martin, Charles Cane, Gertrude Michael | Directed by: Charles Bennett

NO MAN'S WOMAN (1955)
(70 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Carolyn Grant (Marie Windsor), a Monterey gallery owner, is playing the field and seems to have one too many men on her string, including her wealthy estranged husband, the local art critic, and even the fiancé of her shop assistant. So when Carolyn is murdered during an apparent break-in at her gallery, there are plenty of male suspects -- with the husband and father-in-law in the lead. Windsor's sultry temptress is the brightest spot in an otherwise so-so mystery, although her wickedness isn't quite at the level she achieved a year later as Sherry Peatty in The Killing.
Starring: Marie Windsor, Patric Knowles, Richard Crane, Nancy Gates, John Archer | Directed by: Franklin Adreon

NO QUESTIONS ASKED (1951)
(80 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Barry Sullivan plays an eager young lawyer who is willing to sacrifice any and all scruples on the upward climb. He is put on retainer by a gangster, and soon is ankle-deep in an insurance racket. When he wants to pull out, Sullivan is framed for a gangland murder. No Questions Asked was in line with the harsher, less frothy fare produced by MGM during the Dore Schary regime. The screenplay was by former radio gagman Sidney Sheldon, who would later carve a literary niche for himself in the best-seller market of the 1970s. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Barry Sullivan, Arlene Dahl, Jean Hagen, George Murphy | Directed by: Harold F Kress

NO WAY OUT (1950)
(110 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
A pioneering film about racial tensions, No Way Out stars Richard Widmark as a criminal who despises African-Americans. Sidney Poitier (in his screen debut) is the black doctor assigned to take care of the wounded Widmark. Poitier, hired by the police hospital as part of an overall program to integrate the staff, keeps his temper in check as Widmark spouts his racist invective. When Widmark's brother, also wounded, dies in the hospital, the blustering bigot holds Poitier responsible and sends word to his gang to wreak vengeance on the city's black community. But the blacks turn the tables on the whites and fight them off. Widmark then breaks out of the hospital with Poitier as hostage. His plans to kill the doctor are thwarted by Widmark's girlfriend (Linda Darnell) who finally becomes fed up with blind hatred. No Way Out was considered potent stuff in 1950; it was still regarded as a hot potato in 1962, when NBC dropped plans to telecast the film on Saturday Night at the Movies. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Richard Widmark, Linda Darnell, Sidney Poitier, Horace (Stephen) McNally | Directed by: Joseph L. Mankiewicz

NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)
(137 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
While having lunch at the Plaza Hotel, advertising executive Roger O. Thornhill (Cary Grant) has the bad luck to stand up just as a "George Kaplan" is being paged. From this point on, Thornhill's life is turned upside down. He is abducted by three mysterious men and whisked away to the palatial home of enemy spy Philip Vandamm (James Mason). Denying that his name is Kaplan, Thornhill is at a complete loss when Vandamm begins grilling him for information. Finally, Thornhill is drugged, tossed into a car, and sent careening down a treacherous mountain road. He escapes this death trap only when his car is stopped by a pair of motorcycle cops. Unable to persuade the Law that his stories of kidnappings and enemy agents is true—he can't even convince his own mother (Jessie Royce Landis)—Thornhill takes the cops back to the mansion where he was held prisoner, only to find that Vandamm and company have cleared out, and that house is really owned by United Nation ambassador Lester Townsend (Philip Ober).Tracking down Townsend at the UN building, Thornhill tries to get the man's attention—whereupon Townsend is knifed to death, and the nonplussed Thornhill left holding the weapon! Now a fugitive from justice, Thornhill tries to escape via train. En route, he meets the cooly beautiful Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint), who graciously hides him from the police. The apotheosis of Alfred Hitchcock's Hollywood career, North by Northwest is fast, funny, and exciting. The film contains far too many highlights to detail in this limited space: favorite bits include the cropduster dusting where there aren't any crops, the riotous auction scene, the mid-film murder of a principal character (or so it seems), and, of course, that nailbiting Mount Rushmore finale. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Leo G. Carroll, Martin Landau | Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

NOWHERE TO GO (1958)
(97 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Influential British critic Kenneth Tynan neglected to review Nowhere to Go—perhaps because he directed it himself. Maggie Smith makes her film debut as an aristocrat whose sheltered existence is shattered by the arrival of George Nader. Nader is a fugitive from justice who can expect no help from his fellow criminals. He takes refuge in Smith's home, entreating her to shield him from the police. She draws closer to Nader after the latter is accidentally shot. Adapted from a novel by Donald McKenzie, Nowhere to Go was not sufficiently successful for Kenneth Tynan to give up his day job. The film's principal asset is the progressive jazz score by Dizzy Reece. — Hal Erickson
Starring: George Nader, Maggie Smith, Bernard Lee, Bessie Love | Directed by: Seth Holt

OBSESSION (1949)
(98 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Blacklisted in Hollywood, director Edward Dmytryk managed to find work in England. Dmytryk's Obsession is based on Alec Coppel's suspense play A Man About a Dog. Robert Newton stars as Dr. Clive Riordan, the insanely jealous husband of unfaithful Storm Riordan (Sally Gray). Aware that Storm is having a torrid affair with an American named Bill Kronin (Phil Brown), Riordan kidnaps the man and chains him up in a deserted building, intending to kill him with an acid bath. The wife's dog, however, turns up at the last minute and spoils his plot. Obsession was released in the U.S. as The Hidden Room.
Starring: Robert Newton, Sally Gray, Naunton Wayne, Phil Brown, Michael Balfour | Directed by: Edward Dmytryk

ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW (1959)
(120 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Harry Belafonte was both producer and star of this hard-edged film noir crime drama. Dave Burke (Ed Begley, Sr.) is an ex-cop who has been kicked off the force for refusing to inform on his colleagues to the State Crime Committee. Short on money, the former policeman jumps to the other side of the law and plans to knock over a bank in upstate New York. He'll need help, so Burke brings in two other men to assist him — Johnny Ingram (Belafonte), a jazz musician with an addiction to gambling that's put him deep in debt to gangster Bacco (Will Kuluva), and Earl Slater (Robert Ryan), a disturbed war veteran who hasn't been able to find work after serving time for manslaughter. While their common greed and desperation has brought these men together, their differences threaten to tear them apart, especially when Slater's fear and hatred of black men rises to the surface. Blacklisted screenwriter Abraham Polonsky co-wrote the screenplay for Odds Against Tomorrow, using his friend John O. Killens as a "front." John Lewis of the Modern Jazz Quartet contributed a memorable musical score. — Mark Deming
Starring: Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan, Shelley Winters, Ed Begley, Sr., Gloria Grahame | Directed by: Robert Wise

ON DANGEROUS GROUND (1951)
(82 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Robert Ryan plays Jim Wilson, a tough police detective embittered by years of dealing with low-life urban scum, in Nicholas Ray's moving film noir. After severely beating several suspects, Jim is assigned to a case far from the city to find the killer of a young girl. Joining the manhunt, in snow-covered terrain, Wilson finds himself paired with the victim's father, Walter Brent (Ward Bond), who plans to shoot the killer himself. When the two men come upon a cabin occupied by Mary Malden (Ida Lupino), a blind woman who is also the killer's sister, Wilson's life is changed forever. Mary, a generous and loving person who has cared for her mentally ill brother Danny (Sumner Williams) since the death of their parents, convinces Wilson to protect Danny from Brent. Wilson also promises to get help for Danny if he surrenders to him. Inspired by Mary's courage and recognizing Brent's rage as the mirror image of his own, Wilson gains the insight to free himself from his own blindness. The film includes a memorable score by Alfred Hitchcock favorite Bernard Herrmann. — Steve Press
Starring: Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Ward Bond, Anthony Ross, Cleo Moore | Directed by: Nicholas Ray

ONCE A THIEF (1950)
(87 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
W. Lee Wilder, the younger brother of Billy Wilder, was producer/director/co-writer of Once a Thief. June Havoc stars as Margie, a shoplifter who falls in love with smooth-talking Mitch (Cesar Romero). Margie's new beau reveals his true colors by stealing every penny she has, then turning her into the authorities. Upon her release from prison, Margie swears revenge. Though Mitch gets his just desserts, no one comes out a winner in this one. Though Once a Thief offers few surprises, the film does boast an impressive supporting cast (by "B"-picture standards, at least), including Marie McDonald, Lon Chaney Jr., Iris Adrian and Kathleen Freeman.
Starring: Cesar Romero, June Havoc, Marie McDonald, Lon Chaney, Jr. | Directed by: W. Lee Wilder

ONE GIRL'S CONFESSION (1953)
(73 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Filmmaker Hugo Haas unfolds his usual cautionary "old man-young woman" story in One Girl's Confession. Perennial Haas leading lady Cleo Moore stars as Mary Adams, whose first step on the road to ruin is a $25,000 robbery. Mary hides the money, then confesses to the crime, secure in the belief that she can dig up the loot upon her release from prison. A few years later, Mary is placed on probation, whereupon she takes a waitressing job at the seaside eatery run by Dragomie Damitrof (Haas). A chronic gambler, Damitrof is on the verge of losing his café when Mary offers to loan him money. When Damitrof begins spending cash like a sailor, Mary is convinced that he's located her hidden loot, whereupon she hits him on the noggin and leaves him for dead. Deciding that the money is too much trouble, Mary donates the rest of the loot to an orphanage and confesses to Damitrof's murder. But that's not the end of the story ....
Starring: Cleo Moore, Hugo Haas, Glenn Langan, Ellen Stansbury | Directed by: Hugo Haas

ONE JUMP AHEAD (1954)
(66 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this thriller, a reporter investigates the murder of a female blackmailer and soon finds himself hot on the trails of both the killer and the schoolboy that may have witnessed the crime.
Starring: Peter Sinclair, June Ashley, Freddie Mills, Charles Lamb | Directed by: Charles Saunders

ONE WAY OUT (1956)
(61 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
In this crime drama, a policeman sacrifices his career keep his daughter from being implicated in a bank job. Her actions caused his carefully constructed case against a crime boss to crumble. Still, even as a civilian, he continues to chase after the crook.
Starring: Jill Adams, Lyndon Brook, Eddie Byrne, John Chandos, Arthur Howard | Directed by: Francis Searle

ONE WAY STREET (1950)
(79 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
One Way Street stars James Mason in a variation of his Odd Man Out role. Mason plays Doc Matson, a gangland physician who has stolen $200,000 from powerful mob boss Wheeler (Dan Duryea). Forced to go on the lam, Matson takes Wheeler's girl Laura (Marta Toren) along. Knowing he is doomed from the start, the Doc dispenses reams of fatalistic philosophy, so much so that one wishes Laura would shout "Enough, already!" Finally finding a purpose in life tending to impoverished Mexican peasants, Doc decides to go back to LA and return both the money and Laura to Wheeler. Not surprisingly, the mobster isn't in the mood to forgive and forget.
Starring: Märta Torén, Dan Duryea, William Conrad, King Donovan, James Mason, King Donovan, Jack Elam, Rock Hudson | Directed by: Hugo Fregonese

OTHER WOMAN, THE (1954)
(81 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this drama, a filmmaker emigrates to the States and ends up marrying the studio head's daughter. Later, he gets into trouble when he refuses to give the studio prima donna the part she wants. For revenge she slips him a mickey, frames him, and the blackmails him for $50,000. The desperate director does the only thing he can--he kills her and blames a nearby vagrant. In the end, he is captured and justice prevails.
Starring: Hugo Haas, Lance Fuller, Cleo Moore, Lucille Barkley, John Qualen | Directed by: Hugo Haas

OUTSIDE THE WALL (1950)
(80 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this film, Richard Basehart stars as an ex-convict who has problems finding employment on the outside. He takes a job as a lab assistant in a seedy sanitarium, eventually learning that the sanitarium is a front for a robbery syndicate. Will Basehart resume his life of crime?
Starring: Richard Basehart, Marilyn Maxwell, Signe Hasso, Dorothy Hart, Joseph Pevney | Directed by: Crane Wilbur

PAID TO KILL (1954)
(71 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
In this thriller, a nearly bankrupt businessman blackmails a buddy into to murdering him within a week so that his wife can collect on his hefty insurance policy. Unfortunately, his business takes a sudden upswing, and he no longer has to die. Too bad his friend doesn't know that. The hero suffers several near misses before learning that it is partner and another who really want to kill him, not his friend whom they have kidnapped and framed. In the end, the villains shoot each other.
Starring: Avis Scott, Charles Hawtrey, Thea Gregory, Arthur Young | Directed by: Montgomery Tully

PANIC IN THE STREETS (1950)
(96 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Filmed entirely on location in New Orleans, Panic in the Streets stars Richard Widmark as Dr. Clinton Reed, a physician from the U.S. Health Service who must race against time to stop a plague. The carrier was an illegal alien, murdered by criminals Jack Palance and Zero Mostel. When local officials note the strange condition of the corpse, they fear that the germs will spread to epidemic proportions, and thus summon Reed to wrest control of the situation. At first facing opposition from rule-bound police captain Paul Douglas, Widmark is finally able to work hand-in-glove with Douglas in tracking down Palance and Mostel, who have themselves become plague carriers. Many of the actors in Panic in the Streets are local nonprofessionals, selected by director Elia Kazan because of their "rightness" within the framework of the story; the rest of the cast is peopled by such film veterans as Barbara Bel Geddes, Tommy Cook, Emile Meyer and H.T. TSIANG. Widmark's son is played by an uncredited Tommy Rettig, four years before he starred on the Lassie TV series. Though Elia Kazan liked to claim that much of Panic in the Streets was improvised, there was a script, adapted by Richard Murphy and Daniel Fuchs from a story by Edward Anhalt and Edna Anhalt.
Starring: Richard Widmark, Paul Douglas, Barbara Bel Geddes, Jack Palance, Zero Mostel | Directed by: Elia Kazan

PARIS EXPRESS, THE (1953)
(74 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
A Georges Simenon novel was the source for the Anglo-American The Man Who Watched Trains Go By. Claude Rains stars as Kees Popinga, chief clerk for a Dutch trading company. Scrupulously honest, Popinga goes off the deep end when he discovers that his employer has been cooking the books to support a mistress. Upon learning that his boss intends to abscond from Brussels to Paris with company funds, Popinga prevents this from happening by stealing the money himself. Through a series of wild coincidences, he winds up entangled with the very woman (Marta Toren) who'd caused his boss' downfall. The Man Who Watched Trains Go By was released in the U.S. as Paris Express.
Starring: Claude Rains, Michael Nightingale, Märta Torén, Marius Goring | Directed by: Harold French

PARTY GIRL (1958)
(99 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Robert Taylor stars in director Nicholas Ray's Party Girl as the traditional Ray anti-hero: a criminal lawyer who's a little bit of both. Fronting for Chicago gang boss Lee J. Cobb during the late 1920s, Taylor manages to get Cobb-underling John Ireland off on a murder rap. Cobb throws a party to celebrate the event at his penthouse, where showgirl Cyd Charisse performs a sexy dance. Ireland has the hots for Charisse, but she's more interested in Taylor. Thanks to her good influence, Taylor decides to quit the rackets. But after agreeing to take one more case for Cobb, Taylor is wounded in a shoot-out and hauled before prosecutor Kent Smith. Smith orders Taylor to testify against Cobb; the lawyer agrees to do so provided that Charisse is given police protection. Unfortunately, Cobb gets to Charisse first and threatens to throw acid in her lovely face while Taylor watches helplessly.
Starring: Robert Taylor, Cyd Charisse, Lee J. Cobb, John Ireland, Corey Allen | Directed by: Nicholas Ray

PHANTOM OF THE RUE MORGUE (1954)
(84 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Warner Bros.' followup to its 3D hit House of Wax, Phantom of the Rue Morgue bears only the slightest resemblance to its alleged inspiration, the Edgar Allan Poe mystery yarn Murders in the Rue Morgue. Karl Malden delivers one of the hammiest performances on record as mad scientist Dr. Marais, who uses a trained gorilla to exact revenge on those who've wronged him. At the top of Marais' hit list are the many beautiful women who've spurned his advances, including such French pastries as Yvonne (Allyn McLerie), Arlette (Veola Vonn) and Camille (Dolores Dorn). Each of these unfortunate ladies have been given bracelets decorated with bells, designed to attract the homicidal ape's attention. Psychology professor Paul Dupin (Steve Forrest) conducts a private investigation of the killings, only to be arrested for the murders himself by the supremely confident (and rather dense) Inspector Bonnard (Claude Dauphin). This leaves Dupin's sweetheart Jeanette (Patricia Medina) virtually defenseless when she is targetted for extermination by Doc Marais. Outside of such incidental pleasures as seeing Merv Griffin play a French medical student, Phantom of the Rue Morgue offers a vast array of unsubtle 3D "shock" effects, which come off as hilarious when the film is shown "flat" (as it always is these days).
Starring: Karl Malden, Claude Dauphin, Patricia Medina, Steve Forrest, Allyn Ann McLerie | Directed by: Roy Del Ruth

