SEVEN DAYS ASHORE

SEVEN DAYS ASHORE (1944). Director: John H. Auer. 

Daniel Arland (Alan Dinehart) goes to sea engaged to two different women -- Carol (Virginia Mayo) and Lucy (Amelita Ward) -- but his heart really belongs to Annabelle (Elaine Shepard). He has two buddies played by the strikingly mediocre team of dull Wally Brown and the thick-lipped, especially repellent Alan Carney. There's a midget-like girl singer named Dot Diamond (Marcy McGuire) who sings a snappy number now and then. But the most memorable scene in this mostly unmemorable movie is when Margaret Dumont, the Marx Brothers' favorite foil, warbles "Far Over the Waves" and is deliberately awful. 

Verdict: Seven days too many. **.

SOUTH SEA WOMAN

Burt Lancaster and Virginia Mayo

SOUTH SEA WOMAN (1953). Director: Arthur Lubin. 

Through a series of misadventures Sergeant James O'Hearn (Burt Lancaster), his buddy and rival Davey (Chuck Connors), and the woman, Ginger (Virginia Mayo), that Davey is in love with wind up on an isolated island that seems untouched by the war except that any soldiers there wind up in jail. O'Hearn only pretends that he's gone AWOL, but Davey wants no part of the war, with the result that O'Hearn, of all people, winds up court-martialed. The movie is a long flashback detailing how he wound up in such a situation with the story veering from Shanghai to the French island of Namou. Too much talk in the courtroom sequences slows the movie down but there's some good action near the end when a commandeered yacht helmed by O'Hearn takes on the Japanese fleet! The three leads all give very good performances, as does Viola Vonn as the Frenchwoman Lillie Duval, and Arthur Shields [Daughter of Dr. Jekyll] as another resident of the island. Paul Burke plays an ensign at the court martial. 

Verdict: Entertaining if unremarkable. **1/2.

GREAT DAY IN THE MORNING

GREAT DAY IN THE MORNING (1956). Director: Jacques Tourneur. 

In the period just before the Civil War, Owen Pentecost (Robert Stack) comes to town and promptly becomes the new owner of the saloon after smitten "Boston"  Grant (Ruth Roman) fixes a card game in his favor. Then there's big "Jumbo" Means (Raymond Burr), who hates it when anybody calls him fat, especially if it's a female. Ann Alaine (Virginia Mayo) also takes a shine to Owen, although she pretends that she couldn't care less about him. Owen bonds with the young son of a man he killed in a gunfight. And so on. Great Day in the Morning is a sporadically interesting western with under-developed characters and a "storyline" that's all over the lot. It seems to build primarily to the scene where the two women confront each other over Owen. The actors all handle this stuff more than competently, although Stack, playing it stoic, seems a little wooden in most of his scenes. Regis Toomey is the town preacher. 

Verdict: Half-baked western with some interesting players. **1/2.

THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (1947)

Danny Kaye

THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (1947). Director: Norman Z. McLeod.

Walter Mitty (Danny Kaye) is an editor at a pulp publishing house that puts out magazines of horror and crime. His own life -- living with his unpleasant mother (Fay Bainter) and engaged to an unappreciative fiancee (Ann Rutherford) -- is dull  enough for him to indulge in a variety of fantasies. He imagines himself as a brilliant physician, a famous pilot in the RAF, a riverboat gambler, old west cowboy, and so on. But then he meets a beautiful blond (Virginia Mayo) and his life suddenly gets more exciting -- and dangerous. The blond is named Rosalind, and she gets Mitty involved with deadly spies who are after a book that lists the location of art treasures hidden away from the Nazis. In their attempts to get the book, Mitty almost loses his life on more than one occasion.

Virginia Mayo with Kaye

Walter Mitty holds the attention for the most part, is generally well-acted, and has some clever and amusing moments -- a shot of Whistler's Mother in a bathing suit -- but it just isn't that funny. A routine Kaye does in which he imitates an old music professor goes on forever and hasn't a single laugh. The song numbers by Sylvia Fine, Kaye's wife, are pretty awful. The ever under-rated Virginia Mayo is luminescent, however, and there's some good work from Fritz Feld as a European designer of women's hats. (Kaye later does an imitation of him with some characterizing the caricature as "homosexual," but I doubt if that was the intention.) Thurston Hall is fine as Kaye's boss, who is near-apoplectic at times, and Boris Karloff shows up as a very peculiar psychiatrist.

