Private Property

Very few people seem to have heard of, let alone seen, this bizarre and strange film, but it is ripe for re-discovery as a precursor of the harsher realism that American movies were able to explore once censorship restrictions were lifted. It is open to all sorts of interpretation; is it a critique of capitalism in which the marriage partner becomes "property"? Is there a hidden homosexual motivation between the two buddies who can, apparently, only attain their "manhood" when in the company of each other? It is perhaps wrong to read too much into early movies using today's sensibilities, but subversive this film most certainly is, and reflects much of the thinking expressed in a ground-breaking book of that era entitled "The American Sexual Tragedy". Passion, when repressed, always runs morbid, and this film illustrates that notion with realism and skill.

When I caught up with this film in Nottingham in 1965 it was being proudly advertised as "The Film with Only Two Certificates in England!" True, at that time only Leeds and Liverpool had passed the film with a "local X." The British Board of Film Censors had rejected the film on 30 March 1960, leaving small British distributor Cross-Channel (who also released Blackjackets) with the task of persuading as many local authorities as possible to pass the film for exhibition. Cross- Channel had an initial break-through when the film was chosen for the opening run at the new Compton cinema in London's West End. As a cinema club for members only the Compton did not need certificates and duly premiered the film on 16 November 1960. Personally, I found the film fairly harmless viewing even in 1965, although the story of two drifters ogling the bored housewife next door eventually became a bit creepy. Most of the local watch committees said no, but a fair few said yes:

London Compton – Wednesday, 16 November 1960 (British premiere); LEEDS Plaza – Sunday, 20 December 1964 and week; LIVERPOOL Essoldo (London Road) – Sunday, 4 July 1965 and week; LEEDS Gainsborough – Thursday, 2 September 1965 (three days); NOTTINGHAM Moulin Rouge – Sunday, 14 November 1965 and week; LIVERPOOL Jacey Film Theatre – Sunday, 19 December 1965 and week; LIVERPOOL ABC (Walton) – Monday, 16 May 1966 (three days); WAKEFIELD ABC – Monday, 27 June 1966 (three days); WEST BROMWICH ABC – Thursday, 29 September 1966 (three days);

The mini-release must have made a good bit of income since the distributor deemed a re-issue in 1969 more than worthwhile:

BIRMINGHAM Cinephone – Sunday, 24 August 1969 for two weeks; NOTTINGHAM ABC Elite – Sunday, 5 October 1969 and week; LIVERPOOL Jacey Film Theatre – Sunday, 7 December 1969 and week;

This black and white film produced in 1959 is tame compared to what is out there nowadays. Corey Allen, who is best remembered as the gang leader in the movie "Rebel Without A Cause" (1955), is very good as the sexy stud drifter. He shows up at the house of a luscious blonde housewife saying he is looking for yard work. Her much older husband is away on a business trip. There are plenty of shirtless shots of the muscular and hairy chested Allen who knows the wife is sexually attracted to him. They wind up in bed and then things get wild. His dense sidekick is played by actor Warren Oates in an early role.

Although this film is supposedly a fictional drama, I believe there are literally hundreds (if not thousands) of lonely and attractive housewives all across North America who can relate to the scenes played out in the film Private Property. We have all heard that phrase before of "playful and innocent enough flirting or sexual teasing". And we have also heard the phrase "No means No" in countless drama films which are played out in both an actual and/or a fictitious court of law.

This film draws a very fine line between some tense criminal and very real sexual assault activity that is hard to watch and a very good dramatic simulated performance played out by all four (4) of the film stars. The female lead played by Kate Manx as the lonely suburban California housewife who was ignored by her business executive husband appreciated the attention bestowed upon her by the aggressive stranger who showered her with compliments as well as many lies.

We the audience could see that this lonely housewife was getting in over her head and the two strangers were thinking with their little heads and not their big heads. We see how quickly some playful flirting innocence can turn both violent and deadly. This black and white film is still a great watch some sixty (60) years later.

I rate Private Property a high 8 out of 10 rating that all women and men including young teenagers should watch to remind them to keep their emotions in check and the boys to keep their peckers in their pants.

Private Property is a great little neo noir vehicle, outstanding in that its inherent quality, belies the shoestring budget upon which it was made. All the creative elements fortuitously came together for writer/director Leslie Stevens. He gets a great central performance from Corey Allen as deviously shrewd drifter Duke, as well as a distinctly arousing turn from Kate Manx as domestic goddess Ann, seemingly the object of every man's desire, apart from her husband Roger. Then on top of all that, he manages to score the highly experienced Ted McCord as his cinematographer. He must have thought all his Christmases had come at once.

One part home invasion, one part voyeuristic thriller, and one part social critique, considering it was made 60 years ago, Private Property still manages to be quite confronting. It's fairly upfront in its treatment of sexual themes and desires. It looks remarkably good for a film made on such a low budget, even going as unexpectedly far, as featuring some quite extensive underwater photography. I have to be honest and balance my praise, when adding the musical soundtrack however is frequently over-intrusive and not always quite appropriate, for the accompanying scenes.

Stevens comfortably helms the project making excellent use of both his car and home to site the majority of the action. On the evidence of this film, one feels it's a pity we didn't see more cinema work from him, as for much of his career, he worked in theatre, later transitioning to television, where he is arguably best remembered as being the creator of the original Outer Limits.