Escape in the Fog, A Babe with Shell-Shock

Shell-shock? Nerves?  ADD?  Fibromyalgia? PMS? Call it what you want, today we have a pretty dame suffering from a disorder that requires rest and easy living. Given this is a World War 2 thriller, set in foggy San Francisco, I guess we can say she is suffering from shell-shock...or just frayed nerves. No support animals for her, just a good old fashioned hunk who is all to willing to fall in love with her. Let us look at 1945's "Escape in the Fog," directed by Budd Boetticher.

Pretty Eileen (Nina Foch) has been through the ringer. A nurse on a World War 2 hospital ship, the Germans, or the Japanese, torpedoed it. Rescued, the pretty dame is quite shaken and her nerves are shot. Off to a sanitorium for some mental convalescing. Nightmares abound. In one, she is on the Golden Gate Bridge when a car pulls up and thugs get out, pound a handsome man, and get ready to knife him, when Eileen screams, scaring the thugs away. A dream? Vision? Another convalescing patient rushes into her room after she screams to see if she is alright. That handsome patient? Right! The beset hunk in her dreams. Fast forward, the duo get out of the facility and head to San Francisco to begin romancing one another. Uh oh...the hunk? Barry Malcolm (William Wright)...secret agent.

Eileen and Barry fall in love in San Fran, but Barry is called in for a secret mission. He needs to go to Hong Kong and foil the Japanese efforts in China. Uh oh...A German spy, Schiller (Konstanton Shayne) is onto him and intercepts Barry. Now Barry is in the hands of the Germans. Eileen is sad, Barry has been abducted.  The only clue she has to go on is that weird nightmare she had back at the asylum. Off to the Golden Gate Bridge she goes on a very foggy night, and wouldn't you know it...

Is a half crazy babe at all equipped to save an American secret agent beset by German spies? Will the Germans realize that Eileen is an impediment to their efforts in America, just as much as secret agents are? If she is half crazy with shell-shock, what does this say about her future if her and Barry settle down together? You divorced guys know what I mean. For a foggy Film Noir film set in San Francisco, with much war-time intrigue and espionage, see "Escape in the Fog."

The Yellow Canary, Pat Boone as a Teen Idol?

Yep! Pat Boone, the teen idol from yesteryear played a teen idol! Barbara Eden is in this...so is Jack Klugman. A ribald sex comedy from the late 50s? I should tell you this was written by Rod Serling. Yes, Pat Boone plays a teen idol, fawned and drooled over by teen girl lovelies. Get this...Pat Boone plays an evil cad. None of the lovelies are safe around him.  His wife, played by Eden, wants a divorce.  He uses and exploits all his friends with deadly results. Dark and gritty. Sure, Pat Boone will croon, and sometimes it will be fun...but by design, of this film, sometimes his singing will be weird and tortured. Let us look at this Film Noir film from 1963, "The Yellow Canary," directed by Buzz Kulik. 

Andy Paxton (Boone) is the aforementioned teen idol. He has dozens of gold records and a sultry wife Lisa (Eden). They have a cute one-year old. Off stage, Andy is a complete heel. He fools around on his wife, barely knows his own child, and exploits his staff. Hub (Steve Forrest) plays Andy's director of security and is about to get real busy.  See, someone murders the babysitter and kidnaps the child. Lisa is panicked and horrified...Andy is inconvenienced. Enter detective Lt. Bonner (Klugman). He won't get much cooperation from Andy as the crooner tries to let Hub handle most of the investigation. Bonner is a good cop and can see through Andy's thin veneer. A ransom is finally demanded and it is a big one. Andy now figures on paying.

Uh oh...Andy soon learns his inner circle is not as loyal to him as he thought.  His childhood pal Bake (Steve Harris) is his manager and he has just embezzled from Andy. Bonner finds this out and arrests Bake, but not fort the abduction. Lisa is beside herself and sneers at her two-timing husband. Andy's stage performances go from alluring and fun to twisted and odd. More brutal murders occur and Lisa is terrified that her little boy may also have been been murdered.  Hub hits the streets and calls old informants...then he gets a hot lead.  The lead is so hot, more murders, assaults, and debauchery are thrown at us.  Andy is now not in control and he does not look smooth and confident anymore.  Lisa loses all hope...and Lt. Bonner, we can tell, believes their child is a goner.  Hub? He's confident and maybe a little too confident.  Both Lisa and Andy see this and now Lisa has a job...flirt with Hub distract him, and... well...you'll see.

This movie takes us from the stage with playful crooning and fawning beauties to the dark underside of the gritty city in no time.  No one emerges as someone with virtue, and everyone shows their prurient and evil side.  If Andy wants to see his son again, and save his marriage, he will have to change into something he doesn't have any familiarity with. Does Andy want to see his son again and save his marriage to the "I Dream of Jeannie" babe?  Is one of Andy's inner circle the kidnapper/murderer? Will the final reveal be as dark as the rest of this film?  Not the feel good film of 1963, but Pat Boone is wonderful, and so is Barbara Eden. For a gritty mystery that will leave you feeling like you need a shower, see "The Yellow Canary." Oh, one more thing! Sgt. Schultz (John Banner) is also in this.

Heat Wave, Summer of Murder

Ah! Summertime.  Fun at the lake.  Boating...swimming...murder!  Yep, we have a nice one today about a schmuck who gets involved with a rich, and evil, dame.  Never works out.  She's sultry, he knows she's bad, but boy is she hot!  When the heart speaks, the mind turns to peanut butter.  Then, suddenly we are talking about the electric chair.  Let us look at 1954's "Heat Wave," directed by Ken Hughes. Perhaps, we can call it "The Great Gatsby-Lite."

Pulp novelist Mark Kendrick (Alex Nicol) is secluded at a bungalow by a resort lake in England.  He's struggling and his literary ideas are stale and unappealing.  He is stuck at the typewriter with no ideas as he watches the mansion across the lake.  Then the phone rings.  He shouldn't have answered. It is the sultry Carol (Hillary Brooke). Fast forward, Mark takes his boat to the party and is met by the ravishing blonde Carol in a sleek evening gown.  At the party Carol fawns over the pianist (Paul Carpenter) and an ignored Mark makes friends with Carol's rich husband, Beverly (Sidney James). Bev is unhappy as his wife is screwing the pianist.  Rich and with a bad heart, Bev develops a cynical friendship with the failed author. Bad news, Bev's doctor says he could drop dead at any minute.

Worse news...though he hates her, Mark can't resist and enjoys kissing and passion with Carol.  The news gets worse...Mark's publisher drops him and now the failed novelist has no money. Carol gets chummier with Mark and she claims to love him.  Though Bev will be dead soon, he confides to Mark that he will soon cut her out of the will.  See where this is going?  Death happens...or is it murder?  Andrea (Susan Stephen), Bev's daughter, believes Carol killed Bev...boating accident, you know.  Whatever happened on the boat on the very foggy lake...there were no witnesses...or were there?  Along comes the persistent and curious police inspector (Alan Wheatley) and he doesn't miss anything.  Now Carol and Mark better keep their stories straight.  Uh oh...Carol is Carol...or, dames are dames, and this won't bode well for Mark.

Is anyone going to take a murder rap?  Will Carol and Mark live happily ever after with Bev's fortune?  Is the police inspector as good as Lt. Columbo?  This is a good one, and perhaps a grim morality tale.  For those of you who love hot blonde femme fatales, see "Heat Wave."