Highway Dragnet, Roger Corman's First Film

Roger Corman! True legend! He was a co-producer and co-wrote  the story. The story? A good one!  No sign of low-budget here, just a setting heavy murder mystery set on lonely desert highways in Nevada and California in the days before Interstate 10. Then a very wet and shocking conclusion in the Sonoran Desert and the Salton Sea. Gritty and alluring, this one can boast of a couple of dames who might just be femme fatales. Our feature today is 1954's "Highway Dragnet," directed by Nathan Juran.

Home from Korea for only a week, handsome U.S. Marine sergeant, Jim Henry (Richard Conte) buys a sultry dame (Mary Beth Hughes) a drink at a bar near Vegas. She blows up, as most dames do, and attacks him.  He kisses her like no woman has ever been kissed before, as guys do. Yep, she ends up strangled in a nearby hotel room with a bar full of drunks telling the cops he's the killer. Now Joe is on the run as the cops, led by Lieutenant Joe White Eagle (Reed Hadley) have a dragnet along the desert highways. Desperate to escape, Jim helps two babes with car trouble and gets a ride with them. The babes? Here we go. Mrs. Cummings (Joan Bennett), a fashion photographer and her sultry swimsuit model, Susan (Wanda Hendrix).

I'm leaving a lot out but the trio end up at a desert hotel where Cummings shoots (with a camera) the swimsuit clad Susan by the pool. The cops close in and now Jim, at gunpoint, commandeers the two dames and drives into the desert. Now Cummings and Susan figure he's the killer...but is that too easy? Yes! Well, then who is the killer?  In the desert, Susan falls in love with Jim.  The problem, Lt. White Eagle is a fantastic cop and him and his boys are closing in fast. So where does this all lead, especially if Jim is not the killer? Ha!  You'll see.

Just what is this relationship between Cummings and Susan?  If Jim is innocent, where is he taking these dames? Will the swimsuit clad bathing beauty Susan and Cummings enter into a catfight with Jim as the center of attention?  That third question is more relevant than you know.  Mr. Conte is perfect as a down-and-out marine just home from the war.  Ms. Hendrix is sultry as the swimsuit model.  Ms. Bennett is mysterious and beautiful as the aloof Mrs. Cummings.  For a great Film Noir film, see "Highway Dragnet."