PHENIX CITY STORY, THE (1955)
(100 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Based on actual events, The Phenix City Story tells the tale of a wide-open "Sin City" in Alabama (a stone's throw from the Ft. Benning Army base) where gambling, prostitution and any number of other vices were tolerated by the law, thanks to the influence of organized crime on the local government. A group of decent citizens, tired of their city's rampant corruption, elects a new attorney general, Albert Patterson (John McIntyre), to clean up the town and get rid of the criminal element. However, Patterson is killed by thugs before he can take office, and his son John (Richard Kiley), fresh from military service in Korea, takes office in his place. Despite a number of threats against his life, John succeeds in bringing law and order back to "the wickedest city in the United States." The Phenix City Story runs 87 minutes, but most prints also include a 13-minute preface, compiled from newsreel footage, and interviews with the original participants that provide background on the events that inspired the film (and also spoil a few plot points). Director Phil Karlson was to enjoy greater success 18 years later with a similar story about one man fighting a city turned bad, Walking Tall. — Mark Deming
Starring: John McIntire, Richard Kiley, Kathryn Grant, Edward Andrews | Directed by: Phil Karlson

PICKUP (1951)
(78 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Pickup was the first self-financed directorial effort by the redoubtable Hugo Haas. The film falls neatly into the pattern followed by virtually all future Haas extravaganzas: A romantic triangle involving a susceptible middle-aged man, a scheming blonde wench, and a handsome hunk. Haas himself plays railroad dispatcher Jan Horak, who succumbs to the charms of zaftig doxy Betty (Beverly Michaels). Upon hearing that Horak has a few thousand dollars salted away, Betty inveigles him into marriage. Soon bored by her new husband, Betty inaugurates an affair with Horak's studdish assistant Steve (Allan Nixon). Because Horak is going deaf, Betty and Steve freely discusses their plans to bump off the old man and abscond with his dough. But Horak isn't quite as hearing-impaired as they think he is.
Starring: Hugo Haas, Beverly Michaels, Allan Nixon, Jo-Carroll Dennison, Howland Chamberlain | Directed by: Hugo Haas

PICKUP ALLEY (aka: Interpol) (1957)
(93 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Victor Mature stars in this European-based crime thriller. Mature is an FBI agent on the trail of a drug smuggling operation, following his quarry all over the Continent (with accompanying pretty pictures of Portugal, Spain, France etc.) The criminal mastermind (Trevor Howard) is something of a lunatic, who has already strangled Mature's sister to death just for the hell of it. Anita Ekberg plays Howard's luscious courier; as usual, her "acting" consists to breathing heavily in a low-cut dress. The title Pickup Alley was the invention of Columbia's New York office: The film's original British title was Interpol.
Starring: Victor Mature, Anita Ekberg, Trevor Howard, Bonar Colleano | Directed by: John Gilling

PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET (1953)
(80 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Samuel Fuller scarcely used Dwight Taylor's source material, a languid courtroom romance, in crafting this pugnacious potboiler. Pickup on South Street is strictly Fuller film noir — lean and wicked straight to its core. Barely out of prison, loner and pickpocket Skip McCoy (Richard Widmark) quietly helps himself to the contents of a woman's purse. His beautiful victim, Candy (Jean Peters), turns out to be an unwitting courier for the communist underground; McCoy's booty is actually microfilmed U.S. government secrets, formerly en route to Moscow. Both the FBI and Candy's employers are desperate to retrieve the film. The apolitical and arrogant McCoy has a plan to play both ends against the middle and come up ahead. However, dealing with the authorities may mean life in the clink, and the sadistic communists would rather kill McCoy than pay him off. He quickly becomes embroiled with Candy, who will risk everything to right her wrongs, and eventually even more to save her new man. When McCoy loses a cohort and Candy is almost killed, the cocksure pickpocket finds a stronger motivation than personal gain. — Aubry Anne D'Arminio
Starring: Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, Thelma Ritter, Richard Kiley | Directed by: Samuel Fuller

PLEASE MURDER ME (1956)
(78 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this thriller, an amorous attorney is appalled to realize that the lovely client (with whom he was smitten) he acquitted is indeed guilty of killing her husband. Now he too feels guilty for being so gullible and so arranges for the woman to murder him so she will get caught. The woman, now interested in a young artist, is more than happy to oblige him.
Starring: Madge Blake, Raymond Burr, John Dehner, Dick Foran, Angela Lansbury | Directed by: Peter Godfrey

PLUNDER ROAD (1957)
(76 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Not to be confused with the film noir classic Thunder Road, Plunder Road is nonetheless a fine little thriller on its own. Gene Raymond stars as the head of a robbery gang, whose latest caper involves the heist of a gold shipment from a US Mint train. To throw the cops off the track, the gang splits up and goes off in three directions. Two of the gang's gold-laden trucks are captured by the police, but the third makes it all the way to LA. At this point, Raymond melts down the gold and disguises it as fittings for his luxury car. On the verge of getting away scot-free, Raymond is involved in a freeway accident. Cast as Gene Raymond's gun moll is soap-opera favorite Jeanne Cooper (the mother of actor Corbin Bernsen).
Starring: Gene Raymond, Jeanne Cooper, Wayne Morris, Elisha Cook, Jr. | Directed by: Hubert Cornfield

PORTLAND EXPOSE (1957)
(72 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Virtually every major city in the 1950s harbored some sort of political corruption or other, providing plenty of material for the "exposé" school of filmmaking. Portland Expose is a fact-based account of skullduggery in the Oregon metropolis. Inspired by revelations made during the Senate's McClellan Committee hearings, the story concentrates on an honest tavern owner named George Madison (Edward Binns) who is involuntarily sucked into the city's rotten-to-the-core political machine. When Madison refuses to allow his establishment to serve as the gathering place for hoods and delinquents, the powers-that-be threaten to harm his family. Only after his daughter is attacked by a syndicate flunkey does Madison decide to fight back. At great personal risk, he manages to tape-record damning evidence against Portland's "untouchable" criminal kingpin (Russ Conway). The supporting cast includes such radio and TV "regulars" as Virginia Gregg, Larry Dobkin, Frank Gorshin and Joe Flynn.
Starring: Edward Binns, Carolyn Craig, Virginia Gregg, Russ Conway | Directed by: Harold D. Schuster

POSTMARK FOR DANGER (1955)
(78 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Postmark for Danger was filmed in England, where it was released as Portrait of Alison. Terry Moore stars as an American actress who becomes the unwitting dupe in a diamond-smuggling schemes. Ingredients essential to the action are a beautiful strangulation victim (Josephine Green), an unusual charm bracelet, a curiously labelled bottle of chianti, and a hastily sketched drawing on the back of a postcard. The screenplay, by cinematographer Guy Green (who also directed), was adapted from a popular British TV serial. Released stateside by RKO Radio, Postmark for Danger was produced by Tony Owen, the husband of actress Donna Reed. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Terry Moore, Robert Beatty, William Sylvester, Josephine Griffin | Directed by: Guy Green

PRICE OF FEAR, THE (1956)
(79 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this drama, a man is falsely accused of committing two murders, one of which is committed at the dog-track. Now he is pursued by the police and gangsters. To escape the latter, the fleeing fellow dives into a handy car, driven by the woman who really committed the hit-and-run. Mayhem ensues when the police arrest him, but justice eventually prevails.
Starring: Merle Oberon, Lex Barker, Charles Drake, Phillip Pine | Directed by: Abner Biberman

PRIVATE HELL 36 (1954)
(81 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Private Hell 36 was one of the last feature-length efforts by Filmmakers, a company created by producer Collier Young and his then-wife Ida Lupino. Young and Lupino also wrote the script for this grim crime melodrama, wherein two detectives Cal Bruner (Steve Cochran) and Jack Farnham (Howard Duff Lupino's future husband) are assigned to track down $300,000 stolen in a bloody hold-up. The two cops manage to locate $80,000 of the booty, whereupon Bruner, not the most ethical of men, suggests that he and Farnham split the money 50-50 and keep their mouths shut. When Farnham decides to turn honest and hand the money over to his superiors, Bruner responds with the business end of his revolver. The very small cast is rounded out by Dean Jagger as the detectives' boss and Dorothy Malone as Duff's understandably worried wife.
Starring: Ida Lupino, Howard Duff, Steve Cochran, Dean Jagger, Dorothy Malone | Directed by: Don Siegel

PRIZE OF GOLD, A (1955)
(98 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
A U.S. military officer is motivated by love and compassion to begin a life of crime in this action adventure story. Sgt. Joe Lawrence (Richard Widmark) is an American Army officer who, while stationed in Berlin shortly after the end of WWII, falls in love with Maria (Mai Zetterling), a refugee trying to raise enough money to move a group of German orphans to South America, where they can start life anew. Joe wants to help her, and with his buddies Sgt. Roger Morris (George Cole) and Brian Hammell (Nigel Patrick), Joe plans a daring robbery. A fortune in gold is being transferred from England to Germany via military transport, and Joe, Roger, and Brian intend to hijack the plane and grab the treasure. While the robbery goes off as planned, the three participants soon have second thoughts about what to do with their ill-gotten gains. Seven years later, leading lady Mai Zetterling would commence a distinguished career as a director with her film Wargame.
Starring: Richard Widmark, Mai Zetterling, Nigel Patrick, George Cole, Robert Ayres | Directed by: Mark Robson

PROWLER, THE (1951)
(92 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Webb Garwood (Van Heflin) is a cynical policeman who believes that success comes from lucky breaks. Responding to a prowler complaint at the home of Susan Gilvray (Evelyn Keyes), he is immediately attracted to her and her wealth. He returns to "check up" on Susan, and they begin an affair, conducted while listening to her husband William (Emerson Treacy)'s all-night radio program. Feeling guilty, Susan ends the relationship, but Garwood remains obsessed. He pretends to be a prowler on the Gilvray property so he can respond to another police call. Drawing William outside, he shoots him and makes it appear accidental. When Garwood manipulates Susan's confusion about the shooting, she buys his story, and the lovers marry. However, upon discovering that Susan is pregnant "too soon," they flee to give birth in secret, but eventually Susan learns the devastating truth. Intense performances by Heflin and Keyes bring alive this story of a prowler who preys on a woman's loneliness while also representing the forces of authority who literally screw those they are supposed to serve.
Starring: Van Heflin, Evelyn Keyes, John Maxwell, Katherine Warren | Directed by: Joseph Losey

PUSHOVER, THE (1954)
(88 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Two bank robbers get away with 250,000 dollars in unmarked, unrecorded bills, murdering a guard in the process. The police know the leader was Harry Wheeler (Paul E. Richards) and turn their attention to his girlfriend, Leona McLane (Kim Novak), detective Paul Sheridan (Fred MacMurray) arranging to pick her up in a "chance" meeting at a movie and spend some time with her. After one day, he knows what he needs to — that she's not in touch with Wheeler, but expects to be — but he keeps things going between them for three more days. By the time the department has a full surveillance team in place, he can't get her off his mind, and when she discovers that he's a cop and raises the notion of letting events take their course with Wheeler (i.e., him ending up dead) and the two of them keeping the money, he's hooked. Sheridan is fast on his feet and a quick thinker and sees how he might pull this off and get the two of them away clean. But he doesn't bargain for the alcoholism of one of the detectives (Allen Nourse) on the surveillance team, the inquisitive nature of his squad commander (E.G. Marshall), or the attachment that his younger associate (Philip Carey) develops for a nurse (Dorothy Malone) living in the building they're observing. Kim Novak had previously appeared in small roles in some films at RKO, but The Pushover marked her formal introduction to audiences as a star, and she more than lives up to the billing and the buildup she received, her acting ability and her physique easily carrying her end of the picture (she's onscreen alone for long minutes under observation, and is convincingly seductive), while MacMurray gives one of the best performances of his career, rivaling his work in Double Indemnity, The Caine Mutiny, and The Apartment.
Starring: Fred MacMurray, Kim Novak, Philip Carey, Dorothy Malone | Directed by: Richard Quine

QUICKSAND (1950)
(79 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Mickey Rooney, with his kid roles and musicals behind him, went for a major change of image in this harrowing film noir. He gives what many consider to be the best performance of his career as Danny Brady, a well-meaning grease monkey whose life is destroyed in less than a week. Danny finds himself short of cash when he's supposed to take out Vera (Jeanne Cagney), a waitress whom he's just met who works at a hash-house. He borrows 20 dollars from the cash register, planning on paying it back with 20 dollars that a buddy owes him the next day, but the friend doesn't turn up. To get the 20 dollars, he buys a 100-dollar watch on a payment plan and then hocks it for the 20 dollars, but a detective picks up on the purchase and threatens to have him jailed if he doesn't pay the full 100 dollars immediately; desperate to raise the money, he robs a drunken bar patron of his bill-fold. His money problems seemingly behind him, Danny takes Vera out with the extra cash, but gets into a fight with her former boss, Nick (Peter Lorre), who picks up a clue that Danny did the robbery. Nick pressures Danny to provide him with a new car (a hard-to-get commodity in 1950) from the garage where he works, in return for keeping quiet. Danny steals the car and turns it over to Nick, but he and Vera decide to get even by robbing Nick's safe that night — now they've got 3,600 dollars, which they split. But Danny's boss, Mackey, tells him he knows who stole the car, and wants either the car back or the full value, or he'll turn Danny in to the police. Vera has already blown her share on a mink coat, and he goes back to Mackey with what he has, 1,800 dollars. Mackey takes it and proceeds to call the police. Danny attacks him and leaves him for dead. Danny goes on the run, convinced he's wanted for Mackey's murder. Danny runs into Helen (Barbara Bates), a nice girl that he was dating and then dumped, and they end up fleeing together, hijacking a car and holding an innocent man at gunpoint. Impending tragedy seems to loom up even larger when they cross paths with police officers on a manhunt. Realizing that Helen has been good to him, he ends up on the run alone, with a gun in hand, as the law closes in. — Bruce Eder
Starring: Mickey Rooney, Jeanne Cagney, Barbara Bates, Peter Lorre | Directed by: Irving Pichel

RACKET, THE (1951)
(88 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
The Racket was based on a play by Bartlett Cormack, first filmed as a silent in 1928. The storyline was updated to include references to Estes Kefauver's Senate Crime Investigating Committee: otherwise, the plot (and much of the dialogue) was lifted bodily from the Cormack play. Racketeer Robert Ryan has managed to get several government and law-enforcement higher-ups in his pocket. But Ryan can't touch the incorruptible police officer Robert Mitchum, who refuses all attempts at bribery. Ryan pulls strings to get Mitchum transferred to a series of undesirable precincts, but Mitchum will not be dissuaded. The battle of wills between cop and criminal comes to a head when mob-connected nightclub singer Lizabeth Scott turns on her former protector Ryan. The Broadway version of The Racket starred Edward G. Robinson as the racketeer; the 1928 film version featured Louis Wolheim in the Robinson role and Thomas Meighan as the upright cop. Both the silent and sound versions of the property were personally produced by Howard R. Hughes. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Lizabeth Scott, Robert Ryan, William Talman | Directed by: John Cromwell

RAGING TIDE, THE (1951)
(93 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
The Raging Tide stars Richard Conte as San Francisco crime boss Bruno Felkin. After killing off a rival, Felkin tries to arrange an alibi with his girlfriend Connie Thatcher (Shelley Winters). Unfortunately, she isn't available, obliging Felkin to hide out on a fishing boat owned by Ilmael Linder (Charles Bickford) until Connie can be located. Far from the perfect guest, Felkin tries to inveigle Linder's son Carl (Alex Nicol) into doing his dirty work until the heat's off. Gradually, however, Felkin, and by extension Connie, are reformed by the essential decency of the Linder family -- though pursuing cop Kelsey (Stephen McNally) might not see things in this new light. The Raging Tide was based on Fiddler's Green, a novel by Ernest K. Gann.
Starring: Richard Conte, Shelley Winters, Stephen McNally, Charles Bickford, Alex Nicol | Directed by: George Sherman