Boris Karloff with Kaye

Rutherford does a nice job as the fiancee, and Florence Bates is typically on-target and amusing as her somewhat disapproving mother. Bainter [The Children's Hour] makes Mitty's mother a borderline harridan, treating her son like he's a ten-year-old, and she isn't funny enough to make the character palatable; a very good actress but not a skilled comedienne. Gordon Jones of The Green Hornet serial plays a man who has a romantic interest in Rutherford; Konstantin Shayne [The Unknown Man] is a nasty character known as the Boot; and the ever-cadaverous Milton Parsons plays his butler.

Verdict: Kaye running around amiably but not that memorably. **1/2. 

STARLIFT

Ruth Roman and Dick Wesson

STARLIFT (1951). Director: Roy Del Ruth.

Movie star Nell Wayne (Janice Rule of The Swimmer) gets the notion that Air Force Corporal Rick Williams (Ron  Hagerthy) and his buddy Sgt. Mike Nolan (Dick Wesson) are being shipped overseas for combat in Korea when they are merely picking up wounded soldiers and piloting them home. Nell feels betrayed when she learns the truth, but the press come to the conclusion that she and Rick are engaged and the two are forced to go along with the deception. Meanwhile Nell and other celebrities take part in "Operation: Starlift," which brings movie stars and others by plane to visit wounded servicemen.

Ron Hagerthy and Janice Rule

This is the slender plot for another all-star war movie that starts out as a Doris Day film -- Day plays herself and does a couple of numbers -- but then dismisses her in favor of Ruth Roman (also playing herself) and assorted guest-stars. These include everyone from Louella Parsons to Peter Marshall to Patrice Wymore. Jane Wyman warbles a pleasant tune and is acceptable. Gene Nelson dancers with his customary flair and aptitude in a ballet with Rule. Phil Harris [The Patsy] shows up and does little but repulse everyone with his hideous smile. He also appears in a singing sketch with Gary Cooper playing a Texas Ranger. James Cagney puts in a brief appearance and there is a sketch about a chef that you can miss.

Virginia Mayo does her dance

Starlift does have a couple of highlights, however. There's Gordon MacRae splendidly singing "Good Green Acres of Home" backed by a military chorus. And Virginia Mayo [The Kid from Brooklyn] does a kind of Polynesian dance number and proves herself to be quite skilled in the terpsichorean arts. Ruth Roman is on screen almost as long as Janice Rule but she apparently can neither sing nor dance. As for the two Air Force men, Dick Wesson was generally comedy relief in a few movies and TV shows. After this film, most of Ron  Hagerthy's many credits were on television. Others in the cast include Richard Webb as Colonel Callan and William Hudson as a soldier.

Verdict: Some memorable moments, but generally not one of the better "all-star" war films. **1/2. 

WONDER MAN

Danny Kaye meets Danny Kaye

WONDER MAN (1945). Director: H. Bruce Humberstone.

Witness to a gangland killing, club entertainer Buzzy Bellew (Danny Kaye) is bumped off at the direction of mobster Ten Grand Jackson (Steve Cochran).  Before you can say Topper, his ghost importunes his nerdier twin brother, Edwin (also Danny Kaye), to impersonate him until the murderers are found, which creates an obvious and dangerous disadvantage. Buzzy can not be seen by anyone, and can take over Edwin's body whenever he wants, but this often causes more problems than it solves. Added complications are that Buzzy was supposed to get married to long-time beau Midge (Vera-Ellen) while Edwin has fallen for beautiful librarian, Ellen (Virginia Mayo), who cares for him but comes to think he's demented. Will all of this ever get straightened out, and will anyone give a damn? Perhaps I'd seen too many Danny Kaye movies in a row, but Wonder Man didn't work for me at all. Kaye is a talented performer, but his shtick can be unfunny and wearisome at times. Meant to be whimsical, the plot of Wonder Man is actually rather depressing, as is Buzzy's jaunty attitude about being deceased (Since he's dead, Midge simply goes off and marries someone else, and seemingly forgets her fiance in a second without shedding a tear, but then Buzzy seems to forget about Midge as well! That's love for ya!) On the plus side, Vera-Ellen does a splendid dance routine and the performances in the picture are all good. Steve Cochran [The Big Operator], who, like Mayo, appeared with Kaye several times, gets a much smaller role this time, but we get appearances from Huntz Hall [Valentino] as a sailor, and "Cuddles" Sakall as a delicatessen owner who is very amusing, as is Gisela Werbisek as his wife. Otto Kruger [Beauty for Sale] is a district attorney, and Natalie Schafer shows up briefly as a patroness of the arts who finds Edwin fascinating if a little too strange. The worst thing about the movie is that it has the temerity to try to ape A Night at the Opera by including a climactic bit on the opera stage (they even use music from Verdi's Il trovatore, as in the Marx Brothers film). This seemingly endless scene not only isn't very funny, but it suffers mightily in comparison to that Marx brothers masterpiece.

