SPLIT SECOND

Alexis Smith, Paul Kelly, Stephen McNally 

SPLIT SECOND (1953). Director: Dick Powell. Colorized version. 

Sam Hurley (Stephen McNally) has broken out of prison with his buddies, Bart (Paul Kelly) and Dummy (Frank DeKova), and are hoping to retrieve some loot from an armored car robbery. Hurley commandeers a car driven by Ashton (Robert Paige) and his lover, Kay (Alexis Smith), and when that runs out of gas, takes over a vehicle driven by reporter Larry (Keith Andes) and hitchhiker Dottie (Jan Sterling). Sam takes the whole group to a ghost town in the desert, even though everyone knows that the following morning an atom bomb being tested will go off and decimate the place! Before they can get out of there, Hurley calls Kay's estranged husband, Dr. Garven (Richard Egan), and tells him to fly down and take a bullet out of Bart or else Kay will die. 

Richard Egan comforts Alexis Smith

Now right there you can see the problem. Even if Garven is still in love with the wife who is divorcing him, it seems ridiculous and unreasonable for him to take so much time getting to Bart instead of telling the police exactly where he is! Surely the cops would have a better chance of rescuing Kay and the others than Garven! Split Second  may be fast-paced, but it's not so fast that the audience won't be scratching their heads over this ludicrous plot hole. Garven has hours during which he can contact the authorities. Frankly, things get a little tiresome in that ghost town before things heat up for the climax. Another weird scene is when Ashton practically seems to be begging Sam to shoot him, and Bart's sudden character reversal is senseless as well, even though it's made clear early on that Bart is not the mad killer type like his friend Hurley..

Stephen McNally

Stephen McNally gives another sharp and dynamic performance as Sam, always convincing whether he's snarling at his captors, shouting orders, or romancing the ladies, one of whom goes along with his addressals for her own protection. The other performances are all good as well, with Smith having the showiest role. The climax is terrific, although the writers seem not to have considered the possible effects of radiation poisoning. Dick Powell directed this and generally keeps things moving, although Hitchcock had nothing to worry about. 

Verdict: Interesting idea that doesn't quite work. **1/2. 

MAKE HASTE TO LIVE

Stephen McNally and Dorothy Maguire

MAKE HASTE TO LIVE (1954). Director: William A. Seiter. 

At the very beginning of Make Haste to Live, a shadowy stranger arrives at the home of Crys Benson (Dorothy Maguire) -- who has learned that her dangerous husband Steve (Stephen McNally of The Black Castle) has just been released from prison and may be coming to kill her -- and is able to easily open the front door which is not even locked and get inside. This is just one of many problems with the script for Make Haste, but the movie has other issues as well. 

John Howard with a distraught Maguire

Crys (originally named Zena) got away from her husband after she discovered he had shot and killed a cop. He gets away with that murder but winds up going to jail for the murder of Zena in an explosion (it was actually another unknown woman and it may have been an accidental death). Zena has reinvented herself and lives far away from Chicago in New Mexico with her teenage daughter, Randy (Mary Murphy of The Mad Magician). She has a boyfriend named Josh (John Howard of The Mad Doctor) whose proposals she keeps rejecting. The scene when Steve shows up -- something "Crys" has clearly been dreading and is terrified of -- completely lacks tension and impact and is badly muffed. Maguire was certainly a talented actress but in this sequence she acts as if it was only her brother -- whom Steve pretends to be -- showing up instead of the man who spent twenty years in prison for her alleged murder! McNally could also give decent performances but there are a dozen actors who could have made much, much more of this interesting role. For that matter Barbara Stanwyck could also have made a lot more of Crys and her situation. 

Ron Hagerthy and Mary Murphy

The supporting cast, including Howard, Murphy, Ron Hagerthy as her boyfriend, Edgar Buchanan as the sheriff, and Carolyn Jones as Crys' old friend, Mary -- who at Zena's direction tells the authorities she is alive but who is not believed -- are all good, and there is an effective score by Elmer Bernstein [Far From Heaven]. But there are a few too many holes in the plot, and Crys' actions are often senseless. The reactions and attitudes of the two lead characters in an incredibly difficult situation simply do not ring true. There are interesting elements to this that never jell. A bit with a bottomless pit in some Indian diggings being worked by Josh leads to a moderately exciting climax. From Republic studios. 