RANSOM! (1956)
(109 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Viewers familiar with the 1996 Mel Gibson blockbuster Ransom! may be disappointed that there are no smirking villains, car chases or bloody fistfights in the original 1956 version of the same story. Even so, the earlier Ransom! has much to offer on a purely dramatic level. Based on the Richard Maibaum-Cyril Hume TV play Fearful Decision!, the film stars Glenn Ford as self-made industrialist David Stannard. When his son is kidnapped and held for $500,000 ransom, Stannard at first sets about to cooperate with the abductors and to raise the necessary funds. Somewhere along the line, however, Stannard's outrage erupts and boils over. Buying air time on a local TV station, he pulls out the half-million dollars, then informs the kidnappers that they'll never get their hands on a single penny. He further threatens to use the money as a reward for the kidnappers' capture, dead or alive, should any harm befall his son. Despite the protests of his wife Edith (Donna Reed) and the admonishments of his friends, family, business associates and even the police, Stannard sticks fast to his decision...but will he live to regret it? The boy's abductors are never seen in Ransom; instead, the film concentrates on the multitude of ramifications (including a few political ones) stemming from David Stannard's bold stance. As such, the 1956 Ransom is in its own way as tense and exciting as the more elaborate 1996 remake. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Glenn Ford, Donna Reed, Leslie Nielsen, Alexander Scourby | Directed by: Alex Segal

REVENUE AGENT (1950)
(72 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: C
Can there actually have once been a film in which an IRS agent is the hero? Yes, and it was titled Revenue Agent. Douglas Kennedy is your friendly tax man, here attempting to to trap a clever smuggler (Onslow Stevens), who plans to sneak $1,000,000 worth of duty-free gold dust into Mexico. Kennedy also finds time to solve a murder case, as revenue agents often do in the fantasyland of Hollywood B-pictures. And, while resting between audits, Kennedy romances Columbia starlet Jean Willes (late of the studio's Three Stooges comedies). Revenue Agent is another sausage from quick-turnover producer Sam Katzman--one of his few Columbia efforts without gunslingers or harem girls.
Starring: Douglas Kennedy, Jean Willes, Onslow Stevens, William "Bill" Phillips | Directed by: Lew Landers

REVOLT IN THE BIG HOUSE (1958)
(79 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Revolt in the Big House stars Gene Evans as a prison "lifer" who rules the roost in his particular cell block. With the help of such loose cannons as prison psycho Timothy Carey, Evans engineers a jailbreak. As the cons and the cops sweat through a standoff, it becomes clear that Evans doesn't care how many of his fellow prisoners die so long as he busts out. Conscience-stricken inmate Robert Blake saves his cell mates from the consequences of Evans' recklessness. Revolt in the Big House is excessive violent at times, but never so much as to become "Revolting in the Big House".
Starring: Gene Evans, Robert Blake, Timothy Carey, John Qualen, Walter Barnes | Directed by: R. G. Springsteen

RIFIFI (1955)
(115 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Jules Dassin — in his second European film after being driven out of the United States during the years of the house Un-American Activities Committee hearings — directed this landmark caper film about the planning and execution of a nighttime robbery at a swanky English jewelry shop in the Rue de Rivoli. The story concerns a collection of thieves who band together to commit a seemingly impossible robbery. The gang consists of a tough, straight-talker named Tony Stephanois (Jean Servais); a young man under Tony's tutelage named Jo (Carl Mohner; a happy-go-lucky Italian by the name of Mario Farrati (Robert Manuel); and a safecracker named Cesar (the director Jules Dassin under the pseudonym of Perlo Vita) who likes to jiggle the combinations of women in his off hours. The set piece of the film is an intricate 28-minute sequence that depicts the robbery in detail — all filmed silently without dialogue or music. After the success of the robbery, the gang barely has time to celebrate when a rival gangster, Pierre Gruuter (Marcel Lupovici), decides that he wants a cut of the take. When Tony's gang refuses to cooperate, Pierre kidnaps Jo's son, and the gang has to get tough with their nemesis. — Paul Brenner
Starring: Jean Servais, Carl Möhner, Robert Manuel, Magali Noël | Directed by: Jules Dassin

RING OF FEAR (1954)
(92 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
A real "must see" for devotees of 1950s pop culture, Ring of Fear boasts a script co-written by character actor Paul Fix and a cast which includes the likes of animal trainer Clyde Beatty and pulp-fiction novelist Mickey Spillane. The story takes place in Beatty's travelling circus, where a homicidal maniac named Dublin (Sean McClory) is doing his best to wreck the show. It's all because Dublin is in love with Valerie (Marian Carr), the wife of aerialist Armond St. Denis (John Bromfield). Since the cops don't know who's behind all the trouble, they call in crime expert Spillane (cast as himself). Dublin nearly succeeds in bumping off Spillane before he himself is dispatched by a giant tiger. Representing the Law is Pat O'Brien, who delivers his silly dialogue with conviction.
Starring: Pat O'Brien, Mickey Spillane, Sean McClory, Marian Carr, John Bromfield, Kenneth Tobey | Directed by: James Edward Grant, William Wellman, Edward Grant

RINGER, THE (1951)
(78 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
That deathless Edgar Wallace thriller The Ringer was taken out of cold storage once more in 1951. Donald Wolfit, whose legendary thespic excesses were later fictionalized in the stage play The Dresser, is perfectly cast as a vengeance-seeking master of disguise. He announces publicly that he intends to kill the crooked lawyer (Herbert Lom) responsible for his sister's death. What is more, The Ringer has even appointed the exact time of the lawyer's demise. Scotland Yard surrounds the lawyer with a battalion of constables...but no one knows what the Ringer looks like, nor what disguise he plans to adopt. 1951's The Ringer was the third talkie version of Wallace's classic tale.
Starring: Dora Bryan, Denholm Elliott, Walter Fitzgerald, Greta Gynt, Alexander Knox | Directed by: Guy Hamilton

RIOT IN CELL BLOCK 11 (1954)
(80 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
The best film of Don Siegel's career to date, this surprisingly intelligent B-picture describes the dramatic arc of an organized rebellion at Folsom prison. The inmates, who are sick of living conditions which include rundown cells, brutal guards, dreadful food, and the presence of the seriously deranged in the general prison population, decide to stage a riot to demand change. Neville Brand stars as Dunn, the vocal prisoner who leads the uprising. After the inmates take some guards hostage, Dunn makes the prisoner's demands for reform known to the warden Emile Meyer. While acknowledging the validity of their grievances, for which he's already harangued politicians without success, he warns them that there's nothing that can be done immediately. As Dunn contacts media outlets to further publicize his cause, word of the riot spreads to other cell blocks, and they too become involved. Fearing a bloody mass insurrection, Meyer reluctantly calls in the militia. Dunn, who thus far has been able to restrain his disturbed cohort Carnie (Leo Gordon) from inciting violence, is beginning to lose control. Considering its limited budget, the film's impressive sense of authenticity derived partly from the experience of veteran producer Walter Wanger, who had spent four months in a minimum security facility for shooting the agent and lover of his wife, Joan Bennet. — Michael Costello
Starring: Neville Brand, Emile G. Meyer, Frank Faylen, Leo Gordon | Directed by: Don Siegel

ROADBLOCK (1951)
(73 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
An insurance investigator, a dame with a yen for the finer things in life and a mail robbery gone horribly wrong are the ingredients in this low-budget but highly engrossing film noir. Charles McGraw and Louis Jean Heydt are tough insurance agents but their partnership comes in for some rough sailing when he former falls head over heels for Joan Dixon, a lady apparently not averse to letting herself be wined and dined by an obvious gang leader (Lowell Gilmore). In an attempt to win the lady's favors, McGraw concocts a plan to rob a mail train insured by his own company. Too late does he discover that the girl is perfectly willing to accept him as he is. — Hans J. Wollstein
Starring: Charles McGraw, Joan Dixon, Milburn Stone, Lowell Gilmore | Directed by: Harold Daniels

ROGUE COP (1954)
(92 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
MGM romantic Robert Taylor turns nasty in this low-budget crime melodrama. Taylor plays a cop who subsidizes his income with bribes and payoffs from various criminals and politicians. Taylor's brother (Steve Forrest), a rookie on the police force, is as honest as his brother is crooked. The younger brother witnesses a gangland murder; the killer goes to Taylor, demanding that he buy his brother off. When he realizes that his brother can't be corrupted, Taylor tells the Mob to lay off. An out-of-town torpedo is brought in to rub out both brothers, but he succeeds only in killing the honest sibling. His conscience aroused, Taylor goes after the mob leaders himself; though seriously wounded, he clears his family name. Rogue Cop set something of a schedule record at MGM, with only four months elapsing from the time the story was optioned to the time the film was released. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Robert Taylor, Janet Leigh, George Raft, Steve Forrest | Directed by: Roy Rowland

ROOM 43 (1958)
(88 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Before Eddie Constantine became a French pop icon as the slapdash "Lemmy Caution," he played Johnny, a straightforward London taxi driver. When his new taxi is smashed and he needs a big loan, he agrees to a five-minute marriage to Malou, a naive French girl, so she can become a British citizen. As planned, the two part after the nuptials, not realizing that this has all been rigged as a recruiting scheme by Nick (Herbert Lom), the boss of a Soho prostitution ring. Malou learns of Nick's plans for her future and tries to escape but is drugged and locked up. With help from the head "girl," Vicki (Diana Dors), Johnny learns of Malou's peril, and hatches a plan to free her. This dark action thriller has a few clever twists, and Dors is gorgeous, but her fans may be disappointed at the smallness of her role.
Starring: Odile Versois, Eddie Constantine, Diana Dors, Herbert Lom | Directed by: Alvin Rakoff

RUN FOR THE SUN (1956)
(99 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Filmed in Mexico, Run for the Sun was the second official remake of Richard Connell's classic suspense yarn The Most Dangerous Game. This time, Trevor Howard stars as Browne, the wealthy hermit who thrives on hunting down human beings like wild animals. As a means of updating the story, Howard is transformed into a British traitor, hiding in the Mexican jungle with his wartime compatriots, Nazis Van Anders (Peter Van Eyck) and Jan (Carlos Henning). When their plane is forced to land in Browne's domain, Mike Latimer (Richard Widmark) and Katy Conners (Jane Greer) are captured by the villains. Browne offers his captives an hour's head-start to freedom, then sics his hunting dogs on the hapless pair. The rest of the film details the strenuous efforts by Latimer and Conners to escape with their lives. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Richard Widmark, Jane Greer, Trevor Howard, Peter Van Eyck | Directed by: Roy Boulting

SAFECRACKER, THE (1958)
(96 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Ray Milland doubles up as star and director of The Safecracker. Set during WW II, the film casts Milland as professional cracksman Colley Dawson, who is rescued from prison by Army major Adbury (Ernest Clark). Dawson is offered a deal: if he'll agree to embark upon a dangerous mission behind enemy lines, he'll be given his freedom. The mission, of course, is to break into a Nazi safe and steal a list of German spies operating in England. Before one can say "Robert Wagner", Dawson is trained as a commando and parachuted into Belgium for the "caper" of his life. Supposedly based on a true story, The Safecracker was lensed in Europe and released stateside by MGM. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Ray Milland, Barry Jones, Jeannette Sterke, Victor Maddern | Directed by: Ray Milland

SCANDAL SHEET (1952)
(82 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
The distinctive stamp of action-film director Phil Karlson is very much in evidence in Scandal Sheet. Broderick Crawford plays tabloid editor Mark Chapman, whose burgeoning success is threatened by the arrival of his wife Charlotte (Rosemary DeCamp), whom he deserted 20 years earlier. Hoping to keep Charlotte's mouth shut, Chapman accidentally kills her. He does his best to cover his tracks, but his best is none too good, and another murder follows. Meanwhile, Chapman's star reporter Steve McCleary (John Derek) is busy investigating the still-unsolved murder of Charlotte. Though Steve holds no grudge against his boss, the same cannot be said of feature writer Julie Allison (Donna Reed), who resents Chapman's sensationalist methods. Slowly but surely, the noose tightens around Chapman's neck, thanks to the diligence of McCleary and, indirectly, the inquiries of Julie. Scandal Sheet was based on a novel by former newspaperman Samuel Fuller, an excellent film director in his own right.
Starring: Donna Reed, Broderick Crawford, Rosemary de Camp, Henry Morgan | Directed by: Phil Karlson

SCAPEGOAT, THE (1959)
(92 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this uneven but well-acted mystery story with a few gaps in the plot here and there, Alec Guiness plays a double role. He is John Barratt, a British teacher on vacation in France who is conned into taking on another identity. The identity he assumes is that of his double, Count Jacques de Gue, who has none of John's upright, moral character. Once ensconced as the Count, John discovers that the Count's mother (Bette Davis) is addicted to morphine, his wife (Irene Worth) believes he is out to kill her, and the Count's brother-in-law (Peter Bull) is embezzling funds away from the family business. And those are just a few of his problems, alleviated somewhat by his mistress (Nicole Murray). Once John realizes how decadent and immoral the Count really is he feels duty-bound to challenge him to a duel.
Starring: Nicole Maurey, Bette Davis, Alec Guinness, Irene Worth | Directed by: Robert Hamer

SCARF, THE (1951)
(93 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Mercedes McCambridge plays a singing waitress named Cash-and-Carry Connie in The Scarf. This alone should be enough to keep the viewer's interest, but in fact the film has much to please the eye and ear. John Ireland stars as John Barrington, an escapee from a institution for the criminally insane. Actually, Barrington is not a looney tune, but instead the victim of an insidious plot orchestrated by a clever murderer. The only person who believes Barrington's story is turkey-farmer Ezra Thompson (James Barton), who hides Our Hero from the authorities. Things really get hopping when the aforementioned Connie unwittingly provides the clue that will prove Barrington's innocence. Co-starring in The Scarf is Emlyn Williams as an all-too-cooperative psychiatrist. The film was directed by E. A. Dupont, whose American career never quite scaled the heights of his years in the German film industry.
Starring: John Ireland, Mercedes McCambridge, Emlyn Williams, James Barton | Directed by: E.A. Dupont

SCARLET HOUR, THE (1956)
(95 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
The Scarlet Hour was a relatively bold experiment for a mid-1950s Paramount release. The studio expended a great deal of money on the project and enlisted the services of top-flight director Michael Curtiz -- then populated the cast with young unknowns. It also used a series of experimental lenses called Fujinon lenses, which had the distinction of alllowing filming at reduced light levels given their larger than normal apertures. Carol Ohmart and Tom Tryon (yes, the future novelist) star as Paulie and Marsh, respectively the film's villainess and protagonist. Knowing that Marsh is hopelessly in love with her, Paulie uses him as a dupe in an upcoming jewelry heist. Only after a killing has occurred does Marsh come to his senses. Jody Lawrance, whose previous career as a Columbia contract player had led nowhere, is "introduced" as the good girl to whom Marsh eventually retreats. Other comparative newcomers in the cast include Elaine Stritch, James Gregory and Edward Binns. Nat "King" Cole turns up for a nightclub performance of the Ray Evans-Jay Livingston tune "Never Let Me Go."
Starring: Carol Ohmart, Tom Tryon, James Gregory, Elaine Stritch, E.G. Marshall, Edward Binns, Scott Marlowe, Nat "King" Cole | Directed by: Michael Curtiz

SCAVENGERS, THE (1959)
(79 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
This low-budget Asian-set adventure concerns a reformed smuggler (Vince Edwards of TV's Ben Casey) who finds his missing wife (Carol Ohmart) in Hong Kong. Ohmart has fallen in with a bad crowd and is involved with narcotics and stolen government bonds, requiring Edwards to extricate her from her woes. Director John Cromwell's star had clearly fallen since Of Human Bondage, as he was now forced to work with the likes of Filipino writer-producer Eddie Romero, best known for such dubious entries as The Mad Doctor of Blood Island. Romero regular Vic Diaz co-stars. — Robert Firsching
Starring: Vince Edwards, Carol Ohmart, John Wallace, Vic Diaz | Directed by: John Cromwell

SCREAMING MIMI (1958)
(79 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Two years before Hitchcock terrified audiences with the shower scene from Psycho, audiences quailed at the shower scene in this dark and decidedly twisted psychological thriller. The tale of terror centers on an exotic dancer (Anita Ekberg) who is terrorized by a knife-wielding homicidal maniac. She is cut up but not seriously hurt as her step brother burst into the bathroom and shot the killer before he finished. Unfortunately, the slasher escaped. Time passes, and while the physical wounds, heal, the psychic wounds continue to haunt the poor dancer who must go to a psychiatrist for help. When a reporter hears about the case, he suspects the work of a serial killer and starts investigating. He finds that each of the killer's victims are given a horrifying sculpture of a woman screaming. Meanwhile, the girl's doctor finds himself falling in love with her.
Starring: Anita Ekberg, Philip Carey, Gypsy Rose Lee, Harry Townes | Directed by: Gerd Oswald

