DOUBLE DEAL

Richard Denning and Marie Windsor

DOUBLE DEAL (1950). Director: Abby Berlin.

Buzz Doyle (Richard Denning), a new arrival in town, almost immediately winds up embroiled with two warring women. Terry (Marie Windsor) wants Buzz to work with her and her friend Reno (Carleton Young) on an oil well that she hopes will turn into a gusher. Meanwhile, Reno's sister, Lily (Fay Baker), who hates her brother because she feels he was responsible for her lover's death, tries to lure Buzz over to her side and work against the others. Then there's a murder or two, and the surprise unveiling of the killer. Double Deal is distinctly minor, but it features some likable players, and there's especially zesty work from Baker [The Star], Taylor Holmes [Caged] as the drunken if helpful, "Corpus" and James Griffith [The Amazing Transparent Man] as the slimy Walter Karnes, Lily's plaything. Thomas Browne Henry plays the cop on the case.

Verdict: Ho hum meller that doesn't even have a decent "cat fight" between the ladies. **.

THE AMAZING TRANSPARENT MAN

THE AMAZING TRANSPARENT MAN (1960). Director: Edgar G. Ulmer.

Sinister Major Krenner (James Griffith) and tough moll Laura Matson( Marguerite Chapman) break Joey Faust (Douglas Kennedy) out of prison so he can steal nuclear material for them after being turned invisible. Krenner forces old Dr. Ulof (Ivan Triesault) to work for him by holding his daughter Maria (Carmel Daniel) captive. Krenner hopes to eventually build an army of invisible soldiers. Faust has other ideas of what to do with his new-found ability. Short, fast-paced and well-acted, with good FX work, The Amazing Transparent Man is fun and unpredictable with some suspenseful and exciting sequences. NOTE: Chapman did a lot of television work, appeared in a few movies, and was also in the serial Spy Smasher. Kennedy, who's very effective in the film, was also in The Alligator People and Invaders from Mars. Griffith also appeared in The Vampire (1957). Triesault played the dead Professor Göteborg in Journey to the Center of the Earth.

Verdict: Cheap but snappy. ***.