Alarm an Ölturm 3

The Houston story stars Gene Barry in this 1956 film directed by William Castle.

Barry plays Frank Duncan, who works as an oil driller by day. By night he's working on a way to divert oil from various oil fields and sell it. If he can accomplish this, it will be worth millions. However, he needs financing.

It doesn't take him long to convince a local mobster Paul Atlas (Edward Arnold) to bankroll him. Atlas is part of a huge operation known as the Combine. Duncan's plans don't go smoothly.

This is a good B, and it has a blond Barbara Hale as a singer doing "Put the Blame on Mame." She plays the cheating wife of Duncan's former oil foreman, who faked her own death and now lives under another name. Imagine Della Street as a femme fatale! Jeanne Cooper of The Young and the Restless plays Duncan's girlfriend, who has no idea what he's about.

Formulaic, derivative, but okay.

The Houston Story is a slightly formulaic yet very entertaining film from William Castle of The House on Haunted Hill and The Tingler fame. The movie is about a young, ambitious oil-driller who involves himself with organized crime and double crosses his way to the top of his respective racket. Gene Barry turns out a solid performance as well as Perry Mason veteran Barbara Hale, who plays the femme fatale to a tee, always following the money and the man in charge. Hale is introduced in a very enjoyable song act that did the job of conveying her character as well as,if not better than, the writing did.

Despite a few predictable scenes and some forced writing, The Houston Story is a thoroughly enjoyable film worth viewing.

Also, watch for a few entertaining performances from Edward Arnold and Paul Richards.(remember Beneath the Planet of the Apes??)

Houston Story, The (1956)

*** (out of 4)

Gene Barry plays an ambitious oil worker who gets involved with a Mob boss (Edward Arnold) because he hopes to work his way up. Barry comes up with a way to steal about $5 million in oil each year but he soon learns there's always a way to get yourself knocked off. Here's another gem that rarely gets talk about and even though the thing starts to get dragged out towards the end, this is still highly entertaining. Castle is best known for his horror films but this is perhaps the best directed film I've seen from him. He does a great job with the visual style of the film and I'd also add that he handles all the action quite well. It certainly doesn't hurt that Barry turns in a remarkable performance. He is so incredibly good in the role and believable because you can't help but feel his desire to succeed in not only his body language but also his voice. You can even look into his eyes and see his passion for making money. Arnold is also very good in his supporting role of the Mob boss. Barbara Hale, Paul Richards and Jeanne Cooper are also good in their work. Apparently Lee J. Cobb started out in the lead role but suffered a heart attack so he can be seen in a few of the medium shots. Apparently Castle filled in for him during the long shots before Barry eventually took over the role. When people mention film noir this film often gets overlooked and while it's not a masterpiece of the genre it's still a very entertaining little gem that's worth checking out.

Every time I see this movie, I can't prevent myself to think of another thriller from the 50's: "711 Ocean Drive", a little masterpiece directed by Joseph M Newman.

The topic is nearly the same. A "honest" worker becomes greedy, ambitious, ruthless and implicates himself with gangsters, planning to take over crime syndicate. In this case, it concerns stealing oil.I find it unusual. A man who is not a thug at the beginning, that's the most interesting. Of course, what happens next is predictable.

Gene Barry gives us a pretty brilliant performance.

I recommend it. Catch it if you can.

In The Houston Story Gene Barry plays an oil company executive who has come up with an interesting idea for robbing the oil fields of crude. But he needs operating money and a lot of it. His torch singer girl friend Barbara Hale puts him in touch with some local Houston wise guys and upon that our story begins.

Barry wants to slant or side drill some existing oil fields. You might remember in the Paul Newman film The Drowning Pool, oil millionaire Murray Hamilton makes some illusions to slant drilling. Basically it's drilling into an existing pool on an angle and pumping out hat you need.

The big surprise her is Barbara Hale best known as Della Street on the Perry Mason series. She's one sultry chanteuse and she's good. But they should gave dubbed her singing of Put The Blame On Mame as they did for Rita Hayworth. Hale just is not a good singer.

Edward Arnold is a mid level hood in the Houston organized crime scene and Paul Richards as usual does a fine job as a torpedo for hire.

As for Barry he does good for a while, but in the end he's batting way out of his league.