Evengyny Thanks for the memories!
JinRoz For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!
CommentsXp Best movie ever!
Megamind To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.
bkoganbing There's no mystery in Terror Street since we know right away who murders Dan Duryea's wife Elsie Albiin. But the film is a neat little noir thriller from the United Kingdom and released here under the banner of Lippert Pictures.As was a common practice in Great Britain of the Fifties an American name was obtained to star and was supported by players from there and the continent. Duryea plays an American Air Force major who goes AWOL and has a friend smuggle him to Great Britain. He had been stationed there and then temporarily transferred stateside as a flight instructor. That did not please Albiin as she's left behind.As we learn in flashback she got herself a fancy new apartment in an upscale part of London. And Albiin starts hanging around with a real shady crowd consisting of Erich Pohlmann, John Chandos, and Kenneth Griffith. We also learn she's become a come on in a blackmail scheme and wants out.We learn this at the same time Duryea does, but he rather stupidly polishes off a bottle of liquor while he waits for Albiin and one of the cast murders her. And as usual he's the one holding the bag.It's always fascinating in these kind of films how these men on the run always get some woman to help them. In this case it's Gudrun Ure, a nursing sister whom he breaks in on while the London cops are chasing him.Terror Street is a nice no frills noir film. No suspense since we know who did the deed, but the tension is good and the cast performs well.
mark.waltz Wherever Dan Duryea travels, film noir is sure to follow! Whether the good guy or the villain (or sometimes the red herring), his world weary face was a perfect example of the "noir look"-a bit sleazy, and someone you'd think twice about trusting. In this Lippert "B" film, he is the good guy, a war veteran whose British wife (Elsie Albiin) abandons him while he's off in America on special assignment. He's back long enough to get caught up in her murder, coming to after confronting her, finding himself next to her dead body with a the murder weapon in his hand. Knowing he is being framed, Duryea runs out just as the police get there, and utilizes the aid of a rather gullible neighbor (Gudrun Ure) both to hide him and help clear his name. You'll instantly know who the killer is, but this is not a mystery. It is all about how he gets around while trying to find out what happened which leads him to find out information on his deceased wife that isn't so pretty.This is a British made film noir that has many great things going for it, but it is also a bit too much to see the wife's dead body there (shot twice at almost point blank range) with no trace of blood. On the other hand, there are some interesting flashback sequences that let us know how Duryea and his wife met, shown through an obvious projector slide show, which is very interestingly photographed in itself. The cameraman moves much like an unseen bystander, few cuts in between, but filmed in a way that is never static. Also interesting is the character of the wife, both a gentle lady and a femme fatal, showing how many women during the war years found new ways to survive boredom while their spouses were away. Duryea is never an actor you can take an emotional interest in (his hard looks spoil any vulnerability he might have hidden inside), but he is so good at what he does that all of his characters, regardless of what side of the law they are on, are always extremely interesting. You long to see if (and how) he will get out of this plight. As the innocent mission worker, Ure is too kind to be real. When Duryea asks her to forge his wife's signature to get into her safety deposit box, I said to myself, "Oh, come on." Even in the 1950's, an amateur could not get away with forgery. Typical British eccentrics (always amusing to Americans with their unique use of the language) come in and out of the story to give local flavor. While watching this, I realized how similar it was in many senses to 1946's classic "The Blue Dahlia" which has pretty much the same conflict but a more identifiable hero.
JohnHowardReid Despite its bad press, "36 Hours" (1953) is not a total write-off. True, Dan Duryea is miscast as hero rather than villain and the girls are not much to write home about. But it's beautifully photographed by "Heads" Harvey (called "Heads" because of his fondness for placing the top of the actors' heads right against the frame line) and directed with a surprising amount of style by Montgomery Tully. The support cast lines up as one of the most solid assembled by Hammer with Eric Pohlmann and John Chandos as the heavies, Russell Napier and Michael Golden as detectives, Kenneth Griffith as the psycho, Lee Patterson in a tiny role as the co-pilot, and best of all, Harold Lang as the desk clerk.
The_Void This was apparently made as some sort of joint effort between Hammer studios and American producer Robert Lippert. The film was clearly made just to make money, and it shows as it's a disjointed effort with a torrid and derivative script and not much to recommend it for. The plot of Terror Street focuses on an American pilot. He is married to a Norwegian girl, and decides to make an unauthorised trip to the UK to see her (because apparently, American/Norwegian couples live in England). He is surprised upon his return to find she has found a new and glamorous lifestyle, but he is then hit on the head and wakes up to find his girl dead. He than has just thirty sex hours to prove he didn't do it. The plot certainly has plenty of room to be an entertaining thriller, but this is never capitalised on. Lead actor Dan Duryea is good enough, but never really made me care about his character or plight. The film really lacks any interesting set pieces or situations as well, and I have to admit I lost interest long before the end. Overall, I wouldn't recommend tracking this film down to either Hammer fans or Noir fans!