Verdict: An intriguing situation but you can see why this flick is completely forgotten today. **1/4. 

IRON MAN (1951)

Jeff Chandler

IRON MAN (1951). Director: Joseph Pevney.

Coke Mason (Jeff Chandler) is a coal miner with a girlfriend named Rose (Evelyn Keyes of Dangerous Blondes) and a brother named George (Stephen McNally of The Black Castle). Coke is generally a nice guy, but when he gets riled up he can really go after a guy with his fists, and George thinks his "killer instincts" may turn him into an excellent boxer and get him out of the mines. Initially disenchanted with this notion, Rose eventually thinks of all the money he can make and what it might mean for their future happiness. But as Coke embarks on his career and becomes successful, he is seen not as an athlete but a dirty fighter who will do anything, hit any low blow, to win a match. He may become the heavyweight champion of the world but will he lose everything else, including Rose?

Hudson, Keyes, McNally

Iron Man is an absorbing well-acted drama that may not get points for originality but is nevertheless very well-done and well-directed by Joseph Pevney, who includes several exciting fight scenes. Chandler is on top of things throughout the movie and gives a very good performance, as does Evelyn Keyes. McNally, who is usually solid, strangely plays his role in one note throughout. A young Rock Hudson makes a better impression as "Speed," a fellow miner and friend of Coke's who assists him and then becomes his rival in the ring. Jim Backus is merely okay as a sports writer who doesn't think much of Coke's tactics but eventually becomes his manager. At one point a woman looks at Rock Hudson and says, "You are divine," to which he replies "I know -- but I'm in training." James Arness has a small role as a nasty co-worker of Coke's who nearly gets his head handed to him; he's fine. Pevney also directed Chandler in Foxfire.

Verdict: Memorable boxing film with some good acting. ***. 

AIR CADET

Upper classman Rock Hudson gives those cadets their orders

AIR CADET (1951). Director: Joseph Pevney.

Three men room together in the Air Force academy with the hopes of becoming top-notch pilots: Russ (Richard Long), Walter (Robert Arthur), and Joe (Alex Nicol), who was a sergeant in the Army but now finds he has to start proving himself all over again. An unnamed upper classman (Rock Hudson) seems to delight in making life miserable for them, especially Walter. But the real trouble begins when Russ becomes sweet on Janet (Gail Russell), who is separated from her husband Major Jack Page (Stephen McNally). And Page is one of the men who decides if Russ and the others make the grade or will be given the heave-ho.

Alex Nicol and Robert Arthur

There is an attempt to present some interesting drama in this story of the three cadets -- James Best plays a fourth cadet who is ousted from the program early on -- but it never really amounts to much. More interesting than the mild triangle business with Page, Janet, and Russ, is the sub-plot with Russ coming to partially blame Page for his brother's suicide (due to what today we would call post-traumatic stress disorder). Frankly, both men behave like assholes. There is, however, some terrific aerial shots, especially when the boys fly in formation with their planes only 18 feet apart throughout and one begins hurtling towards the ground. 

Gail Russell and Stephen McNally

Rock Hudson actually has little to do in the movie, but he does it very adeptly. McNally and Russell [The Uninvited] are top-billed and are more than satisfactory in their roles, while Richard Long gives one of his best performances as the troubled Russ. Alex Nicol [Heatwave] is professional, even if his character is somehow unlikable, but Robert Arthur [September Affair] is charming and appealing as the plucky "little guy" that most of the audience will be rooting for. Charles Drake is fine as another flying instructor, and Peggie Castle adds some "femme appeal" as a lady who can't seem to make up her mind between Nicol and Arthur.


Verdict: Acceptable aviation film with decent players and some good aerial shots. **1/4. 

THE BLACK CASTLE

Rita Corday, Boris Karloff, Richard Greene

THE BLACK CASTLE (1952), Director: Nathan Juran.

Sir Ronald Burton (Richard Greene of The Blood of Fu Manchu) believes that an evil man named Count Karl von Bruno (Stephen McNally of The Lady Gambles) was responsible for the disappearance of two of his friends as an act of revenge for events that happened in Africa. Under an assumed name, Burton travels to von Bruno's imposing castle near the Black Forest, where he sets about trying to find evidence of his friends' possible imprisonment or deaths. Burton receives unexpected aid from the count's lovely wife, Elga (Rita Corday), who was forced to marry him, and the castle's doctor-in-residence, Meissen (Boris Karloff of Lured). But someone overhears Burton and Elga conspiring and there may be hell to pay ...

