COUNTERPLOT

Allison Hayes

COUNTERPLOT (1959). Director: Kurt Neumann.

Brock Miller (Forrest Tucker) is hiding out in San Juan after being accused of murdering a man in New York who owed him money. He has befriended a boy named Manuel (Jackie Wayne), and has a girlfriend, a singer, named Connie (Allison Hayes). Fritz Bergmann (Gerald Milton) a portly lawyer and apparent owner of the club where Connie works, has knowledge that might clear Brock, but there's interference from the victim's business partner, Ben Murdock (Richard Verney). Spargo (Miquel Angel Alvarez) tries to play both men against each other for a price. It all comes together for a final shoot-out. Counterplot has some good acting in it, especially from the dynamic Milton, and Allison Hayes, the 50-foot Woman herself, is warmer and more sympathetic than usual. Jackie Wayne is a talented and appealing child actor who appeared in the original stage production of "Damn Yankees;" Counterplot is his only movie credit. Milton was mostly a television actor who also appeared in Unknown Terror. Forrest Tucker [Fresh from Paris] basically plays the same dull "Forrest Tucker" character. Photographed by Karl Struss [Sunrise], who did many films with director Neumann .

Verdict: A melodrama that holds the attention but never quite catches fire. **1/2.