Thursday, October 4, 2018

THE MUGGER

Kent Smith, Nan Martin, James Franciscus
THE MUGGER (1958). Producer/director: William Berke. Based on a novel by Ed McBain (Evan Hunter).

An unidentified man is running about the city stealing women's purses and leaving a slight slash on their cheeks. Lt. Pete Graham (Kent Smith of Nora Prentiss), a police psychiatrist, is assigned to the case. He is convinced that it is unlikely the "mugger" will move up to murder, but then a victim, Jeannie (Sandra Church), is found dead. But was she really a victim of this mugger, or did someone else kill her? Suspects in the case include Nicholas Grecco (George Maharis), who was infatuated with the murder victim; cab driver Eddie Baxter (James Franciscus), who was the brother-in-law of the victim; and Franklin Corey (Bert Thorn), who may be hiding a secret from his wife  Graham's fiancee is policewoman Claire Townsend (Nan Martin), who goes out undercover to try to catch the mugger. Dick O'Neill is a police sergeant and Renee Taylor plays a woman who is being followed -- by her husband.

James Franciscus and Kent Smith
The Mugger is a slick, low-budget, generally absorbing feature that in some ways resembles a television crime show. A very young James Franciscus [The Valley of Gwangi] has some good scenes as the cab driver; Smith is reasonably effective; Maharis [Journey to the Unknown] plays his character like a nerd to explain why Jeannie doesn't want to date him; and the other performers are all competent. The most chilling thing about the movie is after the killer is dispatched in a grisly fashion, and an old man who witnessed the death (and doesn't know the person was a murderer) waxes philosophical about the event without displaying a shred of compassion, although this may have to do with some insufficient emoting on the bit actor's part.

Verdict: Okay programmer with some interesting players. **1/2. 

2 comments:

  1. Wow, funny, I have been seeing Nan Martin everywhere lately, and did not realize until recently that she costars in one of my all-time favorite films, Big Eden from 2000, as the meddling Widow Thayer. I had not realized that she had been a steadily working actor for decades!

    James Franciscus makes my heart beat fast! Beneath the Planet of the Apes is one of my guilty pleasure, as he goes around in a loincloth for 75% of the picture!
    -Chris

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  2. I must catch that one soon, Ha ha! I was completely unaware of Ms. Martin until I saw "The Mugger." Funny how I will watch one of these forgotten B's, then look up the actor on imdb and discover that they either made one or two movies only and then vanished forever or like Martin have many, many credits and have been, as you say, working steadily for years and years. So many unsung actors out there! In the meantime, "Big Eden" is on my watch list -- glad you reminded me of it.

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