Crime Against Joe

Crime Against Joe is a modest noir thriller with much to be modest about. Red herrings as murder suspects are fine, but in this case too many were created in the story leaving a lot of loose ends in what should have been a more coherent script.

The title character is John Bromfield a returned Korean War veteran with a severe drinking problem. That's how we first meet him, living with mom Frances Morris and trying to become a painter. Another Toulouse L'Autrec, taller, less talented and as big a boozer.

But one night when Bromfield has had a snootful and gets a ride home from buddy Henry Calvin a cab driver, there's a murder of a woman and he's the number one suspect. Back in high school he was a big man on campus, but he's a flop now.

Here's where it goes completely haywire. From the town drunk he sobers up real fast and with the help of Julie London a rollerskating server and singer at a fast food place he puts the pieces together.

I knew Henry Calvin was in the cast. But the man with the girth best known as the rabblerouser from Ship Of Fools, the Wazir in Kismet and most of all Sergeant Garcia in Zorro is absolutely unrecognizable. That deep bass voice is not employed at all.

Granted this was a program filler, but little care was taken with the preparation of Crime Against Joe.

Struggling artist, Joe Manning (John Bromfield) goes out on a drinking binge. His evening takes a bizarre turn when a sleepwalking woman (Patricia Blair) crosses his path.

From this point, Joe's luck changes, and he gets mixed up in a murder. With the cops on his trail, Joe sets out to prove his innocence and track down the real killer.

CRIME AGAINST JOE is an enjoyable crime drama / mystery. There are some nice twists and a satisfying finale. Bromfield is convincing in his desperate role.

Co-stars the incredibly beautiful, Julie London, years before her Dixie McCall days!...

Slightly Above Average Filler with some Interest Provided by a Pedestrian Julie London as a "Car-Hop" who Loves Her Joe.

Shady Characters Abound and that Includes Authority Figures like Law Enforcement and Doctors.

They are Painted as Either Corrupt or Unhelpful at the Least.

The Plot Involves a Drunk Joe Meandering About the Streets and Bumbles into a Serial-Killer Murder, is Framed and Spends the Run-Time Uncovering the Real Criminal.

Elements of Crime such as a Lustful Woman-Hating Murderer, are Paraded Out in Norish Fashion as the Innocent Joe, a Sympathetic PTSD Korean Vet, an Artist who Lives with a Doting Mom.

The Guilty Party, Aside from the Despicable Entourage of Society's "Suits" that Hypocritically Populate this Mid-50's Milieu, is Easy to Spot because the Low-Budget Doesn't Allow for Many Suspects.

Julie Doesn't Sing and is Slightly Miss-Cast as a Teen-Aged Waitress, but is Easy on the Eyes. Her Supposed Romance with a Fat Cab Driver and Friend of Joe, Strains Credibility.

Overall, a Not-Bad Little Entertainment with some Intriguing Representations of Characters,

the Most Bizarre is a Sub-Plot with a Possible Incestuous Father and His Sleep-Walking Daughter.

John Bromfield is Joe in "Crime Aganst Joe" a 1956 B film also featuring Julie London, Patricia Blair, Joyce Jameson, Alika Louis, Rhodes Reason and Henry Calvin.

Bromfield plays an artist who lives off of his mother (Frances Morris) and laments not being able to find the perfect woman. When a bar singer (Louis) winds up dead after he's left the bar dead drunk, his high school pin is found next to her body.

He then becomes a person of interest to the police. Joe has an alibi - he actually ran into a sleepwalker (Blair) and returned her to her home, but her father lies to the police about it. Joe is then arrested.

Joe's waitress friend Slacks (London) lies to the police about seeing the singer with someone else, and Joe is released. He's determined to find out the identity of the killer - someone from his high school class.

Supposedly the story was by Decla Dunning and the script was by Robert C. Dennis. I'd love to know which one was responsible for the sleepwalker bit and that whole subplot of the overly possessive father who discourages his daughter's dates - it's a riot. That plot line just sort of died out and wasn't fully resolved.

That business of the high school pin...well, this is a pretty flimsy film, and I figured it out fairly quickly. It's made very cheaply, too - the sound in all the interiors has an echo.

Julie London is slightly miscast as the waitress friend - if the singer hadn't gotten killed after just one song and a few lines, London would have been perfect for that role, and it would have given her a chance to be her usual glamorous self. The murdered singer, however, played by Alika Louis, is very attractive and a great type.

Blair as the poor repressed sleepwalker is very pretty in full makeup and perfectly coiffed hair as she sleepwalks in her nightgown. Bromfield's acting is loud and not very good or believable, but I liked Frances Morris, who played his mother.

Nice of her to support him, but from the looks of those canvasses, he wasn't going to be making much of a living painting.

Not very good.

This is a strange offbeat little movie. At times it is dumb and clichéd 1950's police drama and at times it is philosophical and quite interesting.

In the second scene of the movie, we have Joyce Jameson running at full speed screaming that she's been attacked. It is quite jilting. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie never matches the energy of this scene.

The standout in the cast is Julie London. She is best known as a successful 1960's singer of sultry ballads, but she did do a number of acting gigs. Here she plays a car hop named "Slacks." She is in love with the lead character "Joe." However Joe shows only a passing interest in her, as she has dated his good friend "Red." Julie manages to make the character extremely sweet, nice and strong. She is the opposite of a Femme Fatale, a real Penelope standing by her man.

Rebecca Blair (from the television series "Daniel Boone")is the only other person in the cast I knew. She literally "sleepwalks" though her part, although she does have one good scene at the end as a troubled teenager confronting her overprotective "Dad." While the sum does not add up to much, some individual scenes are clever enough to make this "Wrong Man" genre piece worth watching. It was apparently filmed in five days, so don't go in expecting great production values. For those who like early Roger Corman movies, you'll probably enjoy the similar style.