Verdict: Not Kaye's finest hour and a half. *1/2. 

UP IN ARMS

UP IN ARMS (1944). Director: Elliott Nugent.

Danny Weems (Danny Kaye, in his film debut) is a hopeless hypochondriac who not only thinks he has every ailment imaginable but convinces others as well (in the film's funniest sequences). Danny is also hopelessly smitten with pretty Mary (Constance Dowling) who only has eyes for Danny's buddy, Joe (Dana Andrews of Where the Sidewalk Ends). Meanwhile, nurse Virginia (Dinah Shore of Follow the Boys) is unrequitedly in love with Danny. Then Danny and Joe get drafted and the two gals join up as nurses, wherein all four find themselves on a ship sailing into the Pacific war zone. Up in Arms is supposedly a remake of Eddie Cantor's Whoopee, with the setting transferred from the wild west to WW2, where the sight of singing and dancing on a ship sailing into combat seems pretty silly. Indeed, although the movie starts off quite well, it soon becomes a little too silly, although Kaye is a wonderful performer and emerged a major star after this. Andrews, Dowling and Shore are marvelous support, and Shore gets to sing two memorable numbers, "Wildest Dreams" and "I Had a Man." A very odd sequence occurs when the two men and the two gals are sitting back to back on a bus, carrying on a conversation while pretending (according to military edict) not to know one another, with the result that it appears as if Kaye and Andrews -- and Dowling and Shore -- are wooing one another! The decidedly homophobic reactions from the other passengers, considering the time period, are a little discomfiting! Other cast members include Lyle Talbot (typically bland as a sergeant); Louis Calhern as a colonel; Margaret Dumont [Shake, Rattle and Roll], looking rather slender in a scene in a movie theater lobby; Elisha Cook Jr., Benny Baker, and George Mathews as fellow sailors; and Virginia Mayo as one of the beauteous Goldwyn Girls -- in short order Mayo would be deservedly co-starring with Kaye in several pictures. Constance Dowling (sister of Doris Dowling) was a pretty, perfectly competent actress, somewhat reminiscent of Veronica Lake, who made her debut in this film and made just a few others, often in Italy.

Verdict: Amiable nonsense that has little to do with the actual war. **1/2. 

THE KID FROM BROOKLYN

Walter Abel, Steve Cochran, Danny Kaye and Eve Arden

THE KID FROM BROOKLYN (1946). Director: Norman Z. McLeod.

Burleigh Sullivan (Danny Kaye) is a skinny milkman who comes to the rescue when his sister, Susie (Vera-Ellen), is bothered by a masher, the boxer Speed McFarlane (Steve Cochran of The Chase). When Speed, the heavyweight champion, is knocked out with one punch, the press wrongly believe that Burleigh delivered the blow. Speed's manager, Gabby (Walter Abel), decides to capitalize on the situation by hiring Burleigh as a fighter, and paying his opponents to take a dive so he can ultimately cash in when Burleigh has a real match with Speed. Complications occur when Burleigh's success goes to his head, and Speed and Susie fall for each other. Kaye is wonderful in this light-hearted, silly, modestly entertaining musical, and the pic is bolstered with fine supporting performances, not only from those already mentioned but from an absolutely gorgeous Virginia Mayo as Burleigh's recent girlfriend, Polly Pringle, and the inimitable Eve Arden as Gabby's acerbic gal pal, Ann. Clarence Kolb of My Little Margie is the head of the milk company, Lionel Stander is as repulsive as ever as Speed's associate (and the one who actually knocked him out), and Fay Bainter [The Children's Hour] has an amusing scene with Kaye when he teaches her how to box and duck. Some of the characters, such as Polly and Susie, seem to over-react when Kaye's behavior changes after his "success" in the ring, but he's never as bad as they make him out to be, making it seem more like they've got sour grapes. Kaye and Mayo would make more movies together.

