The Come On

Allied Artists' plot twisty low-budget noir opens with shapely con-artist Anne Baxter emerging from the Pacific to come on to restless fisherman Sterling Hayden who immediately falls hook, line, and sinker. Before you know it, she's begging him to kill her brutal partner-in-crime but Anne isn't wrapped too tight and their plans soon spiral out of control...

In 50s B movies where the budget is spent on the salaries of stars on the cusp of "past their prime", it's their chemistry that counts and although there's none here, it's not for lack of trying on the leading lady's part. Anne Baxter certainly doesn't hold anything back in what amounts to a dry run for her scheming Nefritiri in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS and it's kind of campy seeing her vamp it up in broad strokes, especially since she's no spring chicken. Sterling Hayden always seems the same for some reason and was no different than he was in CRIME OF PASSION (1957) when he steeled himself to make love to a mature Barbara Stanwyck -but at least here he does it in swim trunks, albeit briefly. Quirky character actor John Hoyt smoothly plays Anne's control freak "husband" as a civilized sadist while a rumpled Jesse White (TV's Maytag repairman) provides the sleaze as the two-bit private dick Hoyt hires to watch his wayward woman. The twists and turns the story takes keep the pulpy pot boiling until the star-crossed lovers come full circle in the surf and although Baxter & Hayden are no threat to Romeo & Juliet, the body count is satisfying at least. The director (not that it matters) was publicist Russell Birdwell who coined the tagline "How would you like to tussle with Russell?" for THE OUTLAW and would go on to make the preposterous THE GIRL IN THE KREMLIN with two -make that three- glam-mannequins: the life-like lunk Lex Barker and chattering magyar Zsa Zsa Gabor in a dual role.

Before I start, I'd like to call out 'melvelvit-1' - obviously a male - who refers in his review to Anne Baxter as "no spring chicken." She was 32. Get a life.

"The Come On" is a low-budget noir starring Baxter, Sterling Hayden, John Hoyt, and Jesse White. Baxter plays Rita, who meets Dave (Hayden) on the beach. There's immediate electricity, but meeting her in a nightclub later on, he finds out the man she's with, Harold (Hoyt) is her husband. He loses interest. Later she explains her situation - she grew up poor and is not married to Harold. They work cons together for big money, and she stays in the best hotels, wears the most beautiful clothes, travels first class - and she likes it that way.

Rita doesn't fool around - she's in love with Dave and tells him that to keep him on a string, Hoyt is keeping money he owes her. Of course, should he die...well, we've all seen that before.

The whole thing becomes convoluted with blackmail, lies, and betrayal.

Routine stuff, with Bancroft effective as a femme fatale. Hayden just never does it for me, he always comes off as stiff and monotonal, though he does have a certain presence. Jesse White is great as a sleazy detective, and Hoyt gives a good performance as the controlling and vicious Harold.

Entertaining if not exceptional.

Anne Baxter and John Hoyt have a nice racket. They're in a bad marriage, but there's always a sympathetic man to help her out, with a check to let her run and hide.... and then Hoyt shows up and demands more money, because what he giving his wife the money for? But when Sterling Hayden shows up, it's different. This time, she realizes, it's really love. She confesses it all to Hayden, and he forgives her. But will Hoyt let her go?

It's an ambitious Allied Artists movies straight down my strike zone when it comes to what I like: con men and women weaving a tale that drags in not only the suckers in the movie, but me. Unfortunately, it doesn't do that, although it took me a bit of time to recognize it. That settled, th twists that were offered after that were not surprises at all, just as inevitable as the shootout at the end of a B western.

There are some good performances here, including Mr. Hoyt and Jesse White as a crooked PI. Alas, the leads were not compelling: Hayden , as he so often did in this phase of his career, seemed anxious to get back on his boat, and Miss Baxter seems to play it too broad in overcompensation.

Allied Artists Studios was Formed by some of Hollywood's Independent Thinking "Stars".

It was a Reconditioned "Monogram" that had its Place for some Fine Actors to Work Outside the Studio System.