Stephen McNally

I had never even heard of this movie when I spotted it on youtube, and found it to be a pleasant surprise. Karloff plays a sympathetic role for a change, and both Greene and Corday offer admirable performances. The scene-stealer, however, is Stephen McNally, who is really excellent as the charismatic but malevolent count. McNally had always been a very contemporary kind of actor, but he handles his role in this costume melodrama with aplomb. The Black Castle might be considered more of a thriller than a horror film, but it does have such horror elements as a creepy old castle with a dungeon, people nearly being buried alive, and even a pit full of snapping alligators! In addition to the aforementioned actors, we have solid support from Lon Chaney Jr. as the brutish servant Gargon, John Hoyt as Count Stelken, Michael Pate as the sinister von Melcher, and Turo Owen as Burton's very loyal manservant, Romley, among others. Romley makes a great sacrifice, but is sort of forgotten at the end. Nathan Juran also directed The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and many, many others.

Verdict: Nifty little old castle thriller with very good performances. ***. 

TRIBUTE TO A BAD MAN

 Don Dubbins with his mentor, Cagney

TRIBUTE TO A BAD MAN (1956). Director: Robert Wise.

"You act like a man with a lot of ideas, all of them second-rate and none of them honorable." 

"A man doesn't die of a broken heart from his first love, only from his last."

Young Steve Miller (Don Dubbins), who wants to be a cowboy or wrangler, winds up in the territory owned and run by Jeremy Rodock (James Cagney). Rodock has had to put up with people encroaching on his land and stealing horses and livestock for years, and he enacts his own rough justice, including hanging the perpetrators. The latest to earn his enmity is his old partner, L.A. Peterson (James Bell), and his son, Lars (Vic Morrow), but he may be wrong in his belief that either murdered one of his ranch hands. Rodock lives with Jocasta (Irene Papas, in her American debut), a woman with a past who is coveted by McNulty (Stephen McNally) and for whom Steve develops a growing infatuation. Finally tensions begin to boil over and Jocasta fears that Steve may develop the same hardness she sees in Jeremy, but is it possible that Rodock can mend his ways? Tribute to a Bad Man is an interesting western with some intriguing characters, and interactions among them, and the acting is uniformly good. Cagney is marvelous as the crusty autocrat with romantic leanings, and Papas gives a lovely performance as the woman he is devoted to. ("Introduced" in this film, Papas had already made several films overseas.) Don Dubbins was Cagney's protege, and the boyishly handsome actor always gives sensitive portrayals as he does here. McNally [The Lady Pays Off] and Morrow [Great White] make multi-dimensional villains, and James Bell and Jeannette Nolan [My Blood Runs Cold] score as Morrow's parents. Lee Van Cleef, Royal Dano, Peter Chong, and Onslow Stevens also make notable, if briefer, contributions. Cagney's patronage led to Dubbins appearing in this and These Wilder Years with Cagney, but the long career that followed consisted mostly of television work. This has nice widescreen Robert Surtees cinematography, adroit Robert Wise direction, a good Miklos Rozsa score, and a touching ending, although one could argue that the film certainly glosses over certain aspects of Rodock's character and actions.

Verdict: Romance and hangings in the wide open spaces. ***.

EYES IN THE NIGHT

Edward Arnold and Ann Harding

EYES IN THE NIGHT (1942). Director: Fred Zinnemann.