SECOND CHANCE (1953)
(82 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Even without its 3D/stereophonic sound gimmickry, Second Chance is a crackling good suspenser. Robert Mitchum plays Russ Lambert, a prizefighter who heads to South America to forget a recent tragedy in the ring. Here he meets Clare Shepard (Linda Darnell), who is likewise running away — not from her bitter memories, but from her boyfriend, a vicious gangster. Also newly arrived in South America is Cappy Gordon (Jack Palance), the cold-blooded triggerman for Clare's ex-beau. After several close calls and near-misses, the three main characters converge in a disabled cable car, high above a deep abyss. Filmed on location at RKO Radio's Mexican facilities, Second Chance takes a while getting started, then rapidly builds to a heart-pounding finale. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Linda Darnell, Jack Palance, Sandro Giglio, Hugh Beaumont | Directed by: Rudolph Maté

SECOND WOMAN, THE (1950)
(91 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
In the vein of Spellbound and Rebecca comes this 1951 film noir from director James V. Kern. Robert Young stars as Jeff Cohalan, a successful architect who is tormented by the fact that his fiancée was killed in a mysterious car accident on the night before their wedding. Blaming himself for her death, Colahan spends his time alone, lamenting in the cliff-top home he'd designed for his bride-to-be. To make matters worse, ever since the accident, Colahan seems to be followed by bad luck. His horse and dog turn up dead without explanation, leading him to wonder if he has been cursed. Enter Ellen Foster (Betsy Drake), an independent and intelligent insurance investigator who just might be able to help Colahan figure out who or what's behind all of his misfortune. — Matthew Tobey
Starring: Robert Young, Betsy Drake, Florence Bates, Morris Carnovsky | Directed by: James Kern

SECRET FURY, THE (1950)
(86 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
The Secret Fury works best if one is willing to suspend one's disbelief from the outset. Claudette Colbert stars as Ellen, a famed concert pianist who, on the day of her wedding, is accosted by a stranger who insists that she's already married to someone else. Ellen is willing to laugh this off, until the stranger produces witnesses, records and the justice of the piece. Has Ellen lost her mind, or is she merely the victim of an elaborate scam. With the help of fiancé David (Robert Ryan), Our Heroine begins her own investigation — and ends up accused of murder and shunted off to a mental institution. And the story isn't over yet! Featured in a pivotal role is future I Love Lucy co-star Vivian Vance, who'd previously worked in an L.A. theatre company with Secret Fury-director Mel Ferrer. For reasons best known to himself, Willard Parker, a fairly well-known film actor in 1950, appears unbilled. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Claudette Colbert, Robert Ryan, Jane Cowl, Paul Kelly | Directed by: Mel Ferrer

SELLOUT, THE (1951)
(83 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Gerald Mayer proved once more that he had talent above and beyond being the nephew of MGM-head Louis B. Mayer with his direction of The Sellout. The story begins with a bang, as big-city newspaper editor Haven Allridge (Walter Pidgeon) falls victim to the small-town tyranny of corrupt sheriff Kellwin C. Burke (Thomas Gomez). Poised to launch an investigation of Burke's underhanded activities, Allridge is suddenly intimidated into silence. Crusading state's attorney Chick Johnson (John Hodiak) discovers that Burke is keeping Allridge quiet by threatening to reveal the criminal activities of Allridge's son-in-law Randy Stanton (Cameron Mitchell). The final reels illustrate the thesis of Edmund Burke that evil will triumph so long as good men do nothing — except that this time, they do something. Though hardly a big-budget effort, The Sellout boasts an unusually strong cast, including the aforementioned actors, as well as Karl Malden and Everett Sloane. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Walter Pidgeon, John Hodiak, Paula Raymond, Audrey Totter, Thomas Gomez | Directed by: Gerald Mayer

SEVEN DAYS TO NOON (1950)
(93 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Barry Jones stars as an idealistic British professor working on atomic research. Upset by the apocalyptic ramifications of his work, Jones constructs his own bomb and threatens to blow up London within one week. His terms: Stop the atomic research or suffer the consequences. As London is evacuated, the authorities close in on Jones, using a rather sophisticated form of psychological warfare to trap the unhinged scientist. Seven Days to Noon manages to sustain its suspense and realism the most part, but is slightly undermined by grainy stock footage of London's children being evacuated during World War II.
Starring: Barry Jones, Olive Sloane, Andre MorelL, Sheila Manahan | Directed by: John Boulting / Roy Boulting

SHACK OUT ON 101 (1955)
(80 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
It is all but impossible to dislike this ultra-cheap "Cold War paranoia" melodrama. Virtually the entire picture takes place on a single set, representing a rundown roadside diner. Lee Marvin plays the aptly named Slob, a lecherous short-order cook who lusts after shapely waitress Kotty (Terry Moore). Also interested in Kotty is a scientist known only as The Professor (Frank Lovejoy), who spends the better part of his free time at the diner's counter. It turns out that the Professor is a traitor, exchanging top-secret information with Slob, who's actually a commie agent. Only the Professor isn't a traitor, see, he's really . . . But why spoil the film for the uninitiated? For the record, Keenan Wynn and Whit Bissell are also in Shack Out on 101. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Terry Moore, Frank Lovejoy, Keenan Wynn, Lee Marvin | Directed by: Edward Dein

SHADOW MAN (1953)
(76 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Shadow Man was one of several British films released stateside in 1953 by Lippert Productions. Cesar Romero play Luigi, a casino owner whose former girlfriend (Simone Silva) is murdered. Not surprisingly, suspicion falls upon Luigi. Also not surprisingly, he decides to circumvent the law by bringing in the killer himself. One of the incidental pleasures of Shadow Man is the presence of the delectable Kay Kendall, on the threshold of her greatest screen fame. Based on The Creaking Chair, a novel by Laurence Mynell, the film was originally released in Great Britain as Street of Shadows.
Starring: Cesar Romero, Kay Kendall, Edward Underdown, Victor Maddern | Directed by: Richard Vernon

SHADOW ON THE WALL (1950)
(84 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
A murder is witnessed by the victim's little daughter (Gigi Perreau), who immediately goes into a state of shock. All the girl has seen is the shadow of her mother's killer, but the audience knows that the murderer is Ann Sothern. At first Sothern is secure that the girl will never be able to identify her, but as the child shows signs of recovering, Sothern panics. Though the murder was unintentional and the killer is quite fond of the little girl, she nonetheless begins scheming to put the potential witness out of the way. Quite tense at times, especially in the last scene, Shadow on the Wall represents one of the few unsympathetic performances by the otherwise likable Ann Sothern.
Starring: Ann Sothern, Zachary Scott, Nancy Davis (Reagan), Gigi Perreau, Barbara Billingsley | Directed by: Patrick Jackson

SHADOW ON THE WINDOW, THE (1957)
(73 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Musical comedy star Betty Garrett goes dramatic big-time in the hostage drama Shadow on the Window. Betty plays Linda Atlas, the mother of seven-year-old Petey Atlas (portrayed by Jerry "The Beaver" Mathers). When Petey witnesses a murder committed by a trio of juvenile delinquents, he wanders off in a state of shock. The three punks (John Barrymore Jr., Corey Allen and Gerald Sarricini) kidnap Linda, who's also witnessed their crime, holding her prisoner to keep the boy from talking — if and when he recovers. Meanwhile, the authorities launch a frenzied manhunt in search of the catatonic boy, led by Petey's dad, police officer Tony Atlas (Phil Carey). — Hal Erickson
Starring: Philip Carey, Betty Garrett, John Drew Barrymore, Corey Allen | Directed by: William Asher

SHE PLAYED WITH FIRE (1957)
(95 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Oliver Branwell (Jack Hawkins) is an honest, decent man, dedicated to his job as an insurance claims assessor -- until he makes a business call, to assess the damage from a fire, on Tracey Moreton (Dennis Price) and meets Morton's wife Sarah (Arlene Dahl), with whom Oliver had been involved romantically five years earlier. He's thrown off balance by her presence and the seeming friendliness of Tracey and his mother (Violet Fairbrother), both members of the upper-class who have found their lifestyle squeezed and trimmed back by England's dire postwar economy and taxes. But soon, Oliver finds himself in more than a personally awkward position over his friendship with Tracey and lingering attraction to Sarah -- he accidentally uncovers evidence of a massive insurance fraud committed by Tracey, and doesn't want to report it for fear of implicating Sarah. And matters only get worse when Tracey's family home is burned to the ground, in a fire that was definitely arson, killing Tracey (or did it?) in the process. And just when Oliver's dilemma seemingly couldn't get worse, he and the newly-widowed Sarah are married. And then the police start sniffing around, along with a blackmailer (Bernard Miles) who is after a share of the 30,000 pounds insurance that Sarah collected on Tracey's life.
Starring: Jack Hawkins, Arlene Dahl, Dennis Price, Christopher Lee, Greta Gynt | Directed by: Sidney Gilliat

SHIELD FOR MURDER (1954)
(80 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
A corrupt cop creates all kinds of problems in this crime drama. The trouble begins when he kills a bookie and then grabs $25,000. Later he tells his chiefs that he did it because he had to, but as no one was there to witness the killing, they are forced to take his word for it. Unfortunately for the bad egg, there was one witness. Fortunately for him, he manages to kill that witness. The killing alerts a detective who was once framed by the crook and another gangster. The detective's investigations lead him to the bad apple's newly built suburban home, in which his illicit money is hidden. — Sandra Brennan
Starring: Edmond O'Brien, Marla English, John Agar, Emile G. Meyer | Directed by: Howard Koch

SIDE STREET (1950)
(83 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
An overlooked little film noir gem, Side Street falls short of being a classic but is a small delight for fans of crime films, especially those with a pseudo-Hitchcockian touch to them. Side Street could benefit from a stronger screenplay; it gets a bit convoluted in places, and the motivations are occasionally a bit contrived. But the general situation is good, and the third person narration (unusual for noir, which prefers to be self-narrated by the protagonist) is used to very nice advantage. In the lead, Farley Granger is good, if not exceptional; he hits all the right buttons but doesn't press any that really surprise. Cathy O'Donnell is a bit bland (in an admittedly under-written role), but the supporting cast is aces, with Jean Hagen considerably more than that. Street's biggest assets, however, are its direction and cinematography, which play off of each other brilliantly. Anthony Mann's sure hand keeps the story taut and gripping, and Joseph Ruttenberg's camerawork is nothing short of stunning. Unlike many other examples of the genre, the cinematography doesn't emphasize expressionistic lighting. Instead, things start off on a perfectly normal note, and it is only as Granger begins to contemplate a crime that the photography begins to take on atmospheric tinges. The film climaxes with a marvelous and exciting car chase that utilizes overhead shots down narrow alleys to very good effect; indeed, this sequence alone is worth the price of admission. — Craig Butler
Starring: Farley Granger, Cathy O'Donnell, James Craig, Paul Kelly, Charles McGraw | Directed by: Anthony Mann

SLAUGHTER ON TENTH AVENUE (1957)
(103 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Though Slaughter on Tenth Avenue's background music relies heavily on the Richard Rodgers composition of the same name, the film itself bears no relation to the ten-minute ballet for which Rodgers wrote the piece. Instead, this Albert Zugsmith-produced crime meller attempts to expose waterfront union racketeering. In trying to solves a murder on the docks, deputy DA Richard Egan runs up against the stevedores' code of silence. It also dawns on Egan that his own boss (Sam Levene) shows little interest in pursuing justice in this instance. The DA is finally able to mount a case, but at the crucial courtroom moment he may have to pull out due to lack of evidence—a lack engineered by crooked boss Walter Matthau, who has several local politicians in his pocket. A last-minute dockside battle enables Egan to bring the racketeers to justice. Slaughter on Tenth Avenue was based on New York district attorney William J. Keating's memoirs The Man Who Rocked the Boat.
Starring: Richard Egan, Jan Sterling, Dan Duryea, Julie Adams | Directed by: Arnold Laven

SLEEPING CITY, THE (1950)
(85 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
One of the finest and most troubling films to come out of Universal-International, The Sleeping City tried to emulate some of the cinéma vérité elements of The Naked City (which had been produced at Universal's facilities). The producers got the permission of the city of New York to shoot at Bellevue Hospital, and, in exchange, opened the movie with a disclaimer spoken by star Richard Conte, stepping out of character to point out that nothing like the story in this movie ever happened at Bellevue and offering tribute to the actual hospital and its staff. That's the last reassuring moment that one will find in this eerie crime drama — in the first six minutes, a young doctor taking a break from work is shot in the head, and the police can't find a clue even as to a possible motive. Inspector Al Gordon (John Alexander) decides that he has to put some men on duty at the hospital, and one of them is Fred Rowan (Richard Conte), a detective with experience as an army medic, masquerading as an intern. What Rowan finds is a high-pressure world in which interns are hopelessly squeezed for time, sleep, energy, and — most of all — money, and walk a fine line on the edge of personal and professional disaster. His roommate, Steve Anderson (Alex Nicol), seems especially desperate. The only relief from the bleakness and tension, on a personal level, comes from the attentions of Ann Shelton (Coleen Gray), the ward nurse in traumatics, where Fred is assigned, and the good-natured needling of Pop Ware (Richard Taber), an elevator operator who likes to take an avuncular interest in the interns around him. But before he can get too far in his investigation, potential witnesses start dying around Rowan , and one of his friends at the hospital is threatened. Soon the whole scheme and the motives for the murders suddenly become clear, along with Rowan's earlier failure to spot the clue he needed. He also suddenly recognizes the involvement of the people closest to him at the hospital, but before the squad can move, he also finds his own life at risk. — Bruce Eder
Starring: Richard Conte, Coleen Gray, Richard Taber, Peggy Dow | Directed by: George Sherman

SLIGHTLY SCARLET (1956)
(99 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
This little film noir is freely adapted from James M. Cain's novel Love's Lovely Counterfeit, the story of a gangster working for a powerful Don who is fighting to retain control of the city's criminal activities when an honest mayoral candidate launches a strong anti-crime campaign. In a desperate attempt to derail his career, the Don assigns the hood to go digging for any dirt that can be used against the troublesome candidate. He finds some, but during the investigation he has fallen in love with the candidate's beautiful red-headed secretary and ends up double-crossing his boss. — Sandra Brennan
Starring: John Payne, Arlene Dahl, Rhonda Fleming, Kent Taylor | Directed by: Allan Dwan

SNIPER, THE (1952)
(87 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
The "regeneration" of blacklisted director Edward Dmytryk was expedited when he was hired by producer Stanley Kramer to helm the location-filmed melodrama The Sniper. In the interests of political expediency, Dmytrk was required to direct Adolphe Menjou, one of the most virulent Red-baiters of the HUAC hearings. Shorn of his trademarked mustache, and with his famous expensive wardrobe replaced by a humdrum business suit, Menjou turns in one of his best performances as a world-weary San Francisco detective assigned to track down a mad sniper. From the beginning, the audience knows that the criminal is psycho Eddie Miller (Arthur Franz), who is possessed of the notion that he must kill every beautiful brunette woman who crosses his path. Some audience sympathy is elicited by Miller's pathetic attempts to rid himself of his obsession, but this never gets in the way of the film's suspense. The excellent supporting cast includes Richard Kiley as a police psychiatrist, Marie Windsor as Miller's first victim, and Mabel Paige as the sniper's snoopy landlady. An unbilled Wally Coxshows up in one short scene as a restaurant dishwasher. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Adolphe Menjou, Arthur Franz, Gerald Mohr, Marie Windsor | Directed by: Edward Dmytryk

SOUTHSIDE 1-1000 (1950)
(73 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In the tradition of 20th Century Fox's semi-documentary "Now it can be told" films, Monogram Picture's "A" division Allied Artists came up with Southside 1-1000. The U.S. Secret Service goes after a gang of counterfeiters, whose engraver (Morris Ankrum) has covertly constructed his plates while in prison. A federal agent (Don DeFore) poses as the counterfeiters' contact man in order to purchase enough bills to incriminate the gang. The final fight-to-the-death scene was filmed aboard Los Angeles' "Angel's Flight," a cable-car service dangling 40 feet above the ground. Southside 1-1000 was based on a true story, as narrator Gerald Mohr points out on several occasions.
Starring: Don DeFore, Andrea King, George Tobias, Barry Kelley | Directed by: Boris Ingster

