Terror Street

The basic idea for "36 Hours" is decent....and it could have been a really good British film noir movie. However, it suffers from a huge problem...the reliance on a bad and often overused cliche...the total stranger who helps a wanted man. Hitchcock used it in "The 39 Steps" but so have many other film makers....which is why I wasn't overly impressed by the movie.

Bill Rogers (Dan Duryea) is in the US Air Force and he's on a 36 hour layover in London. He takes this time to go home to see his wife...only to find the apartment empty. After investigating, he finds her in her new apartment...and it appears as if she's been up to no good while Bill was away. But before he can get any answers, he's hit from behind. When he awakens, he finds her dead next to him....shot with his gun!! Seeing he's behind the 8-ball, Bill decides that instead of going to the police, he'll investigate on his own. Now this in and of itself is an overused cliche...but it gets worse when he meets a young lady who, inexplicably, instantly believes him and takes MANY risks to help Bill....none of which makes any sense! It's a shame, as the main plot idea is sound...but what follows isn't.

Duryea is sound in the lead but even a decent performance by him cannot erase cliched writing....and it is cliched (as I mentioned above) and should have been better. In spite of this, the film still is interesting and worth seeing....but nothing more.

Dan Duryea stars in "Terror Street," also known as "36 Hours" from 1953. Though this was filmed in Britain and takes place there, the cars had the steering wheel on the American side for some reason.

Duryea is Bill Rogers, an American soldier, returns to London, where he was once stationed, when he hasn't heard from his Norwegian wife Katherine (Elsy Albin) in some time. He arrives at their apartment to find her gone and letters he sent to her unread. Her neighbor finally admits that Katherine is now living in an apartment in the west end.

Rogers convinces the young man at reception to let him into the apartment - mainly because he says if not, he will report that the employee is listening in on private phone calls.

Turns out the apartment is one fancy place, but before learning how it is that Katherine has moved up in the world, Rogers is knocked unconscious. When he regains consciousness, he finds that Katherine is dead, his service pistol was used, and it is in his hand.

Rogers' plane to return to the U. S. is in 36 hours - so he has that long to find out who killed Katherine. On the run from the police, he encounters a soup kitchen worker (Ann Gudrun) who believes his story and endeavors to help him.

Duryea is very good, as is the rest of the cast, including Eric Pohlmann and John Chandos.

The problem with the film is that the writing is weak. First of all, why the soup kitchen worker, whom he surprises after he sneaks into her apartment, didn't run for her life is beyond me. Also, Rogers doesn't turn to the police; he decides to investigate for himself in the typical innocent albeit wanted man way. There is also no big surprise as to who killed Katherine.

Katherine's story turns out to be somewhat interesting, however, and because I like Duryea, I'm giving it six stars.

Do not confound this title with 36 HOURS, from director George Seaton and speaking of another topic, far far far more interesting, surprising, unusual story, with this one. This very film, produced and made in UK is tense, sharp, pulled by an amazing Dan Duryea, for once not a bad guy, but unfortunately so predictable with a scheme already told a million times before. Any one can know in advance what will happen. But as I have already said about British thrillers hiring American actors in the fifties and sixties, it is still worth to watch, and the director Monty Tully - whom I have also told about - deserves to be discovered again.

In 1950, American producer Robert Lippert formed a business alliance with Hammer studios. Under the agreement, Lippert would provide American acting talent - frequently shop-worn stars or just supporting actors who fancied a profitable trip out of the country - while Hammer would supply the rest of the cast and the production facilities. Together they would split the profits. Famous for his concern with the bottom line, Lippert produced over 140 films between 1946 and 1955, characteristically genre pieces such as I Shot Jesse James or Rocketship XM. For the British deal, most of the films were noir-ish thrillers - and include this title.

The American noir icon Dan Duryea is the best thing in 36 Hours, which is at its strongest in the first half. He plays Major Rogers, a flyer smuggled into the country to discover what his wife has been up to during his absence away on duty. Shortly after he catches up with her, she is dead, leaving the stunned Rogers waking up next to her body with just a few hours to prove his innocence. Duryea's opening scenes, mostly played solo as he explores his wife's apartment piecing together her new relationships, are the essence of noir - an alienated man, lost in an environment where moral certitudes are missing. Unfortunately the script by Steve Miller (responsible for earlier classics such as Dead Reckoning, and Lady In The Lake) grows less interesting as it proceeds, and the final complexities are forced and unconvincing. Along the way, Duryea brings life to his relationship with Jenny (Ann Gudrin), equally as good as the unfussy woman who believes his story. Kenneth Griffith also makes impact as the weasely Slosson - a character which, on a different continent, would no doubt been of interest to Elisha Cook Jr.

American star Dan Duryea ("Scarlet Street"), no stranger to villainous roles, here plays the protagonist, Bill Rogers. Bill is an Air Force pilot who returns to England to be with his wife Katie (Swedish beauty Elsie Albiin, "Hidden Fear"). Unfortunately, while he's been away, she's gotten mixed up with bad people, and one of them murders her and frames Bill for the crime. He then has 36 hours in which to prove himself innocent (after that, he'll be declared A. W. O. L. and be in even *worse* trouble).

Written by Steve Fisher ("Destination Tokyo"), this tells a decent, straightforward story, although director Montgomery Tully ("No Road Back") relates it without giving it a real sense of *urgency*. It's deliberately paced, with a fair amount of time devoted to flashbacks. It also doesn't have the thick atmosphere common to the noir genre. At least the climax is reasonably amusing, with control of the situation continuously switching between the villain (John Chandos, "The Crimson Pirate") and a secondary antagonist (Eric Pohlmann, "The Return of the Pink Panther"). The fight choreography is not great, but it does elicit some chuckles.

Duryea was often at his best in his bad guy roles, but here he's fun to watch as a tough-talking, forceful man of action who's determined to avenge his wife. Chandos & Pohlmann are equally good, with additional sterling support given by Harold Lang ("Paranoiac") as an antsy desk clerk, Marianne Stone ("Berserk") as Bills' friend Pam, and a young Kenneth Griffith ("A Night to Remember") as the lovelorn, lowly would-be killer Henry Slauson. Gudrun Ure ("The Million Pound Note") is an appealing if not especially memorable leading lady.

"36 Hours" a.k.a. "Terror Street" is no great shakes, but it rates as an acceptable example of the film noir genre, made by those fine folks at Hammer (back when they were known as Exclusive).

Six out of 10.