Norma Lawry (Ann Harding) goes to see her old friend, the blind private eye Duncan Maclain (Edward Arnold), because she's concerned for her stepdaughter, Barbara (Donna Reed), who has fallen for a roue, Paul (John Emery), who was once involved with Norma. Naturally this roue is murdered, but Eyes in the Night is not a murder mystery, unfortunately. We learn early on that Paul was part of a spy ring run by Barbara's friend, the playwright Cheli Scott (Katherine Emery), and they are responsible for his death. Cheli and her cohorts want Norma's husband, Stephen (Reginald Denny), to turn over some secret plans to them under pain of death. With the assistance of his miraculous seeing-eye German Shepherd, Friday, will the sightless Maclain be able to save the day, catch the spies, and turn the plans over to Washington? The trouble with Eyes in the Night is that it has absolutely no suspense or surprises, only coming to life in the final minutes. Arnold [Dear Wife] and Harding [The Unknown Man] are fine, but the zestiest performances are from Donna Reed; Katherine Emery [The Locket]; Mantan Moreland as Maclain's butler; Stanley Ridges as Hanson, the Lawry's butler; and, of course, that amazing dog, Friday. Rosemary DeCamp and Stephen McNally are also good as a couple employed in the Lawry household and also in Cheli's gang. Barry Nelson, Steven Geray and Allen Jenkins have less to do. Three years later Arnold did a sequel, The Hidden Eye, but mercifully this did not become a series. Arnold also played Nero Wolfe in Meet Nero Wolfe in 1936. Director Fred Zinnemann went on to better things. This was Katherine Emery's (no relation to John) first film out of only twelve.

Verdict: Never have 80 minutes seemed so long. *1/2.

THE LADY PAYS OFF

Stephen McNally and Linda Darnell

THE LADY PAYS OFF (1951). Director: Douglas Sirk.

Evelyn Warren (Linda Darnell), an unmarried teacher who's sick of the men who want her just to be a mother to their children, has just won a "Teacher of the Year" award. She goes off to Nevada for a vacation and tries her hand at gambling, not realizing that the chips she's playing with are each worth $100 instead of a buck. Before long she's in the hole for $7000! Fortunately, the manager, Matt Braddock (Stephen McNally) offers her a chance to pay the money off by temporarily becoming a companion and tutor to his young daughter, Diana (Gigi Perreau). But still Evelyn won't let go of her dislike for Matthew, although things may be percolating behind her unpleasant demeanor. The Lady Pays Off is a contrived comedy-drama with good performances from the three leads, as well as good support from Ann Codee as the housekeeper, Virginia Field [Dial 1119] as Matt's old girlfriend, Kay, and especially Nestor Paiva [Mr. Reckless], who is a riot as a crazy captain of a fishing boat. The ending is completely unconvincing. McNally also played a pit boss in the superior The Lady Gambles with Barbara Stanwyck.

Verdict: Easy to take if instantly forgettable. **1/2.

JOHNNY BELINDA

Lew Ayres and Jane Wyman

JOHNNY BELINDA (1948). Director: Jean Negulesco.

A new doctor in a small village on an island in Nova Scotia, Robert Richardson (Lew Ayres), who hasn't quite been accepted by the locals, befriends and helps a deaf-mute woman (whom even her loved ones call the "dummy"), Belinda (Jane Wyman), and helps her to lip-read and make her thoughts and feelings known. When Belinda is raped by local tough guy Locky, (Stephen McNally), it leads to ugly rumors about Belinda and the doctor, not to mention a custody battle over the child, the titular Johnny, and even a murder trial! Oscar-winning Wyman is excellent, with solid support from Ayres; Charles Bickford as Belinda's father; Agnes Moorehead as her aunt; McNally as Johnny's father; and Jan Sterling as Locky's confused but compassionate wife. The film is beautifully photographed by Ted D. McCord, and has a fine score by Max Steiner. Not quite a masterpiece, but lovely and interesting and it won several Oscars. Mabel Paige, who played the owner of Hanson's dress shop on I Love Lucy, plays an unsympathetic role as one of the village's gossiping old biddies. 

Verdict: A nice picture with a fine cast. ***.

THE LADY GAMBLES

THE LADY GAMBLES (1949). Director: Michael Gordon.

While her husband David (Robert Preston) works on a dam in Nevada, Joan Boothe (Barbara Stanwyck) wiles away her time in a gambling casino. There she meets Corrigan (Stephen McNally), the pit boss who is attracted to her, and uses her in certain schemes and high-stakes card games. But Joan's bigger problem is a growing addiction to gambling, which eventually jeopardizes her marriage and even her life. While today we would simply refer to Joan as a "gamblaholic" and be done with it, The Lady Gambles comes up with some dime store psychology involving Joan's neurotic sister Ruth (Edith Barrett) to explain her addiction. In spite of that, the movie is absorbing, in no large part due to Stanwyck's typically riveting performance. McNally is also excellent as Corrigan, adding some interesting dimension to an underwritten role. Barrett certainly delivers as the tormented, jealous sister. Preston is fine in the least interesting role of the husband. Dyspeptic John Hoyt (Attack of the Puppet People) is his usual acerbic self as a doctor. Tony Curtis has a bit part as a bellboy, and William Hudson also has a bit. At one point in the film Corrigan tells the two sisters that his first name is Horace, which is how McNally was originally known when he appeared in such films as Laurel and Hardy's Air Raid Wardens.

