Lawrence Tierney steals the show as Steve Morgan, a brutal, no-nonsense killer.
Morgan kills a man putting money in a night deposit box and then hitches a ride with a a man named Jimmy Ferguson (Ted North). Ferguson is a happily married man with a good job who is heading back home to a lovely wife.
Needless to say Morgan changes this around by inviting two drifting women along for a ride without Jimmy's permission. A gas station attendant identifies Morgan from a police radio report and road blocks are thrown up on all the major roads in southern California. Morgan convinces Ferguson to stop at his bosses beach house.
The four make themselves at home and one of the women, Carol Demming (Nan Leslie) begins to suspect there is much more to Morgan than he lets on. Things spiral out of control until the end when Morgan finally ends up paying the devil his due.
There are so many shocking and bizarre things in this film. It only runs 62 minutes, but it is a twisted look at post war America. Some scenes are unforgettable and the dialogue is priceless. Tierney steals the entire movie and his dialogue ans facial gestures and quick personality changes are something to behold.
When Ferguson and Morgan stop for gas Ferguson calls his wife while Morgan insults the attendant's child by making comments about her big ears and flying around. Morgan also makes fun of Carol Demming's real name which happens to be Beulah Zorn as well as making the comment, while staying at the Newport beach house, "If the Sheriff is as stupid as the night watchman we ain't got nothin' to worry about".
Never in the history of Noir films has there been a more cunning and calculated killer as Steve Morgan. His personality changes faster than light as one minute he is conning Carol with his Hollywood "connections" one minute and then the other he is forcing himself on her and much worse. When questioned at the beach house by the Sheriff he easily gets the security guard to play along and he even steals Ferguson's identity!! And the Sheriff is indeed as stupid as Morgan thought because he buys the entire story.
There is so much more I could talk about with this film. It's an sadly neglected mini epic that has had no release on the digital market here in the US, and I wish I knew why. It's aching for a Blu-ray. Felix Feist directed this gem and he knew well how to handle the Noir genre.
I just got this DVD-R the other day after I posted my Top 10 film noir list and a good friend found this for me and sent it to me. It was great to see this film again and I will be keeping this disc close to me until an official release is announced, if ever.
If you get a chance to see this movie DO SO BY ALL MEANS!! VERY, VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!
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