SPIN A DARK WEB (1956)
(76 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Faith Domergue is the sweet-faced villainess in the murky British melodrama Spin a Dark Web. Domergue plays Bella Francesi, who with her brother Rico (Martin Benson) runs practically all illegal activities in London. The parallels between the Francesi and the Borgias are underlined at every possible opportunity, in the manner of the 1931 gangster flick Scarface. The erstwhile hero, one Jim Bankley (Lee Patterson), is the catalyst for Bella's ultimate downfall. Spin a Dark Web was based on Wide Boys Never Work, a novel by Robert Westerby.
Starring: Faith Domergue, Lee Patterson, Martin Benson, Rona Anderson | Directed by: Vernon Sewell

SPLIT SECOND (1953)
(86 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Actor Dick Powell made an impressive dictorial film debut with the taut atomic-age suspenser Split Second. Convicts Stephen McNally, Paul Kelly and Frank DeKova escape to a ghost town in the Nevada desert. Only it isn't exactly a ghost town, but a "dummy village" constructed for the purpose of A-bomb testing. The criminals hold several hostages, including reporter Keith Andes, nightclub singer Jan Sterling, selfish socialite Alexis Smith, her doctor-husband Richard Egan and her newest boyfriend Robert Paige. Andes suspects that the deserted town is at Ground Zero of the latest bomb test, but he can't convince the convicts until it's almost too late. The best and most horrifying sequence occurs near the end, when the criminals, accompanied by the duplicitous Ms. Smith, discover that they're driving towards the A-bomb target instead of away from it. Novelist Irving Wallace collaborated on the script of Split Second with Chester Erskine and William Bowers. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Horace (Stephen) McNally, Alexis Smith, Jan Sterling, Keith Andes | Directed by: Dick Powell

STAKEOUT ON DOPE STREET (1958)
(83 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this crime drama, three teens are sorely tempted when they stumble across two pounds of pure heroine. They think about the consequences of selling the dope and then try doing it anyway in the hope that they will become wealthy. Unfortunately, none of them are experienced in the dangers of drug dealing and mayhem ensues.
Starring: Herschel Bernardi, Abby Dalton, Andrew J. Fenady, Coleman Francis | Directed by: Irvin Kershner

STATE PENITENTIARY (1950)
(66 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Warner Baxter made his final screen appearance in Columbia's State Penitentiary. Baxter plays airplane engineer Roger Manners, falsely accused of embezzling nearly half a million dollars from his company. Sent to prison, Manners escapes, hoping to track down the real culprit, his ex-partner Stanley Brown (Robert Shayne). Meanwhile, Manners' wife Shirley (Karin Booth) makes a play for Brown, hoping to help her husband trap the scoundrel. Onslow Stevens co-stars as government agent Jim Evans, who has a gut feeling that Manners is innocent, but must attempt to recapture him all the same. Though looking old and tired, Warner Baxter rises to the occasion, delivering an assured, convincing performance. Baxter died May 7, 1951, 11 months after the release of State Penitentiary. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Warner Baxter, Onslow Stevens, Karin [Katharine] Booth, Robert Shayne | Directed by: Lew Landers

STATE SECRET (1950)
(104 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
(AKA: The Great Man-Hunt) It isn't surprising that The Great Manhunt invokes fond memories of Alfred Hitchcock; the film was scripted by Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat, the two former Hitchcock collaborators responsible for the screenplay of The Master's The Lady Vanishes (38). Gilliat also directed this fast-paced political adventure, starring Douglas Fairbanks Jr. as an American heart surgeon summoned to operate on the ruler of a Balkan dictatorship. When the dictator dies, Fairbanks becomes a security risk for those who wish to perpetuate the totalitarian regime. The doctor desperately seeks a means of escaping the country; along the way, he teams up with a showgirl (Glynis Johns) who likewise wants to get home in a hurry. Meanwhile, the head of the secret police (Jack Hawkins) tries to keep one step ahead of Fairbanks. A healthy strain of comic cynicism pervades Great Manhunt, with both hero and villain making self-deprecating comments on the fickle nature of political power. Released in the US as State Secret, The Great Manhunt was based on Roy Huggins' novel Appointment With Fear.
Starring: Jack Hawkins, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Glynis Johns, Herbert Lom | Directed by: Sidney Gilliat

STEEL JUNGLE, THE (1956)
(86 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
The Steel Jungle is the prison where most of this film takes place. Perry Lopez heads the cast as two-bit bookie Ed Novak, who goes to jail rather than squeal on his Syndicate higher-ups. Novak's silence exacts a toll on his wife Frances (Beverly Garland), who is expecting a child. The longer he remains in prison, the more Novak becomes aware that the mob has deserted him—and the more he's willing to spill what he knows. Fellow prisoner Steve Marlin (Ted De Corsia) intends to see that Novak keeps his mouth shut permananently. Produced independently, The Steel Jungle was distributed by Warner Bros.
Starring: Perry Lopez, Beverly Garland, Walter Abel, Ted de Corsia | Directed by: Walter Doniger

STEEL TRAP, THE (1952)
(85 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Joseph Cotten plays a assistant bank manager who steals $500,000 from the safe late on a Friday. He plans to fly to Brazil with his wife (Teresa Wright) and child. They get as far as New Orleans; the wife finds out about the robbery and walks out on Cotten. Stricken by guilt, Cotten must now return to his home town and replace the money before he's found out on Monday morning. Writer/director Andrew L. Stone smooths out the unrealistic elements of The Steel Trap by filming extensively at real locations.
Starring: Joseph Cotton, Teresa Wright, Eddie Marr, Aline Towne, William Hudson | Directed by: Andrew L. Stone

STEP DOWN TO TERROR (1958)
(75 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Though the fact was played down by the Universal-International publicity department, Step Down to Terror (aka The Silent Stranger) is a remake of the 1943 Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece Shadow of a Doubt. Charles Drake plays Johnny Williams, a psychotic serial killer who returns to his hometown to visit his mother (Josephine Hutchinson) and widowed sister-in-law Helen (Colleen Miller), both of whom are ignorant of his criminal past. Johnny hopes to settle down and start life anew, but Helen, her suspicions aroused by visiting detective Mike Randall (Rod Taylor), discovers the truth about her beloved brother-in-law. Failing to talk Helen out of turning him in, Johnny methodically plots her murder. Will Randall show up in the proverbial nick of time? Shadow of a Doubt was remade again, under its original title, as a 1991 TV movie.
Starring: Colleen Miller, Charles Drake, Rod Taylor, Jocelyn Brando | Directed by: Harry Keller

STOLEN FACE, A (1952)
(71 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Brilliant plastic surgeon Philip Ritter (Paul Henreid) loses the love of his life, concert pianist Alice Brent (Lizabeth Scott), to her manager, David (Andre Morell). As a balm to his wounded pride, Dr. Ritter Henreid makes over a hideously scarred female criminal into the spitting image of the woman who jilted him (the girl is played by Mary McKenzie "before," and, of course, by Lizabeth Scott "after"). Alas, he cannot make over her personality as well, and soon she's run off with her own crooked crowd. A not-bad precursor to Hitchcock's Vertigo, A Stolen Face was produced by Britain's Hammer Films, and distributed in the U.S. by Lippert.
Starring: Paul Henreid, Lizabeth Scott, Andre Morell, Mary Mackenzie | Directed by: Terence Fisher

STOP OVER TOKYO (1957)
(100 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Novelist John P. Marquand's soft-spoken Japanese detective Mr. Moto was brought to the screen in an entertaining 1930s B-picture series by 20th Century-Fox. But when the same studio purchased Marquand's novel Stopover Tokyo in 1957, Mr. Moto was totally excised from the screenplay. The film's main character is an American intelligence agent, played by Robert Wagner. Assigned to protect the US ambassador to Japan (Larry Keating) from assassination, Wagner is stymied by the ambassador's refusal to cooperate. This makes it all the easier for communist spy Edmond O'Brien to set a time bomb in the embassy. Wagner races against time to neutralize the bomb, and in so doing loses the love of Joan Collins, who wants no part of the espionage racket. Stopover Tokyo was a rare excursion into directing by Oscar-winning screenwriter Richard L. Breen.
Starring: Robert Wagner, Joan Collins, Edmond O'Brien, Ken Scott | Directed by: Richard L. Breen

STORM FEAR (1955)
(88 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: C
Much of this gripping crime drama takes place in a remote New England farm house owned by the brother of a bank robber. The crook is mortally wounded during his last heist and suddenly shows up seeking shelter. The brother reluctantly harbors the fugitive and his henchmen. Time passes and the henchmen are anxious to move on; unfortunately, their leader is healing. He is also still in love with his brother's wife with whom he had an affair. More trouble ensues when it is revealed that the woman's son was fathered by the crook, not her husband. Meanwhile, a farmhand manages to escape. He tries to alert the cops and this causes the criminals to flee. To help them through the woods the robber takes the boy to guide him. The boy is devastated when his heretofore "decent" uncle shoots his father.
Starring: Cornel Wilde, Jean Wallace, Dan Duryea, Lee Grant | Directed by: Cornel Wilde

STRANGE ADVENTURE, A (1956)
(70 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this crime drama, a young man with a love of hot cars and fast women gets into real trouble when he finds himself involved with a beautiful bank robber who forces him to help her hijack an armored car. At her insistence they end up hiding out in a remote cabin in the High Sierras.
Starring: Ben Cooper, Joan Evans, Marla English, Nick Adams | Directed by: William Witney

STRANGE AWAKENING, THE (1958)
(75 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this crime drama, an American suffers a head injury while vacationing in France and finds himself victimized by a conniving female con artist.
Starring: Lex Barker, Carole Mathews, Lisa Gastoni, Nora Swinburne | Directed by: Montgomery Tully

STRANGER ON THE PROWL (1952)
(82 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
The official credits for the Italian-made Stranger on the Prowl read: "written and directed by Andrea Forzano." In truth, Andrea Forzano was two people: screenwriter Ben Barzman and director Joseph Losey, both of whom had been blacklisted by Hollywood and were forced to work under pseudonyms. Essentially a two-person character study, the film stars Paul Muni as a down-and-out crook on the lam. Muni befriends a young street urchin (Vittorio Mazzunchelli, billed as "Manunta" in many prints) in an Italian port city. At first amused that the boy is a sneak thief, Muni tries to deflects the kid from a life of crime. Tipped off by a woman anxious to collect the reward for Muni (who is wanted for murder), the police pursue the two lost souls. Muni sees to it that the boy manages to escape, but is himself gunned down. A weak-tea imitation of the Italian neorealist movement, Stranger on the Prowl was cut by 18 minutes for its English-language release (in Britain it was titled Encounter). The full, original 100-minute Italian version, released in 1951, was known as Imbarco a Mezzanote.
Starring: Paul Muni, Joan Lorring, Vittorio Manunta, Luisa Rossi | Directed by: Andrea Forzano / Joseph Losey

STRANGER'S HAND, THE (1954)
(86 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
This mystery is adapted from a Graham Greene novel and begins as a British spy arranges a meeting with his son, whom he hasn't seen in four years. They are to meet in Venice, but unfortunately, the spy is unable to make the appointment. The boy then gets a mysterious call from his father breaking their date. Meanwhile, a compassionate hotel receptionist convinces her American lover to help the boy find his father. The boy friend investigates and discovers that the boy's father had found a fellow spy in trouble and was captured and drugged while trying help him. Both of the British spies are then placed on a boat and sent to Communist Europe where the police cannot catch them. Fortunately, the brave Yankee devises an ingenious plot to save them.
Starring: Trevor Howard, Alida Valli, Richard Basehart, Eduardo Ciannelli, Richard O'Sullivan, Stephen Murray | Directed by: Mario Soldati

STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (1951)
(101 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
In one of Alfred Hitchcock's suspense classics, tennis pro Guy Haines (Farley Granger) chances to meet wealthy wastrel Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker) on a train. Having read all about Guy, Bruno is aware that the tennis player is trapped in an unhappy marriage to to wife Miriam (Laura Elliott) and has been seen in the company of senator's daughter Ann Morton (Ruth Roman). Baiting Guy, Bruno reveals that he feels trapped by his hated father (Jonathan Hale). As Guy listens with detached amusement, Bruno discusses the theory of "exchange murders." Suppose that Bruno were to murder Guy's wife, and Guy in exchange were to kill Bruno's father? With no known link between the two men, the police would be none the wiser, would they? When he reaches his destination, Guy bids goodbye to Bruno, thinking nothing more of the affable but rather curious young man's homicidal theories. And then, Guy's wife turns up strangled to death. Co-adapted by Raymond Chandler from a novel by Patricia Highsmith, Strangers on a Train perfectly exemplifies Hitchcock's favorite theme of the evil that lurks just below the surface of everyday life and ordinary men. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Farley Granger, Robert Walker, Ruth Roman, Leo G. Carroll | Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

STREET OF SHADOWS (1953)
(76 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Shadow Man was one of several British films released stateside in 1953 by Lippert Productions. Cesar Romero play Luigi, a casino owner whose former girlfriend (Simone Silva) is murdered. Not surprisingly, suspicion falls upon Luigi. Also not surprisingly, he decides to circumvent the law by bringing in the killer himself. One of the incidental pleasures of Shadow Man is the presence of the delectable Kay Kendall, on the threshold of her greatest screen fame. Based on The Creaking Chair, a novel by Laurence Mynell, the film was originally released in Great Britain as Street of Shadows.
Starring: Cesar Romero, Kay Kendall, Edward Underdown, Victor Maddern | Directed by: Richard Vernon

STRIP, THE (1951)
(85 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Mickey Rooney returned to his "home" studio MGM, after a three-year absence, in the location-filmed melodrama The Strip. Rooney is cast as Stanley Maxton, an aspiring drummer who has the misfortune to fall within the orbit of bookie Sunny Johnson (James Craig). Out of the goodness of his heart, Stanley introduces aspiring actress June Tafford (Sally Forrest) to Johnson, hoping that the latter's Hollywood connections will help the girl find success. Stanley also quits the rackets to play drums at a nightclub owned by his pal Fluff (William Demarest). Things take a sorry turn when Johnson decides to make a play for June; Stanley interferes and gets beaten up by the bookie's goons. June's response to this outrage results in tragedy for everyone. The Strip is a surprisingly downbeat effort for producer Joe Pasternak, a man usually associated with happy, wholesome Technicolor musicals. The film is highlighted by jazz performances from Louis Armstrong, Jack Teagarden, Earl "Fatha" Hines and Barney Bigard.
Starring: Mickey Rooney, Sally Forrest, William Demarest, James Craig | Directed by: Leslie Kardos

SUDDEN DANGER (1955)
(85 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Having forsaken westerns for detective melodramas in Dial Red O, William "Wild Bill" Ellliot continues in this vein in Sudden Danger. Elliot is cast as detective lieutenant Doyle, who at present is investigating the alleged suicide of a clothing manufacturer. Doyle suspects that the victim was murdered, and that the perpetrator was the dead man's blind son, Curtis (Tom Drake). Hoping to clear himself, Curtis begins searching for clues on his own, and by fadeout time he and Doyle have cornered the actual killer. Though obviously made in a hurry, Sudden Danger is elevated by better-than-usual scripting and a well-chosen supporting cast.
Starring: William "Wild Bill" Elliott, Beverly Garland, Tom Drake, Helene Stanton | Directed by: Hubert Cornfield

SUDDEN FEAR (1952)
(110 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Joan Crawford stars as wealthy San Francisco heiress Myra Hudson (Joan Crawford), a successful playwright who meets Lester Blaine (Jack Palance) while casting her new play in New York. They meet again on the train ride back, fall in love and marry. Unknown to Myra, Lester is seeing mistress Irene Neves (Gloria Grahame), whom he still loves and has married her only for her money. While looking through her study, Irene and Lester learn that Myra has made a will leaving only $10,000 a year to Lester (though if he remarries following her death he recieves nothing). Seeing that the will has not yet taken effect, they plot to kill Myra without noticing that Myra's dictating machine is on and recording their conversation. After listening to the conversation and spending a sleepless night, Myra goes to Irene's apartment and steals a gun. Irene then lures Lester to the apartment, intending to kill him. Losing her nerve, she flees the apartment with Lester chasing her. The film has an exciting and surprising climax as all meet unexpectedly during the chase. Joan Crawford gives a fine, if melodramatic performance, and Jack Palance is amazingly effective playing against type as a leading man. Despite a slow start, this is a fine suspense thriller that earned Oscar nominations for Joan Crawford and Jack Palance and a nomination for Charles B. Lang Jr. for his striking black and white photography. — Linda Rasmussen
Starring: Joan Crawford, Jack Palance, Gloria Grahame, Bruce Bennett | Directed by: David Miller