Verdict: The players help put across this. **1/2.   

WHITE HEAT

Margaret Wycherly and James Cagney

WHITE HEAT (1949). Director: Raoul Walsh.

Cody Jarrett (James Cagney) is head of a gang that robs a train, a robbery in which four people are murdered. Hiding out with his cronies, as well as his devoted mother, Ma Jarrett (Margaret Wycherly) -- who is nearly as tough as he is --  and not-so-devoted wife, Verna (Virginia Mayo), Cody conceives of a plot to keep him from being sent to death row by copping to a comparatively minor robbery that he didn't commit. In stir for two years, Cody meets a fellow prisoner, Vic Pardo (Edmond O'Brien), who is actually undercover cop Hank Fallon, and learns from his beloved Ma that Verna has run off with Big Ed Somers (Steve Cochran), who wants to take over Cody's gang. Cody makes up his mind to get out and take care of Big Ed and everyone else ... White Heat is a slick, well-directed, and fast-paced crime thriller that features excellent performances across the board, with Cagney charismatically playing a mentally-deranged killer who suffers debilitating attacks from time to time (these sequences are handled very well by Cagney). Wycherly [Keeper of the Flame] manages to etch a highly effective portrait of Cody's mother without descending into caricature, and Mayo offers one of her best performances as the duplicitous if clever Verna; Cochran also makes an impression as her easily-discarded lover. There's also nice work from John Archer [No Man's Woman] as the head cop on the case, and Fred Clark [Back from Eternity] as one of Cody's confederates. Sid Hickox' cinematography is first-rate, and Max Steiner, whose genius wasn't limited to romantic pictures, offers a memorably tense and very exciting score for the picture. This has a classic ending with Cagney hollering "Top of the World, Ma!" at the top of a refinery.

Verdict: Brisk, tense, entertaining crime picture with a powerful Cagney performance. ***.

THE WEST POINT STORY

James Cagney

THE WEST POINT STORY (1950). Director: Roy Del Ruth.

Nearly washed-up Broadway director "Bix" Bixby (James Cagney) is importuned to help West Point put on its annual show -- which only uses male cadets. Producer Harry Eberhart (Roland Winters of The Sky Dragon) wants his old rival to talk Harry's nephew, Tom (Gordon MacRae), who is a wonderful singer, out of a career in the army, and he enlists the help of old friend and movie star Jan Wilson (Doris Day). Along for the ride is Bix's sort of girlfriend, Eve Dillon (Virginia Mayo), who keeps her old man on his toes. Cadets Hal (Gene Nelson) and Bull (Alan Hale Jr. of Home Town Story) make a contribution as well -- Hall with his fancy footwork, and Bull in drag as the show's "princess." There are all sorts of complications until the show comes off. The West Point Story starts out well, and for about half an hour it's fun and looks like it will stay that way, until they drag in an idiotic plot point wherein Bix has to become a cadet himself (and obey all of the academy's various rules and regulations) or be removed from directing the show. This might be fine for a Jerry Lewis movie but for this picture, it's disastrous. In general, however, the script is pretty bad and gets worse as it goes along. To Cagney's credit, he retains his dignity throughout, and actually gives a marvelous and amusing performance. Mayo, Nelson and MacRae are fine, as is Doris Day, although she seems to have a zillion too-big teeth in her mouth and, as usual, is virtually devoid of sex appeal. Roland Winters is a lot of fun as Bix' not-so-friendly enemy. Aside from "Military Polka" the Jule Styne/Sammy Cahn songs are pretty awful. Oddly MacRae seems to be aping Bing Crosby in a couple of numbers, even though he has a very different voice from Der Bingle's. The dance that Mayo and Cagney do together to "B'klyn" (another lousy tune) is one of the film's few highlights. We can only imagine what West Point officials thought of this movie! Cagney and Day made a better team in the superior Love Me or Leave Me.

Verdict: It's basically all Cagney's show, and while he's excellent he can't do enough to save it. **1/2.

PAINTING THE CLOUDS WITH SUNSHINE

PAINTING THE CLOUDS WITH SUNSHINE (1951). Director: David Butler.

