Marilyn

Recently shown in all its sleazy glory on BBC 's British B season, this leans heavily on the Hollywood classic THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE - indeed Sandra Dore's character would aspire to the glamour of a Lana Turner. It follows the template of the hot sexy young wife using her hunky but dumb young stud to eliminate her inconvenient older husband but adds a few ingredients of its own. Marilyn tends be too whiny to be sympathetic and Maxwell Reed (a pin-up of his day) manages to convey the fall-guy mechanic's infatuation and confusion as his lover increasingly takes him for granted. The film throws in the added complication of the character of Rose who nurtures unrequited lesbian feelings for Marilyn but the actress's reading of her lines is monotonous and unfeeling - trying to be downtrodden, she merely comes across as vacuous and a bad actress. An unrecognisably young Ferdy Mayne crops up as a sleazy, flashy hustler who woos Marilyn with promises of the high life but skedaddles when she grows too serious. Best actor is Leslie Dwyer = Mr Partridge himself - as the cuckolded hubbie who comes to a predictable end. British B films ended to reflect the seedy down-at-heels side of England - mostly because they couldn't afford to gloss things up. In a way, they paved the way for the kitchen sink films of the late 5's- early 60's. However, they lacked actors who looked the part like Albert Finney and Tom Courtney. They had to settle for Maxwell Reed. Dwyer looks the part and inhabits his character more convincingly than the others.

Dreadful beyond comprehension. Sandra Dorne can barely act, Vida Hope can't act at all, and the often excellent (if usually typecast) Ferdie Mayne has been given terrible lines to work with. Leslie Dwyer is reliable as always, in possibly his nastiest part ever. The cinematography is muddy, and the editing clunky. The ending is meaningless. The only bright spot is the hilarious poster, which bears zero relationship to the plot.

(1953) Marilyn/ Roadhouse Girl CRIME DRAMA

Written and directed by Wolf Rilla that has Tom Price (Maxwell Reed) looking for a job, and his boss, George Saunders (Leslie Dwyer) employs him as a mechanic. Meanwhile, George's trophy wife, Marilyn Saunders (Sandra Dorne) is dancing with Rosie inside the diner until her husband comes in and pulls the plug. It appears he not only owns the gas station but that he also the small diner that came along with it. George is also a penny pincher and controls even his own wife's finances, and during one of their arguments he even sends two two Quid to her dad each month. Blowing George's top is when Marilyn is seen dancing with George's new hire, Tom. And as a result he kicks everyone out of the cafe and closes it early before he scolds her some more. And when she expresses about traveling to London, he would either ignore and abandons her, leaving her and Tom to mingle some more. The situation becomes complicated is when Marilyn's husband, George comes home early, only catch his wife and Tom frolicking in his room, and he clocks him one as soon as her husband wants to put his hands on her.

If anyone were to watch this should be able to recognize the set up is almost identical to "The Postman Always Rings Twice" with the difference is that the older husband, George is kind of a control freak, extremely jealous and controlling of his own wife, Marilyn.

Directed and scripted by Wolf Rilla, who later came into his own with Village of the Damned. He clearly has not mastered either directing or writing at this point. Scenes are awkward and the script....well, the script. Rilla often has a character repeat the same line or idea multiple times. You never really see this in a film and it came off as amateurish at first. When i thought about it, it actually was quite realistic. That's how folks often speak "in real life". Now, was it planned? Who knows? Regardless, it's interesting.

The acting is questionable as well. Marilyn's maid (who appears to be in love with Marilyn) never raises her voice. It comes off as a bit odd....as does Tom's acting. Again, I'm not sure what to make of it.

If you're a big noir fan, it's worth a look. Otherwise, pass.

Gas station owner Leslie Dwyer hires drifter Maxwell Reed. He also mistreats his young wife, Sandra Dorne. Miss Dorne turns to Reed for comfort, but when Dwyer catches them together, there's an accident and Dwyer winds up dead.

Sounds like THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RING TWICE? Yes, it's very much that, if you can accept smarmy, pompadoured Reed in place of John Garfield. Certainly Miss Dorne is far trashier than Lana Turner seemed to me. The movie is hindered by its cheap production values -- the titles are displayed over a light concrete road, making them difficult to read. Geoffrey Faithfull's cinematography, though, is first rate.