Tell Me in the Sunlight

This film was the final legacy of Steve Cochran, who wrote, producedand directed it, then died before its release. A seaman, seeking a onenight stand, meets a stripper in Nassau, and falls hard for her. Sheseems to care for him, but has another lover. Will the two of them makeit together or will she return to the other man? This is an adult film,released in 1967, with an Adults Only rating. For Cochran fans, itspelled the end of the turbulent career of a gifted actor who shouldhave been a star, but never quite made it. If you are a fan, you will treasure it,if you are seeing him for the first time, you will likely want to see his other films too.

Steve Cochran's TELL ME IN THE SUNLIGHT is the kind of balmy neo-noir he was adjusting to, having mostly played deadly villains and the first time director directs himself as a sailor on the coast of Nassau in the Bahamas, wandering the nighttime town on what feels a never-ending leave from the parked ship...

Picking-up on a young local girl more than half his age and getting nowhere till the next night when, after a shave & haircut by another toned-down usual-villain Jay Robinson, he meets a stripper named Julie played by drop-dead-gorgeous Shary Marshall...

And after crowded smoky shots in a noisy bamboo-filled strip joint, most of the picture has the two basically wandering around the actual location as he's not alone or mismatched this time, and mostly at night without fake-looking studio inserts...

Providing TELL ME the kind of indie project that'd seem commonplace a decade later but in the early 1960's, when it was actually made then released upon Cochran's death, it's a poor man's romance both steamy and sexy yet without any sex...

So Marshall's heart-of-gold stripper is a different kind of girl-next-door while Cochran, usually a slap away from getting what he wants from a dame, is even more subdued, patient, and cautious...

Like his film, the only he'd direct as, on the same yacht he'd be found dead on, he was scouting his next tropical locale... making the plot-less yet thoughtful SUNLIGHT shine brighter knowing it's not just the last, but the only.

This film was made in 1965, but not released until 1967, because of the death of its star, producer, director-- Steve Cochran. It was filmed on location in the redlight region of Nassau. Dave, a cargo skipper is on leave searching for a one night companion, when he meets Julie,a stripper at Dirty Dicks. Julie looks like the proverbial girl next door,but is she simply a stripper or working girl, doing what a girlhas to do to pay the rent? Dave, tired of waking up with strangers, is finally ready to settle down with the lovely Julie, but there is another man in her life.Still, They fall in love, but is Julie really playing the field? Dave wants to know and this leads to some rather graphic scenes.Will they make a go of it? Several minutes were cut from the original film, that Steve Cochran made. He also shot 2 endings--the one used by the new distributor was not the one Steve chose. But, all things considered-- fans, of Steve Cochran will consider this film a treasure.