"Money has always been very mysterious, and on the first of the month, very elusive."

A sister act that is actually comprised of three unrelated ladies is the cornerstone of this kitschy musical comedy. Abby (Lucille Norman) is in love with Vince (Dennis Morgan), but can't put up with his gambling, while Ted (Gene Nelson of So This is Paris) is carrying a torch for Abby, while June (Virginia Gibson) in turn is pining away for Ted. Meanwhile the more practical Carol (Virginia Mayo of Smart Girls Don't Talk) decides the gals should move to Les Vegas and each find themselves a millionaire. By the time "Cuddles" Sakall shows up as the ever-lovable and often cloying honorary uncle, who runs a casino-hotel, you know the movie will be a positive mass of cliches. The cast is at least enthusiastic, there's brilliant Technicolor, and several nice song numbers, such as "Tiptoe Through the Tulips" (years before Tiny Tim made it popular again), "With a Song In My Heart," and "Jealousy." Unfortunately there are also some tunes which I believe were written just for the movie -- "A Necessary Evil" and "Mambo Man" -- which are truly wretched, although Gene Nelson does some excellent dancing for this and other numbers. Tom Conway [The Atomic Submarine] gives a fine comic performance as a banker who at first disapproves of his cousin, Ted's, upcoming nuptials. Wallace Ford is strictly irritating as a grubby business associate of Sakall's. Lucille Norman was a professional singer with a gorgeous semi-operatic voice; she made few appearances in films. Virginia Gibson had a longer list of film and TV credits. The big finish takes place at the "Helldorado" festival -- you can miss it.

Verdict: Amiable enough if rather treacly. **1/2.

OUT OF THE BLUE

Ann Dvorak and Carole Landis

OUT OF THE BLUE (1947). Director: Leigh Jason.

Arthur Earthleigh (George Brent) is a hen-pecked husband in Greenwich Village who meets up with a kooky, tippling gal named Olive (Ann Dvorak) while his wife, Mae (Carole Landis of A Scandal in Paris) is out of town. Taking Olive to his apartment, Arthur is panicked to discover that it's hard to get rid of her -- until she apparently drops dead in his living room. He puts the body on the terrace of his disliked next-door neighbor, artist David Gelleo (Turhan Bey of The Mummy's Tomb), who is trying to entertain fellow dog lover Deborah (Virginia Mayo). David insists that Arthur help him get rid of the body, but is Olive really dead, and what will happen when Mae gets back in town? And could either Arthur or David be the notorious Greenwich Village Murderer who has already amassed several victims? Out of the Blue is as silly as it sounds, although it has some amusing moments, and the performances are more than okay. Brent [The Great Lie] is fine in a much nerdier role than he normally played, and Ann Dvorak is absolutely delightful, although it may not be her fault that eventually the presence of drunken Olive -- dead, not dead, and so on -- becomes rather tiresome. Elizabeth Patterson is cute as a little old lady who keeps seeing corpses and Flame makes an impression as David's dog Rabelais.The light tone of the movie is at odds with the whole business of a fiendish murderer killing young women, albeit his activities are never shown.

Verdict: A little too cute: **1/2.

NIGHT GALLERY Season 2 [POST # 2000!]

Laurence Harvey has a painful problem with an earwig

NIGHT GALLERY Season 2 (1971). Hosted by Rod Serling.

"I have read thousands -- tens of thousands -- of books, and never have I read about a spider the size of a dog -- not even in Kafka."

