TERROR STREET

Dan Duryea

TERROR STREET (1953). Director: Montgomery Tully.

At the end of WW2 American Major Bill Rogers (Dan Duryea) falls in love with pretty Katie (Elsie Albiin). They get married, but shortly afterward Bill takes off for the U.S. to teach a course that will last three months; for some reason he can't take her with him. Three months stretches into a year, and Katie quite sensibly moves out and into her own apartment, where she falls in with the wrong crowd. When she is murdered, Bill goes on the run, getting help from a rather stupid mission lady named Jenny (Gudrun Ure). Then there's this business with smuggled diamonds and blackmail, none of which is very interesting. There is no suspense whatsoever since the real killer is revealed right during the scene when Katie is murdered. The  mis-titled Terror Street features an utterly unsympathetic lead character, and the script is quite poor, even for a Hammer film noir. Duryea [Chicago Calling] gives a comparatively indifferent performance, although he does have a nice moment when he goes over the mementos of their brief married life that Katie kept in a safety deposit box. The supporting performances are okay, with Kenneth Griffith a stand out as the very nervous Henry Slosson, whose uncle (Eric Pohlmann of The Gambler and the Lady) is an antique dealer with a decidedly dubious sideline. John Chandos is cast as Orville Hart, a crook who masquerades as a customs official. Harold Lang (not to be confused with the American actor) makes his mark as a room clerk who loves to listen in to other people's phone conversations.  Montgomery Tully also directed Battle Beneath the Earth.

Verdict: Dull, dull, dull with only a couple of bright spots. *1/2.

THE GAMBLER AND THE LADY

Dane Clark

THE GAMBLER AND THE LADY (1952). Directors: Patrick Jenkins; Sam Newfield, Written by Sam Newfield,

After getting out of jail for manslaughter, Jim Forster (Dane Clark) sets up operations in London, where he owns a nightclub, a boxer, a racehorse, and several illegal gambling dens. Jim is on a self-improvement kick, and wants to be just like, and accepted by, the titled lords and ladies with whom he wishes to mingle. He falls for Susan Willens (Naomi Chance), the sister of Lord Peter Willens (Anthony Forwood), a patron of one of Forster's gambling dens. But two things stand in the way of Jim achieving all of his goals: his nasty ex-girlfriend, Pat (Kathleen Byron); and a business deal with the Willens family that may blow up in all of their faces. The Gambler and the Lady has a 1940's style script -- one could easily see Bogart or Gable in  the lead role -- but the picture is still quite entertaining and Clark [A Stolen Life] gives a very memorable performance. The above-mentioned ladies are also notable, as is Eric Pohlmann as Colonna, one of Jim's business "rivals."  Anthony Forwood, who has a pleasing screen presence, later became the life-partner of Dirk Bogarde. [Mr.] Meredith Edwards, George Pastell [The Stranglers of Bombay], and Martin Benson [Battle Beneath the Earth] also give flavorful performances as, respectively, Jim's good right-hand, Dave; a nasty character Jim fires named Jacko; and Tony, Pat's dancing partner.

Verdict: Snappy British crime picture. ***.