Although Envisioned as an Alternative to Big-Buck, Highly Controlled Studio Work,

the Major Problem was that Transforming a Poverty-Row Studio into a Look-as-Good as the Majors Film Proved to be a Task Insurmountable.

It's Extremely Evident in "The Come On" where there isn't a Scene that looks Stylish, or for that Matter Believable.

Of Course the Outdoor Stuff doesn't Suffer as Much because it Brings its Own "Natural" Ambience.

But Here all the Indoor Scenes Look Tacky, Droll, Lifeless and Void, even though Fronted by some Top-Talented Thespians.

Anne Baxter, is known as one of the Consummate-Professionals, Hard Working, Oscar Winning, and Sexy.

A Privileged Private Upbringing didn't Prepare Her for the Troubling Ups and Downs in Her Private as Well as Professional Life.

Always, Giving Her All, Willing to Work in Prestigious Productions...Nefertiti in "The 10 Commandments" (1956), the same Year as this Bargain-Basement Film-Noir.

She can be Spotted Here, still with some Sexual-Charm (at 32).

Delivering Her Lines and Acting Like this could be an Oscar Contender. She Drives the Picture, almost Single-Handedly.

But Gets Stalwart Support from He-Man Sterling Hayden, very at Home in His Home Away from Home, On-a-Boat.

His Regular-Good-Guy Character is Opposed by John Hoyt, a Serpentine, Domineering Partner-in-Crime with Baxter, and He is a Great Love to Hate Villain.

Character Actor Jesse White is a Sleazy Private-Eye, Uncouth and Uncool, and makes His Presence Count along with the 3 Other Leads.

The Script is a Complicated Contrivance that Fuels Film-Noir Regularly, with Murder, Blackmail, Passion, and Greed.

The Down-Side is the Aforementioned Bland Look of the Thing that Puts the Burden of Making the Sleazy B-Grade Entertainment Entertaining.

They do a Fine Job in this 2nd Tier, Late-Noir, and that Makes it...

Worth a Watch.

Usually a movie with 20 total IMDb votes is a waste of time; there's probably a good reason nobody remembers it. In this case, The Come On is probably forgotten because snarled film rights have prevented a video or DVD release rather than any issues with the content. In fact, this low budgeter has enough small guilty pleasures and creamy nougat noir smoulder to get you through a late night TCM viewing in style. MACBETH it ain't but this is certainly better than its 5.8 IMDb rating, and definitely worth a look for any fan of Anne Baxter or slightly cheesy crime drama.

Baxter's leading lady career was nearing its expiration date by the time this surprisingly nimble b-movie came out late in the noir cycle but she was still one sexy cougar and she roars through this with all the breathy sigh and sexy twitch she's got. Though his acting is uneven, young Sterling Hayden is an effective physical presence with a couple standout moments. His piercing eyes and prurient "hi" to well-heeled Baxter do more to explain her otherwise well-calculated character's misguided but hungry attraction for this no-prospect schlub than three pages of exposition and setup ever could.

John Hoyt, who appeared in other violent shockers like BRUTE FORCE (though many may know him best for his short-lived ship's doctor role from the original Star Trek pilot), is delightfully violent and creepy here as the slick, tanned grifter who has no problem slapping Baxter around but won't let her go.

The actual set-up of the initial con Hoyt and Baxter are running is neatly done; we don't see it coming and it plays well. That Hayden's character is willing to stick with Baxter to a degree after learning what she's really about strains credibility, but somehow their unlikely doomed romance clicks and the viewer goes along for the ride. We can see Baxter will blow things with this dull-witted chump, but are curious to see how.

That the answer comes in the form of Jesse White, the actor who played the lonely Maytag repairman for 30 years, is another quiet pleasure in this tropical noir. White is surprisingly convincing as a seedy PI attemping to blackmail Baxter and Hayden. It's hard to say more about the plotting without pulling back the curtain too far; suffice to say that there are a few nice twists (probably one too many; one character actually says "I just don't seem to be able to stay dead…") but the ending is faithful to the noir tradition. Yes, a lot of cheese and cornballs are consumed over the course of this poison pill meal, but it's still a filling and satisfying repast.