One Girl's Confession

I suspect that in its day, most of the men who paid their fifty cents to see this in a theatre were happy the minute it started, as buxom, full-bodied, sensual Cleo Moore is stretched full screen on the beach late at night, having gone to sleep when she should be waiting tables elsewhere. In the first ten minutes of the film, driven by revenge for her father's death at the hands of her employer, Cleo decides to be very, very bad, robs her boss, and then pays the price! Bad Girl on The Move! Positives: The pace never flags, there are some fascinating camera angles reminiscent of Orson Welles, Moore is never less than charismatic (we don't watch these things expecting great acting), hunky Glenn Langen plays a local fisherman with an eye for the right blonde, and I would have paid twice just to experience the performance by the other bad girl, an extra named Ellen Stansbury who gives Cleo some competition! This film was released by Columbia Studios the same year they made the superior noir The Big Heat in addition to The Wild One, and From Here To Eternity--this little "B" special, directed by the infamous Hugo Haas, ain't heavy art and is barely noir--but I was never bored and often delighted. When it comes to Cleo, I'm easy to please.