APPOINTMENT WITH A SHADOW

George Nader

APPOINTMENT WITH A SHADOW (1957). Director: Richard Carlson. 

Paul Baxter (George Nader) once had a reputation as an outstanding reporter, but that reputation has been demolished by his alcoholism. His girlfriend, Penny (Joanna Moore), wants to stand by him -- despite the attitude of her highly disapproving brother, Lt. Spencer (Brian Keith) -- but she's reaching the end of her limit. Paul begs her for one last chance, and then fate intervenes. Paul almost literally runs into a gangster, Dutch Hayden (Frank DeKova), after he has supposedly just been shot down in the street by cops a moment before. Now there are two questions: will anyone believe that a notorious drunk like Paul actually saw Hayden, and will the real Hayden arrange to have Paul knocked off before anyone takes him seriously? 

George Nader and Frank DeKova

George Nader was a better actor than people gave him credit for, but the problem in this film is that he never quite comes off like a dissipated drunk -- he should look much, much worse for one thing. Moore makes a sympathetic girlfriend, Keith is on target as usual, and DeKova nearly walks off with the movie. Another important player is Virginia Field, who plays Hayden's girlfriend, the lady who fingered him without the cops being aware that it was actually Hayden's lookalike brother (talk about brotherly love). Nader and DeKova have a good confrontation scene near the end. The script doesn't really make the most of an interesting situation, but it's a fair to middling melodrama. Actor Richard Carlson directed several other films besides this one, as well as episodic television. 

Verdict: **1/2.  

FLOOD TIDE

George Nader, Michel Ray, Cornell Borchers

FLOOD TIDE (1958). Director: Abner Biberman.

Former playboy Steve Martin (George Nader of Shannon) has fallen in love with his neighbor, Anne (Cornell Borchers), but they have to contend with the jealousy and manipulations of her crippled ten-year-old son, David (Michel Ray). Another concern is that David may have lied when he told the police that another of his mother's suitors, a man named Halloran (Russ Conway), dumped a drunken friend into the ocean after an argument, causing his death. While Steve deals with his on-again/off-again romance with Anne, he does his best to bond with the boy, and also find out the truth about Halloran, who is serving time in jail for a crime he may not have committed. Flood Tide is an interesting and unusual romantic drama that greatly benefits from a excellent performance from the young Ray, who was actually fourteen at the time (looking younger) and by any standard was one of the most talented child actors in pictures. (Ray made only a few films, including The Brave One, Space Children, and Lawrence of Arabia before retiring from the movies to further his education and becoming a multi-billionaire.) In contrast, George Nader, who is at least competent in this and was seen to much better advantage in other parts (such as "Self-Defense" on Alfred Hitchcock Presents), is a trifle perfunctory, as if he's afraid of showing too much emotion. Cornell Borchers is much better as David's sympathetic, but slightly unstable mother. Flood Tide is not an out and out thriller, but at times is threatens to turn into The Bad Seed with a sex change, and while we are always aware that this is a tormented ten-year-old boy, his behavior is very borderline and even criminal at times. Steve's attempts to play child psychologist, however, are often pitiful. Joanna Moore [Monster On the Campus] is fine in a small role as one of Steve's girlfriends, and Troy Donahue shows up very briefly as a young man on the beach who reports that David is ill. Cornell Borchers had mostly German credits and only one film and one TV appearance after this film was released. She and young Ray also appeared in The Divided Heart and she was Rock Hudson's leading lady in Never Say Goodbye.

Verdict: Absorbing, and sometimes moving, in spite of itself. ***. 

MONSTER ON THE CAMPUS

MONSTER ON THE CAMPUS (1958). Director: Jack Arnold. 

Professor: "Don't open the door! It might escape!" Girl student: "Who cares!?" 

The trouble all starts for Professor Donald Blake (Arthur Franz) when he orders a dead coelcanth for his college science lab. The blood of the prehistoric fish has properties that inexplicably turn back the clock on any species that comes into contact with it. A dog becomes an ancient wolf, a dragonfly grows to giant size, and Professor Blake ... ? Well, somebody has to be the monster on the campus and it might as well be him. Franz gives a good -- not great -- performance in the film, but he's certainly better than the wooden Troy Donahue, who's one of his students. Joanna Moore plays Blake's fiancee Madeline, and Helen Westcott is a colleague and his first pitiful victim. Although the pace drags a bit at the end, the film is generally fast-moving and entertaining. Ross Elliot, who appeared in many genre films, is a police sergeant; Whit Bissell plays a doctor. The make-up and the dragonfly are creditable. Some creepy and suspenseful scenes; ably directed by Arnold. It doesn't hurt that the film seems to use the same score as Arnold's Tarantula. Westcott was also in The Invisible Avenger and Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Franz's best performance was in The Sniper. 

Verdict: Could have been called The Astounding Fish-Monster! ***