The Girl in Black Stockings

"The Girl in Black Stockings" is an unusual murder mystery, mostly because of where it was filmed. The Parry Lodge (which is still operating) in Kanab, Utah, hosted this movie shoot. It's not far from Zion National Park and is a lovely part of the country. Too bad you didn't get to see more of the countryside in this film.

The story begins with the body of a woman found at the resort. She'd been stabbed repeatedly and the filmmakers were not timid about applying blood to the 'corpse' in this scene. Because the policeman investigating (John Dehner) assumes a guest of the hotel did it, he orders everyone to stay there. And, soon, bodies start piling up! The identity of the killer is, of course, revealed at the end and it's a bit of a surprise.

Aside from the locale, I never found this film all that exciting. Now I am not saying it's bad in any way, but more of a time-passer. And, by the way, on the poster currently on IMDB, you see mostly Mamie Van Doren on it...but she's not a major character in the film. I think they were just trying to capitalize on her...um....assets.

Frankly, this a lame "B" flick, with hilarious dialogue, great locations and uneven performances.

To even utter the phrase "film noir," in conjunction with this film, is ludicrous. Some of the comparisons found in previous posts are mind-boggling.

Disposable characters, inane conversations and an annoying soundtrack are buffered by a wonderful setting - a kitschy, picture-perfect motel, straight out of a retro-fanatic's dream. Man, I want to stay at the "Parry Lodge" for a weekend!!

Every time actor Ron Randell opens his mouth, you know you're in for some scenery-chewing, par none. Lex Barker is, well, Lex Barker. "Sheriff" John Dehner comes across the least scathed, although as a previous comment did point out, he appears to have wandered in from another movie set.

All in all, worth a viewing, just to see what it meant to stay in a "motel" before Holiday Inn and Ramada ruined the experience.

UPDATE: Lodge is still up and running - see parrylodge.com!

Unbelievable murder-mystery centering around an upscale lodge in Utah, wherein sheriff John Dehner (in a cowboy hat) investigates the gruesome slaying of a blonde actress, a "man-hating witch" who had plenty of enemies. Soon, more bodies start popping up, the main suspects being: Lex Barker as the local he-man (with his navel judiciously covered at the pool), Ron Randell as an anti-social quadriplegic, Anne Bancroft as his wet-nurse, Mamie Van Doren as a model, and Larry Chance as Indian Joe (Chance appears to believe his character is a Wooden Indian instead of a Drunken Indian). Low-budget adaptation of Peter Godfrey's short story "Wanton Murder", this B-flick might have been a hoot had it been directed with some flair. Unfortunately, Howard W. Koch (who later became a famous producer) sets up this whodunit like a plodding amateur, and most of the acting is atrocious (including La Bancroft). Van Doren has an oddly surreal tipsy scene that rates as pure camp and Dan Blocker is fun as a leering bartender (how come he isn't a suspect?), but the poor writing defeats Dehner and Randell. The title is mysteriously irrelevant, however the setting is unusual and the black-and-white cinematography isn't bad. Les Baxter's melodramatic score heightens the ridiculousness, but serious movie-lovers will only scoff. ** from ****

What can you say about a movie whose three female stars are Anne Bancroft, Marie Windsor and Mamie Van Doren? Well, that none of them is used at anywhere near her full potential (except maybe Van Doren, the sum of whose potential is exhausted at first glimpse). And that's basically the problem with this little tailfins-era whodunit about a serial killer at a Utah mountain lodge. Its very real potential is never delivered. The characters and plot strands are handled perfunctorily, mechanically; they're interesting and offbeat but not satisfyingly developed, so the solution comes as a bad surprise and something of a cheat. Owner of the lodge, Ron Randell, is a psychosomatically paralyzed woman-hater nursed by his doting sister (Windsor). Les Barker (not to be confused with Les Baxter, who wrote the score!) loses no opportunity to display his physique poolside as a vacationing L.A. attorney who's wooing the diffident Bancroft. Van Doren does her platinum-blonde bombshell shtik and John Dehner, as the sheriff, seems to have wandered in from a Western shooting nearby. The movie looks good, in a simplified, populuxe way, and winds up like a better-than-average TV drama from circa 1957. Too bad: The Girl in Black Stockings had all the makings of a more interesting movie.

The Girl in Black Stockings (1957)

** (out of 4)

Bizarre thriller set in a Utah resort where the body of a woman is found brutally sliced up. David Hewson (Lex Barker) was supposed to have gone out with the woman but instead went with someone else (Anne Bancroft) and soon he's looking into who did the brutal murder. It's important to note that THE GIRL IN BLACK STOCKINGS came out three years before PSYCHO or PEEPING TOM and while this film here isn't nearly as good as those two, it's worth saying that this one here beat them in regards to murder and mental illness. It also beat those two masterpieces by showing and discussing some graphic murder scenes first. This film here is too uneven and at times too poorly done to be considered "good" but I think fans of the genre are going to find enough interesting things here to make it worth viewing. I'm not going to ruin the ending but I will say that the final fifteen-minutes are extremely well done and manage to be quite creepy as well. I really liked how the film played itself out and once you see who is responsible and why the murders were done, well, it's very nicely handled. Barker, best known for his stint as Tarzan, does a pretty good job here as he's at least interesting enough to help the viewer go through the entire film. He manages to carry the film without a problem but Bancroft also deserves a lot of credit as she too is extremely good. Ron Randell is also good in his role as a paralyzed man and Marie Windsor, a noir vet, is good as his sister. Cult favorite Mamie Van Doren also briefly appears. Barker not only acted in the film but he also did the music score, which is quite effective. The problem with the film is that some of the supporting performances aren't all that memorable and there are times where the direction is a bit sloppy. Some of the dialogue could have been better written as well. Still, this film manages to set itself apart from a lot of other mysteries from this period and the good things here make it worth sitting through at least once.