Panic in the City

Agent Pomeroy (Howard Duff) is called in to crack a bunch of saboteurs planning an atomic explosion in LA. Another cheapie which kept us (slightly) entertained while we pointed at the screen and wondered 'who's that?' Howard Duff is one of those actors who was rarely off our screens in our younger years but somehow we never can remember his name or what he was in. Linda Cristal was the pretty young wife in 'The High Chaparral' and who do we have here but a very youthful Dennis Hopper! Probably much to his chagrin he gets bumped-off early on, perhaps to get started on Easy Rider (or did Hang 'em High come first?). Whatever, this was a good story that moved along nicely but was obviously a bit short in the funding department. On the plus side, we get to see the seamier, workaday reality of the city that is mostly shown in other movies as a glamorous, high-rolling place, and we found that quite refreshing and 'real'.