Verdict: Stanwyck is one hell of an actress and this is a very interesting story. ***1/2.

CRISS CROSS

CRISS CROSS (1949). Director: Robert Siodmak. 

Steve Thompson (Burt Lancaster) begins seeing his ex-wife Anna (Yvonne De Carlo) even though she's now married to racketeer Slim Dundee (Dan Duryea). When the two are caught in a compromising position, Steve decides the only way out of it is to pretend he was only hoping Anna would help interest her husband in a plan he had for an armored car robbery. So he's stuck ... even though his own father is one of the other drivers. And thus begins this twisted tale, most of which is told in flashback. Duryea and De Carlo come off best, although Lancaster is no slouch. Stephen McNally is effective as a cop-friend of Steve's and Alan Napier makes an impression as a confederate who likes his liquor. Richard Long appears briefly as Thompson's brother, and if you blink you might miss Tony Curtis in a bit as Anna's dance partner. While Criss Cross is hardly a major picture and is generally too perfunctorily-handled to make the most of its situations, it's also unpredictable, absorbing, and has a dramatic conclusion. 

Verdict: Entertaining film noir. ***.

VIOLENT SATURDAY

VIOLENT SATURDAY (1955). Director: Richard Fleischer. 

While a group of criminals gather in Bradenville to plan and commit a robbery, we are treated to vignettes about some of the townspeople. The problem with this caper movie is that it wants to be something else, a small town drama, with the robbery almost being incidental (it fact it takes place in only a couple of minutes). The soap opera gets in the way of the caper story, and the look at small town life -- a man (Richard Egan) with a philandering wife, a librarian (Sylvia Sidney) with debts, a mousy bank manager (Tommy Noonan) who's sort of a peeping tom -- isn't all that interesting. There are so many actors hardly any of them really get a chance to shine. Victor Mature is the nominal hero; Stephen McNally is the head of the crooks; Ernest Borgnine is an Amish farmer [!]. J. Carrol Naish and Lee Marvin are as flavorful as ever as two members of the gang. Virginia Leith is a pretty nurse who arouses passions before becoming The Brain That Wouldn't Die. A much better Richard Fleischer film is Fantastic Voyage. 

Verdict: Not worth the time it takes to tell. **.

AIR RAID WARDENS

AIR RAID WARDENS (1943). Director: Edward Segdwick.

On December 7th, 1941, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy want to enlist in the Army but are turned down by every branch of the services. Therefore they decide to help out on the home front and become air raid wardens. A series of misadventures lead to them being thrown out of the corps, but they come across a nest of Nazi spies and somehow manage to save the day. This charming, amusing film, while not a masterpiece, features the boys at the top of their form, likable schnooks who are seen as hideous misfits by the less tolerant of the small town's citizens. There are some hilarious moments in the film, as well as a good supporting cast, including Donald Meek as Eustace Middling, who is a German spy. Horace (Stephen) McNally is the newspaper publisher and Howard Freeman, Nella Walker, and Edgar Kennedy are some of their foils.

Verdict: Lots of laughs. ***.

DIPLOMATIC COURIER

DIPLOMATIC COURIER (1952). Director: Henry Hathaway.

With his customary assurance and suaveness, Tyrone Power plays a diplomatic courier who winds up mired in intrigue in Trieste and caught between two fascinating women, Joan (a very sexy Patricia Neal) and Janine (Hildegard Knef/Neff), both of whom have their secrets. A friend and associate of Power's is killed on a train, and various Cold War factions are after a list of secret info that, if acquired by the Americans, might save thousands of lives. Stephen McNally and Karl Malden are, respectively, a Colonel and Captain who seem ready and willing to throw Power and everyone else to the wolves. The finale has Power going against orders and attempting to save the life of one of the aforementioned ladies. This is an interesting, well-acted, fairly suspenseful spy story with great settings and a fast pace. Neal is sassy; Knef proves a fine actress and she deserved a bigger career.

Verdict: Entertaining, well-acted and unpredictable. ***.