SUDDENLY (1954)
(77 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Suddenly is the name of the small town invaded by professional assassin Frank Sinatra and his henchmen. Taking a local family hostage, Sinatra sets up a vigil at the second-story window of the family's home. From here, he intends to kill the President of the United States when the latter makes a whistle-stop visit. The film's tension level is enough to induce goose pimples from first scene to last. Sinatra is outstanding as the disgruntled war vet who hopes to become a "somebody" by killing the president. The parallels between his character and Lee Harvey Oswald's are too close for comfort, so much so that Suddenly was withdrawn from local TV packages for several years after the JFK assassination. Sinatra would claim in later years that he himself engineered the removal of Suddenly from general distribution, though in fact he'd lost whatever rights he'd held on the film when it lapsed into public domain. Be sure and miss the notorious colorized version of this black-and-white thriller, wherein Sinatra is transformed into Ol' Brown Eyes. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Frank Sinatra, Sterling Hayden, James Gleason, Nancy Gates | Directed by: Lewis Allen

SWAMP WOMEN (1955)
(73 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Swamp Diamonds is the family-trade title for the sweaty Roger Corman crime melodrama Swamp Women. Policewoman Carole Mathews dons her torpedo bra and tight jeans to infiltrate a dangerous all-female criminal gang, currently serving time in a Louisiana Prison. The ladies escape and head to the swamp, where they've hidden a fortune in diamonds. Along the way, they kidnap geologist Touch Connors (later known as Mike Connors). For a while, it looks as though the girls will get away with their perfidy and Connors will end up as alligator bait, but Mathews saves the day. The supporting cast of Swamp Diamonds is a roll-call of 1950s "tough broads": Marie Windsor, Beverly Garland, Susan Cummings, Jil Jarmyn. Watch for Jonathan Haze, future star of Little Shop of Horrors, and Ed Nelson, future talk-show host and politician, in minor roles. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Marie Windsor, Carole Mathews, Beverly Garland, Jill Jarmyn | Directed by: Roger Corman

TALL TARGET, THE (1951)
(78 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
The Tall Target is based on a true story: the attempted assassination of President-elect Abraham Lincoln, even before he was able to assume his duties in Washington. Dick Powell stars as New York detective John Kennedy, who learns of the assassination plot early on. When his superiors refuse to believe his wild tale, Kennedy quits the force and boards the Presidential train, hoping to prevent the killing on his own. The problem: who can he trust on board, and who can't be trusted? Ginny Beaufort (Paula Raymond), the sister of the would-be assassin, might be able to prevent the tragedy — if she isn't in on the conspiracy, that is. The supporting cast includes Adolphe Menjou, Marshall Thompson, Will Geer, and, as a slave, a young Ruby Dee. The film's nail-biting climax is brilliantly handled by Anthony Mann, whose directorial expertise was becoming sharper with each successive film in the early 1950s. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Dick Powell, Paula Raymond, Adolphe Menjou, Marshall Thompson, Ruby Dee | Directed by: Anthony Mann

TATTOOED STRANGER, THE (1950)
(64 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
A man walking his dog in New York's Central Park finds a young woman dead in a car, killed with a shotgun. Veteran Lt. Corrigan (Walter Kinsella) is assigned the case along with Detective Tobin (John Miles), a "college boy" in Corrigan's eyes, newly promoted out of the crime lab. The police can't even figure out who the woman was; her fingerprints aren't on file anywhere, she fits no missing persons description, and the only identifying mark of any significance is a small anchor-and-globe tattoo — and it is obliterated by an alcoholic derelict who was apparently hired to enter the morgue to do the job and is killed for his trouble (but not before the coroner got a photograph of it). Corrigan and Tobin find the artist who did the tattoo, but that only raises more questions — especially after he's bludgeoned to death. As Corrigan says, looking over the dead woman's mail, "She wasn't a girl, she was a roll call" — the victim was a waitress and a professional grifter, specializing in marrying merchant sailors, marines, and anyone else in high-risk jobs during the war, and collecting their allotment checks and their insurance when they died. It seems like someone wanted her dead, but every man she was married to is either dead or accounted for at sea. Working closely with a botanist (Patricia White), Tobin spends his time tracking down one clue, a single blade of a species of grass found in some rare patches in the Bronx; that clue, coupled with unusual properties in the grains of sand found near the murder scene, lead the detective to within a few feet of the killer, who is equally dogged about covering his trail and killing anyone who gets in his way. — Bruce Eder
Starring: John Miles, Patricia White, Walter Kinsella, Frank Tweddell | Directed by: Edward J. Montagne Jr.

TERROR AT MIDNIGHT (1956)
(70 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: D
This modest Republic suspenser stars Joan Vohs as a gorgeous victim of circumstance. Led to believe that she's killed a man in a car accident, Joan gets in deeper and deeper while trying to cover her tracks. Her detective boyfriend Scott Brady suspects that something's amiss, and begins conducting his own investigation. It turns out that Joan has been targeted to take the fall for a pair of deucedly clever auto thieves. The huge supporting cast includes radio veterans John Dehner and Virginia Gregg, not to mention the ubiquitous Percy Helton, who once more gets the bejeebers scared out of him while trying to indulge in a little petty larceny.
Starring: Scott Brady, Joan Vohs, Frank Faylen, John Dehner | Directed by: Franklin Adreon

TERROR ON A TRAIN (1953)
(72 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Released in the U.S. as Terror on a Train, the British MGM production Time Bomb is brief, to the point, and so suspenseful it hurts. Glenn Ford stars as Peter Lyncourt, who during WW II had been in charge of a bomb demolition unit. As luck would have it, Lyncourt and his French wife Janine (Anne Vernon) are in the vicinity when a freight train carrying explosives to a dockyard chugs into view. Someone has placed a time bomb on the train, forcing an evacuation of the neighborhood and the summoning of the "UXB" corps. When all is said and done, however, it is up to Lyncourt to defuse the bomb, if he can locate the well-hidden fuse, that is! — Hal Erickson
Starring: Glenn Ford, Anne Vernon, Maurice Denham, Harcourt Williams | Directed by: Ted Tetzlaff

TERROR STREET (1953)
(80 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Steve Fisher, best known for I Wake Up Screaming, wrote the story and screenplay for the British melodrama Terror Street. Dan Duryea plays Bill Rogers, an American jet pilot, who comes to England to find out why he hasn't heard from his wife lately. Upon his arrival, he learns that his wife has been murdered, and that he's the prime suspect. With only 36 hours at his disposal, Rogers takes it upon himself to track down the actual killer. Such familiar British-movie faces as Erich Pohlmann and Kenneth Griffith share screen time with relative newcomers like Elsy Albin and Ann Gudrun. Running 83 minutes, Terror Street was originally released in England in an 80-minute version titled 36 Hours.
Starring: Dan Duryea, Elsy Albiin, Ann Gudrun, Eric Pohlmann, John Chandos | Directed by: Montgomery Tully

THEY CAN'T HANG ME (1955)
(75 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this British espionage drama, a murderer hopes to escape his fateful appointment on death row by identifying the leaders of a spy ring. Unfortunately, a detective has already figured it out before he talks and the killer hangs for his crime.
Starring: André Morell, Terence Morgan, Yolande Donlan, Ursula Howells | Directed by: Val Guest

THEY WERE SO YOUNG (1954)
(78 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Filmed on location in Rio De Janeiro, They Were So Young is a tawdry "white slavery" melodrama, elevated by a first-rate cast and excellent production values. Innocent young Johanna Metz is hired for a modelling job in South America. Upon her arrival, she finds herself broke, stranded and at the beck and call of a criminal gang. Escaping from the crooks, Johanna is rescued by Scott Brady, an engineer in the employ of tycoon Raymond Burr. Unfortunately, Burr turns out to be the leader of the gang from whom Johanna has escaped. Financed in Germany and released in the US by Lippert Productions, They Were So Young (aka Violated and Party Girls For Sale) was released in English- and German-language versions.
Starring: Scott Brady, Raymond Burr, Johanna Matz, Ingrid Stenn | Directed by: Kurt Neumann, Hans Sohnle

THIS WOMAN IS DANGEROUS (1952)
(100 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Joan Crawford is appropriately cast as the title character in This Woman is Dangerous. Crawford plays master criminal Beth Austin, the lady friend of dangerous gangster Matt Jackson (David Brian). After being caught in the crossfire of a robbery engineered by Jackson, Beth recuperates in a hospital, hoping to keep her past a secret from the authorities. But the FBI wants Beth to lead them to Jackson, and to that end, her doctor Ben Halleck (Dennis Morgan) is strong-armed into inaugurating a romance with his gorgeous patient. Eventually, of course, Ben and Beth fall genuinely in love, thereby incurring the terrible wrath of the vengeful Jackson. And to think that Joan Crawford endures all this without a hair out of place on her lovely head! TV's future "Captain Midnight" Richard Webb co-stars as a diligent FBI agent.
Starring: Joan Crawford, Dennis Morgan, David Brian, Richard Webb | Directed by: Felix E. Feist

THUNDER ROAD (1958)
(92 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
In an age when even billionaires can be described as "cool," it's hard to know if that half-century-old word still has any meaning. But if it doesn't apply to this cult classic with Robert Mitchum as the baddest moonshiner who ever popped a 180, it's dead. While Arthur Ripley is credited as director, with story and executive producer credits, this is clearly Mitchum's show from start to finish, reflecting his terminally cool persona and dedication to the celebration of kamikaze lifestyles. As a returning Korean vet, he tries to keep his brother out of the family bootlegging business only to be pulled in himself. A film made up of car chases, violence, music, and more car chases, its deeper significance will be evident only to the most skilled of semioticians. Others can just sit back and enjoy the narcoleptic presence of the star as he screeches around the mountains of Tennessee hills, birthplace NASCAR in a 1950 Ford Coupe with the revenuers on his tail. Fans of James Bond should appreciate the primitive but effective oil-spurting jets on this car, not to mention the quick-release whiskey tank in the trunk. To add to its cult status, the songs "The Ballad of Thunder Road" and "Whiporwil," both sung by Mitchum, spent time on Top 40 charts, and, along with the movie, are clearly alluded to by Bruce Springsteen in his own "Thunder Road." — Michael Costello
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Gene Barry, James Mitchum, Keely Smith | Directed by: Arthur Ripley

TIGER BAY (1959)
(107 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Twelve-year-old Hayley Mills made her film starring debut in the location-filmed melodrama Tiger Bay. Horst Buchholz plays a Polish sailor who, while docked in Cardiff, jealously murders his ex-girlfriend Yvonne Mitchell. The killing is witnessed by Hayley, a lonely, hoydenish preteen whose only interest in the crime is Buccholz' abandoned gun. Hayley picks up the weapon, intending to impress the other kids in town. She succeeds only in attracting the attention of police inspector John Mills (Hayley's real life father), who wants to know where she found the gun and under what circumstances. An experienced liar, Hayley drives the inspector crazy with her fabrications. Sent home with a stern reprimand, Hayley is kidnapped by Buccholz, who doesn't want to kill the child, but doesn't want to be revealed to the police, either. Convinced that Buchholz means her no harm, Hayley offers to help him escape. He returns the favor by rescuing her from a watery grave, at the cost of his own freedom. On the basis of her performance in Tiger Bay, Hayley Mills not only won a special prize at the Berlin Film Festival, but was invited to star in Disney's Pollyanna (1960).
Starring: John Mills, Horst Buchholz, Hayley Mills, Yvonne Mitchell, Megs Jenkins | Directed by: J. Lee Thompson

TIGER IN THE SMOKE (1956)
(94 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this British crime drama, an escaped killer heads for the French coast to find a mysterious treasure reportedly buried in a widow's mansion. The lonely widow is preparing to marry a man she doesn't love. Suddenly she begins receiving mysterious photos of her late spouse; they seem to suggest that he is alive. Frightened, she takes the pictures to the cops; they then implicate the fugitive and just as they get to the widow's mansion, they find the crook holding an invaluable statue of the Madonna. The cops inform the cornered thief that the statue is useless to him because no one will buy it from him.
Starring: Donald Sinden, Muriel Pavlow, Tony Wright, Bernard Miles | Directed by: Roy Ward Baker

TIGHT SPOT (1955)
(70 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Tight Spot is based on Leonard Kantor's novel Dead Pigeon, which in turn was obviously inspired by Virginia Hill's appearance before the Kefauver Committee. Ginger Rogers plays hard-boiled model Sherry Conley, who is serving a prison term for a crime she didn't commit. Sherry is offered her freedom — and immunity — by U.S. attorney Lloyd Hallett (Edward G. Robinson) if she'll agree to appear as a material witness in the trial of mobster Benjamin Costain (Lorne Greene). Unfortunately, Costain has a long reach, and is able to coerce Vince Striker (Brian Keith), the detective assigned to guard Sherry, to allow Costain's hired guns to invade the hotel room where Sherry is being hidden. The star witness is surly and uncooperative, but she finally decides to testify when her escort, policewoman Willoughby (Katherine Anderson), is murdered by Costain's goons. But Striker is still around and about, still determined to do Costain's bidding. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Ginger Rogers, Edward G. Robinson, Brian Keith, Lorne Greene | Directed by: Phil Karlson

TIJUANA STORY, THE (1957)
(72 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
This gritty crime drama is based on the true story of a Mexican news reporter who single-handedly takes on a crime syndicate. The journalist begins by publishing the names of several prominent, corrupt politicians. The syndicate retaliates and the journalist is killed. The locals rebel and the reporter's son takes up his father's cause. By uniting, the community routs the crooks from their home. The story is narrated by the actual journalist.
Starring: Rodolfo Acosta, James Darren, Robert McQueeney, Jean Willes | Directed by: Leslie Kardos

TIME IS MY ENEMY (1957)
(64 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this crime drama a murderer covers his tracks by framing his wife. He does this by posing as his victim and forcing his wife to shoot him (with a blank-filled gun). The woman then confesses her crime. Fortunately, a sharp-eyed police inspector doesn't buy her story and soon brings the real killer to justice.
Starring: Renée Ashershon, Patrick Barr, Alfie Bass, Bruce Beeby, Erik Chitty | Directed by: Don Chaffey

TIME WITHOUT PITY (1957)
(88 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Time without Pity carried the name "Joseph Losey" on the credits—the first time in three years that the blacklisted director as permitted to use his own name on a film. This British-made suspense film was based on a play by Emlyn Williams. Michael Redgrave stars an anguished father whose son (Alec McCowan) is accused of murder. With time running out, Redgrave struggles to prove his son innocent of the charge. The paranoia prevalent in Time without Pity can be attributed to Losey's own experience at the hands of the HUAC, though this element never gets out of artistic control. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Michael Redgrave, Ann Todd, Leo McKern, Peter Cushing | Directed by: Joseph Losey

TIMETABLE (1956)
(79 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this suspenseful detective yarn, an insurance investigator finds himself unbearably bored by his routine life and decides to become a criminal. Following the robbery he engineers, he begins to investigate the theft himself. Unfortunately, he is trailed by a determined railroad cop, a dear friend who remains professional despite the mixed emotions he feels. The film is the feature debut of TV actor Jack Klugman. — Sandra Brennan
Starring: Mark Stevens, King Calder, Felicia Farr, Marianne Stewart, Jack Klugman | Directed by: Mark Stevens

TIP ON A DEAD JOCKEY (1957)
(99 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
In this 1957 psychological action drama, Robert Taylor plays Lloyd Tredman, a WWII American airman plagued by guilt over the war deaths of comrades in failed missions. Living in Spain, Tredman is despondent after losing all his money betting on a horse which ends up throwing its jockey and killing him. In order to get money and help a former comrade, Jimmy Heldon (Jack Lord), who is also broke, Tredman agreeds to a currency smuggling plot proposed by Bert Smith (Martin Gabel). In on the scheme is a Madrid native, Toto del Aro (Marcel Dalio). They smuggle the money and elude authorities after a long chase, but when they discover that their booty includes narcotics, they turn themselves in and implicate Smith.
Starring: Robert Taylor, Dorothy Malone, Gia Scala, Martin Gabel, Jack Lord | Directed by: Richard Thorpe

TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY (1951)
(90 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
When Margaret Mitchell originally submitted her manuscript for Gone with the Wind, its title was Tomorrow Is Another Day. The 1951 film of that title has nothing to do with Gone with the Wind, as will be obvious before the credits fade. Steve Cochran plays an ex-convict who thinks he killed a man. He takes it on the lam with Ruth Roman, a taxi dancer whose boyfriend is the supposed murder victim. Cochran is careful to marry Roman before transporting her across state lines; she doesn't really love him, but anything is better than her present lifestyle. Both husband and wife head for California, hoping to bury their past and start life clean, but society just won't let them. From the looks of things, Tomorrow Is Another Day might well have originally been intended for John Garfield, who died in 1951.
Starring: Ruth Roman, Steve Cochran, Lurene Tuttle, Ray Teal | Directed by: Felix E. Feist

TOUCH OF EVIL (1958)
(108 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
This baroque nightmare of a south-of-the-border mystery is considered to be one of the great movies of Orson Welles, who both directed and starred in it. On honeymoon with his new bride Susan (Janet Leigh, Mexican-born policeman Mike Vargas (Charlton Heston) agrees to investigate a bomb explosion. In so doing, he incurs the wrath of local police chief Hank Quinlan (Welles), a corrupt, bullying behemoth with a perfect arrest record. Vargas suspects that Quinlan has planted evidence to win his past convictions, and he isn't about to let the suspect in the current case be railroaded. Quinlan, whose obsession with his own brand of justice is motivated by the long-ago murder of his wife, is equally determined to get Vargas out of his hair, and he makes a deal with local crime boss Uncle Joe Grandi (Akim Tamiroff) to frame Susan on a drug rap, leading to one of the movie's many truly harrowing sequences. Touch of Evil dissects the nature of good and evil in a hallucinatory, nightmarish ambience, helped by the shadow-laden cinematography of Russell Metty and by the cast, which, along with Tamiroff and Welles includes Charlton Heston as a Mexican; Marlene Dietrich, in a brunette wig, as a brittle madam who delivers the movie's unforgettable closing words; Mercedes McCambridge as a junkie; and Dennis Weaver as a tremulous motel clerk. Touch of Evil has been released with four different running times — 95 minutes for the 1958 original, which was taken away from Welles and brutally cut by the studio; 108 minutes and 114 minutes in later versions; and 111 minutes in the 1998 restoration. Based on a 58-page memo written by Welles after he was barred from the editing room during the film's original post-production, this restoration, among numerous other changes, removed the opening titles and Henry Mancini's music from the opening crane shot, which in either version ranks as one of the most remarkably extended long takes in movie history. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Charlton Heston, Orson Welles, Janet Leigh, Joseph Calleia, Marlene Dietrich | Directed by: Orson Welles

TRACK THE MAN DOWN (1955)
(75 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this crime drama, the trouble begins when a crook cheats his buddies at a dog track, stuffs his loot into a suitcase, and flees. He then gives the suitcase to his lover who in turn gives it to her sister just before she takes a bus to the coast. Her actions rouse the suspicions of an observant reporter. Later the crook manages to catch up with the sisters. Unfortunately, the sisters catch them at the same time and justice prevails.
Starring: Kent Taylor, Petula Clark, Frank Atkinson, Michael Balfour, Jack Lambert | Directed by: R. G. Springsteen

TREAD SOFTLY STRANGER (1959)
(90 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this crime drama, two crooked brothers, an embezzler and a gambler, find themselves in deep trouble when the embezzler steals from a steel mill so he can buy his lover fancy clothes. During the theft, he kills a night guard. This spawns an investigation by the slain watchman's son who locates a sightless witness. The son then convinces the killer that the witness saw him and this causes him to confess.
Starring: Terence Morgan, Russell Napier, Hal Osmond, George Merritt | Directed by: Gordon Parry

TRUE STORY OF LYNN STUART (1958)
(78 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this realistic crime drama, a Santa Ana housewife, anxious to somehow avenge the drug-related death of her nephew, offers to help the Orange County cops break up a big drug ring. The woman then goes undercover and becomes the girl friend of the ring leader. She accompanies him to Tijuana and they both end up arrested. The drug ring is then destroyed. Rather than reveal her true identity, the woman opts to remain in jail. If the gangsters knew the truth, they would surely kill her. Much of the tale is taken from a true incident.
Starring: Betsy Palmer, Jack Lord, Barry Atwater, Kim Spalding, Karl Lukas | Directed by: Lewis Seiler

TRY AND GET ME (1950)
(92 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
The Sound of Fury is better known by its general release title, Try and Get Me. Based on Jo Pagano's novel The Condemned, the film recreates a dismal chapter in American history. In 1933, the otherwise peace-loving citizens of San Jose, CA, were stirred up by blind hatred into forming a mob and lynching two accused kidnappers (this same incident was fictionalized in the 1935 Fritz Lang film Fury). Frank Lovejoy and Lloyd Bridges play a couple of down-and-outers who kidnap a wealthy youngster in hopes of getting a huge ransom. Things go terribly wrong, and the boy is killed. When the two kidnappers are arrested, a local journalist (Richard Carlson) inflames the populace with a series of hate-filled articles about the two prisoners. The journalist then stands by in mute horror as he watches the terrible results of his irresponsible print campaign.
Starring: Frank Lovejoy, Kathleen Ryan, Richard Carlson, Lloyd Bridges, Adele Jergens | Directed by: Cy Raker Endfield

TWO DOLLAR BETTOR (1951)
(72 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Dependable supporting actor John Litel is top-billed in the independently produced Two Dollar Bettor. Litel plays John Hewitt, a respectable widower who takes the first step on the road to depravation when he makes his first-ever bet at the race track. Consumed by gambling fever, Hewitt is reduced to committing embezzlement to satisfy his urge. Things don't end too well for Our Hero, but redemption of sorts is provided from an unexpected corner. Marie Windsor steals the show in the atypical role of a con artist who is willing to take the hapless Hewitt for everything he's got. Two Dollar Bettor was directed by Edward L. Cahn with his usual ten-day-schedule efficiency.
Starring: John Litel, Marie Windsor, Steve Brodie, Barbara Logan, Barbara Billingsley, Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer | Directed by: Edward L. Cahn

TWO OF A KIND (1951)
(75 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Cardsharp Edmond O'Brien gets more than he bargained for when he links up with con artists Lizabeth Scott and Alexander Knox. The trio plot to fleece a wealthy couple out of ten million dollars by having O'Brien pose as the couple's long-lost son. When the husband (Griff Barnett) refuses to change his will, Scott and Knox plan to bump him off. O'Brien may be a crook, but he's no murderer, so he balks at the plan and confesses the scam to the elderly couple--prompting Knox to add O'Brien to his list of potential victims. When Scott decides to pull out of the plan as well, Knox is run out of town, leaving the girl with O'Brien--truly "two of a kind," who'll be able to line up suckers elsewhere.
Starring: Edmond O'Brien, Lizabeth Scott, Terry Moore, Alexander Knox, Griff Barnett | Directed by: Henry Levin

TWO-HEADED SPY, THE (1958)
(93 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
This WWII espionage drama is based on the true tale of a British spy, as told in the story by J. Alvin Kugelmass. Alex Schottland (Jack Hawkins) is a career agent for England, having served during WWI. He is assigned to Nazi Germany and rises to the rank of general as WWII breaks out. His contact is Cornaz (Felix Alymer), who pretends to be a clock seller. But Cornaz's identity is discovered, and he is brutally murdered. Schottland overcomes suspicions and makes contacts with a new British agent, Lili Geyr (Gia Scala), who is a nightclub singer. His love for her is first feigned as part of the spy game -- then becomes real.
Starring: Jack Hawkins, Gia Scala, Erik Schumann, Alexander Knox | Directed by: André De Toth

UNDER MY SKIN (1950)
(86 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Set in Paris, Under My Skin stars John Garfield as a washed-up jockey who has stolen money from a crooked gambler (Luther Adler). Anxious to escape with his life, Garfield leaves his young son (Orley Lindgren) in the care of his nightclub chanteuse girlfriend (Micheline Presle). While on the lam, Garfield has a change of heart and decides to make good for his son's sake. The gambler catches up with the jockey and demands that he throw an upcoming race, or else. Garfield makes the ultimate sacrifice so that his son will grow up remembering him with pride. Under My Skin was based on the Ernest Hemingway story My Old Man, which was refilmed for television in 1979 with Warren Oates as the father and Kristy McNichol as his daughter (one supposes that it was contract-commitment time).
Starring: John Garfield, Micheline Presle, Orley Lindgren, Luther Adler | Directed by: Jean Negulesco

UNDER THE GUN (1950)
(84 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Richard Conte plays a big-city racketeer whose luck runs out on him. He is sent to a Southern prison, but vows to be out and about before long. Applying a little psychology and a lot of cynicism, Conte manages to pull off his escape by firing only one shot. He wheedles his way into becoming a prison trustee, then earns a parole by shooting down an "escaping" convict. Under the Gun is a lively second-feature meller, with Richard Conte exuding his patented cold-blooded charm.
Starring: Richard Conte, Audrey Totter, John McIntire, Sam Jaffe | Directed by: Ted Tetzlaff

UNDERWORLD STORY, THE (1950)
(90 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Written by murder-mystery specialist Craig Rice, The Underworld Story concerns a corrupt newspaperman (Dan Duryea), who is in the pocket of a gangster (Howard da Silva). When he's fired by a big-city paper, the newsman buys an interest in a small-town weekly. It is while thus occupying that man reforms, devoting himself to clearing a black woman falsely accused of murder. Gale Storm co-stars as Duryea's assistant, who helps him expose an intricate and insidious conspiracy of silence.
Starring: Dan Duryea, Herbert Marshall, Gale Storm, Howard Da Silva, Alan Hale, Jr. | Directed by: Cy Raker Endfield

UNHOLY FOUR, THE (1954)
(80 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Four friends go on a friendly fishing trip but only three return. This suspenseful drama chronicles the fate of the fourth who returns home an amnesiac after a three year absence to get revenge upon the "buddy" who knocked him out and left him to die. Any one of the remaining three could be a suspect as all of them are interested in pursuing his lovely widow. Unfortunately, the man's return coincides with a murder and he ends up blamed. Fortunately, his wife helps him solve the mystery and clear his name. The British title was A Stranger Came Home.
Starring: Paulette Goddard, William Sylvester, Patrick Holt, Paul Carpenter | Directed by: Terence Fisher

UNHOLY WIFE, THE (1957)
(94 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this crime thriller a young woman marries a wealthy vintner. Soon afterward, she falls in love with a handsome rodeo rider whom she sees every time her husband is away. One night, her mother-in-law spots a burglar outside the house and reports it to the police. The conniving wife sees a window of opportunity and plots the death of her husband, hoping to blame it on the burglar. Unfortunately, she accidentally murders her husband's friend. Fortunately, she is able to con her husband into taking the rap with the promise that he will be acquitted. During the trial, she lies and he is put away. Later she gets hers when her mother-in-law is poisoned and she is convicted of the crime. The irony of it all is that the wife is innocent of that crime.
Starring: Rod Steiger, Diana Dors, Tom Tryon, Marie Windsor | Directed by: John Farrow

UNKNOWN MAN, THE (1951)
(86 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Highly respected defense attorney Dwight Bradley Mason (Walter Pidgeon) is able to clear young Rudi Wallchek (Keefe Brasselle) of a murder rap. When it's all over, however, Rudi lets slip a careless comment which leads Mason to believe that his client was guilty after all. Using the evidence at hand, the attorney retraces his steps, only to discover that one of the town's leading citizens is a criminal mastermind. The solution to this ethical dilemma is straight out of the "postman always rings twice" school of crime fiction. Even after justice has been served, however, Mason's conscience dictates that everyone responsible for all previous legal miscarriages be punished — including himself!
Starring: Walter Pidgeon, Ann Harding, Barry Sullivan, Lewis Stone | Directed by: Richard Thorpe

VERTIGO (1958)
(128 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Dismissed when first released, later heralded as one of director Alfred Hitchcock's finest films (and, according to Hitchcock, his most personal one), this adaptation of the French novel D'entre les morts weaves an intricate web of obsession and deceit. It opens as Scottie Ferguson (James Stewart) realizes he has vertigo, a condition resulting in a fear of heights, when a police officer is killed trying to rescue him from falling off a building. Scottie then retires from his position as a private investigator, only to be lured into another case by his old college friend, Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore). Elster's wife, Madeleine (Kim Novak), has been possessed by a spirit, and Elster wants Scottie to follow her. He hesitantly agrees, and thus begins the film's wordless montage as Scottie follows the beautiful yet enigmatic Madeleine through 1950s San Francisco (accompanied by Bernard Herrmann's hypnotic score). After saving her from suicide, Scottie begins to fall in love with her, and she appears to feel the same way. Here tragedy strikes, and each twist in the movie's second half changes our preconceptions about the characters and events. In 1996 a new print of Vertigo was released, restoring the original grandeur of the colors and the San Francisco backdrop, as well as digitally enhancing the soundtrack.
Starring: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes, Tom Helmore, Henry Jones | Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

VICE RAID (1959)
(71 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
A low-budget, tawdry police yarn with the world of prostitution and gangsters thrown in, Vice Raid features Mamie Van Doren as Carol Hudson, a Motor City hooker. The bosses of the prostitution racket have Hudson go to New York City to entrap a police officer and get him thrown off the force. She does as she is told and then the gangsters make a mistake -- they abuse her younger sister. Angered to the core, Hudson decides to team up with the cop she helped frame and put the mobsters behind bars.
Starring: Mamie van Doren, Richard Coogan, Brad Dexter, Frank Gerstle, Barry Atwater | Directed by: Edward L. Cahn

VICE SQUAD (1953)
(87 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Though both Edward G. Robinson and Paulette Goddard were at career low points when they filmed Vice Squad, both actors were too professional to give anything less than their very best. Robinson plays Captain Barnaby of the titular squad, who during a routine day at the station takes charge of a case involving the killing of a patrolman. Barnaby holds Jack Hartrampf (Porter Hall), a witness to the murder, in protective custody. Hartrampf had been making a clandestine meeting with a pretty young lady, and is afraid to tell the police what he knows for fear of losing his reputation and getting the girl involved in the mess. With the help of Mona (Goddard), head of the so-called escort bureau who arranged the tryst, Barnaby is able to follow the trail of clues to bank robbers Barkis (Edward Binns) and Pete (Lee van Cleef). There's many an additional complication — including a kidnapping and a false arrest — before Barnaby is able to call it a day.
Starring: Edward G. Robinson, Paulette Goddard, K.T. Stevens, Porter Hall | Directed by: Arnold Laven

VICIOUS CIRCLE, THE (1957)
(80 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Originally released in Britain as The Circle, The Vicious Circle was based on the BBC TV series The Brass Candlestick. John Mills plays a respected doctor who comes home one evening to find the body of a murdered actress of his acquaintance. The police are summoned, and the murder weapon is found in the trunk of Mills' car. Realizing that the authorities will be useless in a case like this, Mills turns amateur sleuth to find out who's behind the frameup. The Vicious Circle eschews the cliffhanging elements of the TV version for a straightforward, step-by-step approach, with John Mills gradually catching on to the truth.
Starring: John Mills, Noelle Middleton, Derek Farr, Wilfrid Hyde-White | Directed by: Gerald Thomas

VICKI (1953)
(85 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Although a few character names and minor details are different, Vicki is a fairly faithful remake of the 1941 murder melodrama I Wake Up Screaming. The title character, Vicki Lynn, played by Jean Peters, is a waitress who is transformed into a top fashion model by press agent Steve Christopher (Elliot Reid). When Vicki is murdered, psychotic detective Ed Cornell (Richard Boone) tries to pin the blame on Christopher. In fact, Cornell knows who the real killer is, but he was so desperately (and hopelessly) in love with the dead girl that he intends to railroad Christopher into the electric chair. With the help of Vicki's sister (Jeanne Crain), Christopher tracks down the genuine culprit and exposes Cornell for the nutcase that he is. Featured in the cast is future TV producer Aaron Spelling.
Starring: Jeanne Crain, Jean Peters, Elliott Reid, Richard Boone | Directed by: Harry Horner

VIOLATED (1953)
(78 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Disguised as a cautionary suspense thriller, Violated is essentially an excuse to display some strippers taking their clothes off. Lili Dawn plays an exotic dancer named Lili DeMar, who is used as bait by the police to bring a sex offender out into the open. The acting is bad and the direction worse, but there's no denying that the film is extremely well-photographed by Pat Rich. Those uninterested in the undulations of Lili Dawn will enjoy the creative musical score by Tony Mottola, who in 1953 had achieved a measure of fame for his work on TV's Suspense. Considered hot stuff when first released, Violated is mild to middling when seen today.
Starring: Mitchell Kowal, Lili Dawn, William Holland, Vicki Carlson, William Martel | Directed by: Walter Strate

