Lively, entertaining reviews of, and essays on, old and newer films and everything relating to them, written by professional author William Schoell.

Friday, September 26, 2008

THE 49TH MAN


THE 49TH MAN (1953). Director: Fred F. Sears.


Government agents (played by Richard Denning and John Ireland) discover that parts of atom bombs are being smuggled into the country by using racing teenagers and others as out-of-the-loop couriers. Ireland travels to Marseilles, where he thinks the enemy spy ring has originated, and discovers that it has links all the way back to Washington, D.C. Suzanne Delbert plays a sexy member of the Marseilles group, and Peter Marshall (who later hosted Hollywood Squares) plays enemy agent Leo Wayne. There's a reasonably taut finish as the men race to stop a bomb from wiping out a major city. No, this isn't exactly 24 (although it does have a cheap TV feel to it) but it does hold the attention and is briskly directed by Fred F. Sears.

Verdict: Okay timepasser. **1/2.

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