Five Minutes to Live

Reasonably taut thriller concerning a twisted killer (Cash) recruited by crook (Tayback) to hold the wife (Forrester) of a bank manager (Woods) hostage at their house while Tayback extorts $70k at the bank for the safe release of the wife - confirmed by a series of phone calls at five minute intervals. Complications emerge when the bank manager proves reluctant to pay the ransom, seeing an opportunity to become free of his wife and take up with his mistress (Mason).

Co-star Forrester's script is functional, perhaps predictably giving her domestic characters more depth than usual, her performance benefiting from the extra attention in the dialogue. Cash isn't really an actor, though his offbeat expressions, timing and other attributes (serenading his victims with songs) manage to conjure something akin to a psychopath. Renowned tough-guy Tayback delivers his trademark mobster with all the expected motifs and the attractive Midge Ware has a brief role as Cash's ill-fated moll.

As far as unconventional casting of singers in movies go, this is somewhere between Neil Sedaka's bizarre appearance in "The Playgirl Killer" and a traditional Elvis Presley vehicle. And while there's no arbitrary album previews (the singing is short and in context), there remain a few extraneous interactions to pad out the modest 74 minutes in what could have been a more compact 30-minute TV episode. Nevertheless, there's some genuinely palpable tension and decent performances from Forrester, Tayback, Mason and even Ron Howard as the precocious son in an unexpected, pivotal supporting role.

This film is best remembered for the fact that it stars country legend Johnny Cash is his first film role. This actually lowered my expectations for the film, as I'm not a massive fan of Cash and films that go down in history for the casting of a non-actor are often not very good...but this film has far more going for it than it's lead actor, and overall I've got to say that it's criminal that this hasn't won itself a more esteemed place in cinema history. It's clear that the film was shot on a very low budget as it features a very grainy black and white picture, a small central cast and some suspect acting from all corners; but all this stuff doesn't matter, as the screenplay is well written and there's a lot of fun to be had with this film. The plot follows a couple of guys who think they've discovered the perfect get rich quick scheme. One of them pretends to be a salesman in order to get into the house of the president of the women's association, while the other one pretends to be a customer at her husband's bank. After explaining the situation to her husband, they offer him a trade; his money or his wife.

Overall, it has to be said that this little thriller isn't very original as there have been a lot of films in this same vein; but Bill Karn's film approaches it's subject with a fresh view, and the way that the director continually ensures the tone is always bleak provides a major highlight. It's easy to believe that the central character is in danger through Cash's loose cannon performance, and the way that the action focuses on two central locations; the family home and the bank, ensures that the plot always takes centre stage, and it is made interesting through its memorable cast of characters. Even though Cash wasn't predominantly an actor, his performance is really good and the way that the director lets him play his guitar makes best use of him. And on a personal note, I think it's good of Cash to put himself at risk to play a sadistic maniacal character. The rest of the support cast play second fiddle to the musical genius, but each one gives a good turn and this ensures that the film is elevated above its low budget thriller status. It all boils down to an exciting and satisfying climax that both deals fitting comeuppance, and rounds it all off nicely. Overall, this film is well worth tracking down and comes highly recommended!

This is a tough little movie. It would work quite well without names. But let's face it: The leading man is the draw. Johnny Cash, in 1961, looking a little like Elvis, as a ruthless killer. A killer, to be sure, who sings the title song and whom we see playing guitar.

Donald Woods is a dead ringer for the Darren character in "Bewitched." He is a complacent suburban dad. Cay Forrester is just right as his upwardly mobile blonde wife. Ron Howard is very cute as their son. (And Pamela Mason turns in a good acting job but is a little implausible as Woods's mistress.) Before he got the job cooking for Alice, Tayback was apparently a crook. A pretty mean one, at that. And here, he has hired Cash to hold banker Woods's wife hostage. (Before he takes the job, Cash has to dump his girlfriend, the greedy Doris, AKA Dory.) For an obviously low budget movie, this does its job neatly. And it holds up very well 45 years after it was released.

This strange little B-movie was originally titled FIVE MINUTES TO LIVE, but was re-released in 1966 as DOOR-TO-DOOR MANIAC because Cash' star had risen considerably in those years. He stars as Johnny Cabot, a level-headed murderer who teams up with another con (Tayback) in a scheme to hold a bank president's wife hostage. But what they don't know is that the bank president is planning to run off to Las Vegas with his mistress and couldn't care less about his wife.

The production values are close to zero complete with bad direction, dragging scenes and an all out over-the-top music score, more reminiscent of your average bad '50s Sci-fi flick. Nevertheless, the film does have a certain suspense and the dialog is surprisingly snappy and tongue-in-cheek with some unexpected twists along the way. It's fascinating to see Johnny Cash in a dramatic role, although he is not much of an actor, but with this material and production values, I can hardly blame him. He has a natural charisma, but comes across as anxious, even when he's supposed to be relaxed, rolling with his eyes. He was probably coked out of his head. If you could call it a flaw, he never ceases to be Johnny Cash, even his character's first name is Johnny. On top of that, he always carries his guitar with him and belts out the song "Five Minutes to live" a couple of times. Obviously the makers wanted to cash in on Cash's presence by making his character even more Cash than he already is... sorry for the bad wordplay.

The transfer to the DVD didn't help much, but was probably the best copy they could find. It's all washed out, especially the lighter colours have washed out almost completely. The sound is OK and very loud. When I normally put the volume at, let's say, 5, with this film it was still hollering across the room at volume 2. Very strange, the loudest DVD I ever watched. I don't wanna end up defending this one, but for some reason I watched this with interest till the closing titles. If you already have a weakness for mediocre B-flics from the period and have an interest in Johnny Cash as well, mildly recommended. For others, it's probably of little interest.

Camera Obscura --- 6/10

This movie is worth seeing for Johnny Cash's performance as a sadistic hit-man, but beyond that its pretty enjoyable. It loses steam a little bit here and there because they attempt to insert some "Leave it To Beaver" style family comedy, but overall its a sharp little suspense film. Cash is really the highlight, and you get the feeling that he really enjoyed and relished his role as the sleazy hit-man Johnny Cabot. The scenes where he runs amock and harasses the housewife are great. Johnny was a real-life badass at this time, and he imbues his character with startling realism. Again, the lame attempts at feel-good family humor seem out of place and take away from the overall nasty feeling of the film, but Johnny's performance and the plot itself make this a film worth seeing!