WAGES OF FEAR (1953)
(138 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Together with Diabolique, The Wages of Fear (Le Salaire de la Peur) earned Henri-Georges Clouzot the reputation as a "French Hitchcock." In truth, Clouzot's ability to sustain suspense may have even exceeded Hitchcock's; when originally released, Wages ran 155 tension-filled minutes. Based on the much-imitated novel by Georges Arnaud, the film is set in Central America. The Southern Oil Company, which pretty much rules the roost in the impoverished village of Las Piedras, sends out a call for long-distance truck drivers. Southern Oil's wages of 2,000 dollars per man are, literally, to die for — the drivers are obliged to transport highly volatile nitroglycerine shipments across some of the most treacherous terrain on earth. Through expository dialogue, tense interactions and flashbacks, we become intimately acquainted with the four drivers who sign up for this death-defying mission: Corsican Yves Montand, Italian Folco Lulli, German Peter Van Eyck, and Frenchman Charles Vanel. The first half of the film slowly, methodically introduces the characters and their motivations. The second half — the drive itself — is a relentless, goosebump-inducing assault on the audience's senses. The winner of the Grand Prix at the Cannes Festival, The Wages of Fear was remade by William Friedkin as Sorcerer (1977). — Hal Erickson
Starring: Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Peter Van Eyck, William Tubbs | Directed by: Henri-Georges Clouzot

WALK EAST ON BEACON (1952)
(98 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Louis de Rochemont, former March of Time producer whose "docudrama" films proved so popular in the 1940s, offers more of the same in Walk East on Beacon. Based on an article written (or ghostwritten) by J. Edgar Hoover, the film concerns the efforts by the FBI to plug up a dangerous security leak. Federal agent Belden (George Murphy) is assigned to locate the communist mastermind behind the leak, and to trace all avenues of informational access utilized by the Bad Guys. Finlay Currie co-stars as an Einstein-like scientist who is being blackmailed by the Reds into cooperating with them, while Karel Stepanek is slime personified as the top Eastern-Bloc spy. Largely filmed on location in New York, Walk East on Beacon makes good use of several Manhattan-based actors, few of whom were seen in films either before or since. — Hal Erickson
Starring: George Murphy, Finlay Currie, Virginia Gilmore, Karel Stepanek | Directed by: Alfred L. Werker

WALK THE DARK STREET (1956)
(74 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this off-beat action drama, a slightly psychotic big-game hunter is obsessed with getting revenge upon the Army officer whom he believes caused his brother to suffer a fatal heart attack while he was a soldier. The hunter challenges the offending officer to a strange duel involving specially designed camera guns. With these, they are to roam the LA streets and shoot pictures of each other. Of course the hunter plans on having a real gun with which to shoot the officer. Unfortunately, he accidentally gives the real gun to the other guy. The hunter becomes so anxious that he too drops dead of a heart attack.
Starring: Chuck Connors, Jay Lawrence, Eddie Kafafian, Don Orlando, Don Ross | Directed by: Wyott Ordung

WEAK AND THE WICKED, THE (1954)
(77 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Had the women-behind-bars drama The Weak and the Wicked been made in Hollywood, the cast would probably have included the likes of Ida Lupino, Marie Windsor, Peggie Castle and Hope Emerson. Instead, the film was lensed in Britain, with Glynis Johns and Diana Dors heading the cast. Framed on a charge of fraud, "good girl" Glynis is tossed into prison. Her cellmates include hard-boiled Ms. Dors, murder suspect Jane Hylton, blackmailer-poisoner Dame Sybil Thorndyke and shoplifter Olive Sloane. Each of their stories is detailed in a series of flashbacks. Downplay the potential sensational elments of the storyline, The Weak and the Wicked takes great pains to point out the positive values of a special rehabilitation program, wherein the main characters are given the opportunity to make themselves useful members of society.
Starring: Glynis Johns, Diana Dors, John Gregson, Jane Hylton | Directed by: J. Lee Thompson

WESTERN PACIFIC AGENT (1950)
(61 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Despite its title, Western Pacific Agent is a contemporary crime melodrama. Kent Taylor stars as a railroad detective, assigned to track down an elusive robber-murderer. The audience knows from the outset who the culprit is (hotheaded Mickey Knox, who delivers an astonishingly vicious performance), but the plot requires the detective to methodically piece together the evidence before making his final move. Helping him solve the crime is the sister (Sheila Ryan) of a slain paymaster (Robert Lowery). The whole story is narrated in flashback by an uncredited Jason Robards Sr. One of the most brutal films of its era, Western Pacific Agent spares the audience nothing: at one point, the villain beats up his own father!
Starring: Kent Taylor, Mickey Knox, Sheila Ryan, Morris Carnovsky | Directed by: Sam Newfield

WHERE DANGER LIVES (1950)
(84 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Faith Domergue, the latest of Howard Hughes' protegees, made her film debut in 1950's Where Danger Lives. Domergue plays Margo Lannington the wife of Frederick Lannington (Claude Rains), an elderly millionaire possessed of a sadistic streak. Robert Mitchum co-stars as Jeff Cameron, a poor soul who falls in love with Margo without knowing that she's married. During a violent confrontation with the jealous Frederick, Cameron knocks the older man out and stumbles out of the room. Upon his return, he discovers that Frederick is dead. Margo had smothered her husband during Cameron's absence, but she insists that Cameron is the killer. The desperate lovers flee to Mexico, where Cameron at long last discovers that his travelling companion is more than a little unhinged. Masterfully directed by John Farrow, Where Danger Lives might have been one of the classic "film noirs," were it not for the acting deficiencies of Faith Domergue, who flounders in a role that Jane Greer could have played blindfolded. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Faith Domergue, Claude Rains, Maureen O'Sullivan | Directed by: John farrow

WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS (1950)
(95 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Dana Andrews is brutal metropolitan police detective Dixon, who despises all criminals because his father had been one. When the cops pick up two-bit gambler Ken Paine (Craig Stevens) as a murder suspect, Dixon subjects Paine to the third degree — and accidentally kills him. In disposing of the body, Dixon inadvertently places the blame for the killing on cab driver Jiggs Taylor (Tom Tully). Having fallen in love with Jigg's daughter (Gene Tierney), Dixon tries to clear the cabbie without implicating himself, but ultimately he becomes trapped in a web of his own making; luckily Tierney promises to stand by him. Where the Sidewalk Ends was adapted from a novel by William A. Stuart; its director was Otto Preminger, who'd previously put Andrews and Tierney through their paces in Laura (44). — Hal Erickson
Starring: Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, Gary Merrill, Karl Malden | Directed by: Otto Preminger

WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS (1956)
(100 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
When media mogul Amos Kyne (Robert Warwick) dies, his business, which includes a major newspaper, a television station, and a wire news service, is turned over to his sole heir, his foppish, ne'er do well son (Vincent Price). The younger Kyne has no knowledge of how to run the company his father built, preferring to spend his time spending the money that it generates, and he decides to let the heads of the three divisions — newspaper editor John Day Griffith (Thomas Mitchell), wire service chief Mark Loving (George Sanders), and photo chief Harry Kritzer (James Craig) — fight it out among themselves, winner-take-all. Each one has a key alley: Griffith, in Edward Mobley (Dana Andrews), a top reporter who is lately appearing on television as well; Loving, in resourceful but sluttish columnist Mildred Donner (Ida Lupino), who has her own way of digging up secrets; and Kritzer, who doesn't think he needs to dig up secrets because he's sitting on the biggest one of all, his "friendship" with Kyne's ex-model wife, Dorothy (Rhonda Fleming). Mobley becomes a focal point because the story-of-the-moment concerns the "Lipstick Killer," a serial murderer, burglar, and sex fiend who has been terrorizing the city — break that case first and the job is won, and Mobley's specialty is crime reporting. The Lipstick Killer, a disturbed teenager named Robert Manners (John Drew Barrymore), continues to elude the police, and Loving's stumbling attempts to get information out first don't aid in the manhunt. Meanwhile, Mobley, using his own deductive powers and some basic psychology, manages to get under the killer's skin from afar on television and in print; however, unbeknownst to the reporter, the murderer is feeling more pressure to commit his crimes, and taking a very personal interest in targeting Mobley and his fiancée, Nancy Liggett (Sally Forrest). The two interwoven stories all get pulled together in a chase through the streets and into the city's subway tunnels, with Mobley, Nancy, Police Lieutenant Kaufman (Howard Duff), and the killer all crossing paths. — Bruce Eder
Starring: Rhonda Fleming, Dana Andrews, Ida Lupino, Sally Forrest, George Sanders | Directed by: Fritz Lang

WHIP HAND, THE (1951)
(82 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
In this anti-Communist film, a journalist goes on vacation to a small town and is surprised by the coldness of the residents. This makes him curious. His resulting investigation reveals the commies are planning to use the town as the launch pad for a biological warfare campaign.
Starring: Raymond Burr, Carla Balenda, Elliott Reid, Edgar Barrier | Directed by: William Cameron Menzies

WITHOUT WARNING (1952)
(75 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Adam Williams is frighteningly effective as the "psycho next door" in Without Warning. Normally a quiet, unobtrusive fellow, Carl Martin (Williams) is pushed over the edge when his blonde wife cheats on him. Thereafter, he uses a pair of garden shears to kill every blonde female with whom he comes in contact. The then-new Los Angeles Freeway provides a thrilling backdrop for the film's pulse-pounding final scenes. Without Warning was produced by Arthur Gardner and Jules Levy and directed by Arnold Laven, the same production team that was responsible for such 1950s and 1960s TV weeklies as The Rifleman, Burke's Law and The Big Valley.
Starring: Adam Williams, Meg Randall, Edward Binns, Harlan Warde | Directed by: Arnold Laven

WITNESS TO MURDER (1954)
(83 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
The witness of the title is Barbara Stanwyck, who insists she's seen a man strangling a girl in the apartment across the street. The murderer is George Sanders, an ex-Nazi with plenty of experience in covering his tracks. Deftly disposing of body and clues, Sanders is able to convince the authorities that Stanwyck is hallucinating. But Stanwyck persists, forcing Sanders to show his hand in a fateful climax. Witness to Murder is far beneath the talents of its stars, though both Stanwyck and Sanders, pros that they are, give the material the old "Academy Award" treatment. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Gary Merrill, George Sanders, Jesse White | Directed by: Roy Rowland

WOMAN IN QUESTION, THE (1950)
(88 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
The alternate title to the British The Woman in Question is Five Angles on Murder. That pretty much sums up the tenor of this investigatory drama, wherein an enigmatic fortune teller (Jean Kent) is murdered. The police track down the five most likely suspects and start asking questions. Each suspect offers a different perspective on the murdered woman, and each provides a vital clue towards solving the killing. This "prismatic" technique was of course the foundation of Citizen Kane; while The Woman in Question is not in Kane's league, its gimmick holds the audience's attention whenever director Anthony Asquith allows the pace to lag.
Starring: Jean Kent, Dirk Bogarde, Susan Shaw, John McCallum | Directed by: Anthony Asquith

WOMAN IN THE DARK (1952)
(60 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Penny Edwards and Ross Elliot are top-billed in the Republic programmer Woman in the Dark. Though Edwards plays the title character, most of the film is carried by Elliot as an Italian-American priest named Father Tony Morello. The good father is saddled with a no-good brother named Gino (Richard Benedict), who gets mixed up in a jewel heist. With the help of Father Tony and his other brother, a lawyer named Phil (Rick Vallin), Gino is cleared of all charges. But the jewel thieves exact a violent revenge upon Gino, prompting Phil to retaliate and Father Tony to try to maintain peace in the family. Throughout it all, Phil's Park Avenue girlfriend Anna Reichardt (Penny Edwards) stands on the sidelines, with wide eyes and trembling lips. Woman in the Dark was based on Moon Over Mulberrry Street, a play by Nicholas Cosentino.
Starring: Penny Edwards, Ross Elliott, Rick Vallin, Richard Benedict | Directed by: George Blair

WOMAN ON THE RUN (1950)
(77 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
Frank Johnson (Ross Elliott), a window-dresser and struggling artist, accidentally witnesses a mob-related rub-out of a witness (Thomas P. Dillon), while out walking his dog one night -- after being shot at for his trouble, he's approached by the police, who want to put him into protective custody. But before they can do that, he runs out, and it's up to Inspector Ferris (Robert Keith) to find him before the killer does. He approaches Johnson's wife, Eleanor (Ann Sheridan), only to discover that not only were they the most distant -- nearly estranged -- couple he's ever encountered, but that she doesn't want to help find him, or care if he is found. Then she learns that he has a potentially serious heart condition that he never told her about, and that he has no medication -- she decides to try and find him to give him help, dodging the police with help from a pushy reporter named Leggett (Dennis O'Keefe), covering his job and all of his old haunts; and in the process, she discovers a man that she never really bothered to know or understand, one who not only wanted to love her but does love her, despite the way their marriage has gone, and discovers that there may still be a marriage worth saving. But to do that she's got to find him to head off not only a potentially fatal heart seizure but also save him from the killer who, unbeknownst to her, is just a step behind her and has already started covering her trail and murdering potential witnesses.
Starring: Ann Sheridan, Dennis O'Keefe, Ross Elliott, Frank Jenks, John Qualen | Directed by: Norman Foster

WORLD FOR RANSOM (1954)
(82 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: B
World for Ransom is an unofficial extension of the popular 1950s TV series China Smith. Most of the Smith personnel, including star Dan Duryea, director Robert Aldrich and cinematographer Joseph Biroc, are on hand for this inexpensive but well-mounted melodrama. Duryea plays a mercenary adventurer who gets mixed up in a scheme by foreign spies (who wear baggy suits and speak with Slavic accents) to kidnap a nuclear scientist. Actually it isn't the whole world that's held for ransom—only the city of Singapore, which the spies threaten with nuclear annihilation. World for Ransom star Dan Duryea is solidly supported by old pros Gene Lockhart, Patric Knowles, Reginald Denny and Nigel Bruce.
Starring: Dan Duryea, Gene Lockhart, Patric Knowles, Reginald Denny | Directed by: Robert Aldrich

WRONG MAN, THE (1956)
(126 Min.) Genre: 1950 SUSPENSE, Transfer Quality: A
Director Alfred Hitchcock lets us know from the outset that The Wrong Man is a painfully true story and not one of his customary fabricated suspense yarns, through the simple expedient of walking before the camera and telling us as much (this introductory appearance replaced his planned cameo role as a nightclub patron). The real-life protagonist, musican Christopher Emmanuel Balestrero, is played by Henry Fonda. Happily married and gainfully employed at the Stork Club, Balestrero's life takes a disastrous turn when he goes to an insurance office, hoping to borrow on his wife's (Vera Miles) life insurance policy in order to pay her dental bills. One of the girls in the office spots Balestrero, identifying him as the man who robbed the office a day or so earlier. This, and a few scattered bits of circumstantial evidence, lead to Balestrero's arrest. Though he's absolutely innocent, he can offer no proof of his whereabouts the day of the crime. Lawyer Frank O'Connor (Anthony Quayle) does his best to help his client, but he's up against an indifferent judicial system that isn't set up to benefit the "little man". Meanwhile, Balestrero's wife becomes emotionally unhinged, leading to a complete nervous breakdown. As Balestrero prays in his cell, his image is juxtaposed onto the face of the actual criminal-who looks nothing like the accused man! Utilizing one of his favorite themes-the helplessness of the innocent individual when confronted by the faceless bureaucracy of the Law-Hitchcock weaves a nightmarish tale, all the more frightening because it really happened (the film's best moment: Fonda looking around the nearly empty courtroom during his arraignment, realizing that the rest of the world cares precisely nothing about his inner torment). Hitch enhances the film's versimilitude by shooting in the actual locations where the real story occured. His only concession to Hollywood formula was the half-hearted coda, assuring us that Mrs. Balestrero eventually recovered from her mental collapse (she sure doesn't look any too healthy the last time we see her!) Watch for uncredited appearances by Harry Dean Stanton, Bonnie Franklin, Tuesday Weld and Charles Aidman. — Hal Erickson
Starring: Henry Fonda, Vera Miles, Anthony Quayle, Harold J. Stone | Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock

"You'll always be a two-bit cannon. And when they pick you up in the gutter dead, you're hand'll be in a drunk's pocket."
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SUSPENSE FILMS FILMS OF THE 1950s

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