This second full season of Night Gallery continued the format of presenting at least two or more segments per episode, with Rod Serling introducing most segments using paintings mounted in a "night" gallery. Out of nearly fifty segments [in twenty-two episodes] only seven are memorable, with many not only on a "C" level but even descending to "D" or "F." In other words, most of the stories are pretty bad. Earlier episodes include quick gags or black humor black-outs, most of which are mercilessly unfunny. Among the more notable stories are: "The Boy Who Predicted Earthquakes," in which a small child is exploited for his psychic ability; "The Devil is Not Mocked" in which Count Dracula (an excellent Francis Lederer) takes on the Nazis; an adaptation of H. P. Lovecraft's "Cool Air," in which the addition of a romantic element doesn't hurt at all [Lovecraft's "Pickman"s Model," which also adds romantic-love aspects, doesn't work as well]; and the genuinely original "Sins of the Fathers" with Richard Thomas as a starving young man who must "eat" the sins [represented by food surrounding a corpse] of Barbara Steele's late husband. Arguably the two best episodes are "The Dark Boy" [from August Derleth], a poignant mood piece in which the ghost of a dead boy unites his lonely father with an equally lonely school teacher (Elizabeth Hartman) and "The Caterpillar," in which Laurence Harvey gets a fatal surprise when he tries to kill off a rival by employing an insect, the earwig, that enters through the ear and eats its way through the brain; probably the only really classic episode of the season, and the one most people remember [with excellent performances as well]. Some of the less memorable episodes have their entertaining moments, such as slatternly Zsa Zsa Gabor running from a dinosaur that wants to eat her in the amusing "Painted Mirror." Unfortunately, far too many episodes are flat, poorly conceived and developed, and have little real entertainment value. Among the more memorable guest stars are Vincent Price, Gale Sondergaard, Joanna Pettet, Virginia Mayo, and Louise Sorel. Producer Jack Laird also wrote and directed several episodes, but the generally mediocre quality of the show can't be laid only at his feet, as Serling himself contributed many execrable episodes.

Verdict: At least the earwig sticks in your mind [literally]. **1/2.

SPECIAL NOTE: This is the 2000th post of Great Old Movies, still going strong!

BACKFIRE (1950)

BACKFIRE (1950). Director: Vincent Sherman. 

Bob Corey (Gordon MacRae) is recovering from serious injuries in the hospital with the help of pretty nurse Julie Benson (Virginia Mayo), when he realizes that his good friend Steve (Edmond O'Brian), with whom he'd planned to go into business, has disappeared. A mysterious woman sneaks into his room and tells Bob that Steve has also been seriously injured and needs his help. Bob and Julie then begin an increasingly dangerous search for the missing Steve, encountering a variety of suspicious types along the way, then learn that Steve is suspected of murder. Ed Begley plays the cop on the case, Dane Clark is another friend, Viveca Lindfors is a pretty singer being kept by a dangerous gangster, and Shela Stephens [who later became Shelia MacRae and turned up as Alice Kramden on the color Honeymooners] is Bonnie, a snappy nightclub employee who tries to help Bob. The featured cast members all turn in good performances and there are a whole host of flavorful character actors in supporting roles and bit parts as well. There are confusing flashbacks, it's all rather convoluted, but the picture has some suspense and will hold your attention. NOTE: This is one of eight films on Warner Brothers' new Film Noir Classic Collection Volume 5. 

Verdict; Very good acting puts this over. ***.

SMART GIRLS DON'T TALK

SMART GIRLS DON'T TALK (1948). Director: Richard L. Bare.

Linda Vickers (Virginia Mayo, pictured) gets involved with gambling bigwig and shady character Marty Fain (Bruce Bennett) -- but so does her brother, "Doc" (Robert Hutton), who patches Fain up when he's shot and pays the ultimate price. This seems like a remake of an old Bette Davis movie that wasn't all that great in its original incarnation. Tom D'Andrea as Sparky Lynch adds a little spice, but not enough to save the movie. Mayo is competent enough but she seems to play everything in one note, although the script hardly gives her many opportunities to shine. Richard L. Bare also directed the much more interesting Wicked, Wicked many years later.

Verdict: Smart people stay away from movies like this. *1/2.

FLAXY MARTIN

FLAXY MARTIN (1949). Director: Richard L. Bare. 

Although the hard-as-nails title character is played by Virginia Mayo, the real protagonist is lawyer Walter Colby (Zachary Scott), who's sick and tired of having to get off the scum who work for hood Hap Richie (Douglas Kennedy). When one of them murders a blackmailing lady named Peggy (Helen Westcott), Colby decides to take the rap when Flaxy, whom he loves, is suspected of the crime. On the run Colby runs into good girl Nora (Dorothy Malone), and proceeds to have some not-so-interesting battles with gunsels and the like. Mayo doesn't have that much to do in the film; she's okay if a little obvious. Scott offers another brisk, almost-on-the-edge portrayal. Studio bosses didn't think Dorothy Malone had much sex appeal when she was a brunette, and this picture proves it -- she looked and did much better as a blond. Douglas Kennedy was also in The Amazing Transparent Man and others. Many years later Richard L. Bare wrote and directed Wicked, Wicked (1973). 

Verdict: Pretty forgettable noir lite. **.