HOMICIDE FOR THREE

Audrey Long and Warren Douglas

HOMICIDE FOR THREE (1948). Director: George Blair.

Lt. Peter Duluth (Warren Douglas) and his wife Iris (Audrey Long) haven't seen each other in a year and have yet to have a honeymoon. Unfortunately, after they check into a hotel hoping for a night of bliss, they are constantly interrupted by a series of strangers -- and murder. Based on a novel by Patrick Quentin, this has a fairly engaging plot concerning a series of slayings, some of which Peter tries to prevent without success. Long [Desperate] and Douglas are attractive and charming, and Lloyd Corrigan makes an impression as the mostly inebriated Emmanuel Catt. A Great Dane who shows up late in the film nearly steals the picture. Strange Awakening was also based on a Patrick Quentin "Peter and Iris Duluth Mystery," although the hero in that film was rechristened Peter Chance. Douglas had a small supporting role in Cry Vengeance, and amassed 63 credits; Long did about half as many films.

Verdict: Amiable minor mystery with some suspense. ***.

STRANGE AWAKENING aka FEMALE FIENDS

STRANGE AWAKENING (aka Female Fiends/1958). Director: Montgomery Tully.

"When she was in college she was voted the girl most likely to exceed."

Peter Chance (Lex Barker of Tarzan's Savage Fury) kisses his wife, Iris (Monica Grey) goodbye, drives off, gets in an accident, and winds up waylaid by strangers who take him to their mansion and insist he is really the son of a wealthy man who just died. Having amnesia, Peter isn't certain what to believe, but he meets the ladies in "his" life: His mother, Mrs. Friend (Nora Swinburne); his sister, Marny (Lisa Gastoni); and his wife, Selena (Carole Mathews of The Monster and the Ape). Then there's the attractive maid, Isabella (Malou Pantera), and Dr. Rene Norman (Peter Dyneley of The Manster), the family physician who seems to know a lot more about what's going on than he's saying. Since we know from the first that Peter is not the man everyone is telling him he is, the only suspense is from figuring out the purpose of the deception, which of course has to do with wills, inheritances, and lots of money. As it draws to its not entirely predictable conclusion, there is a little more tension, and the film is well-acted by everyone. This is based on "Puzzle for Fiends" by the prolific Patrick Quentin (Hugh Wheeler). Montgomery Tully also directed Paid to Kill.

Verdict: Hardly classic film noir, but entertaining. **1/2.