Hit and Run

Hugo Haas almost always played a role himself in the films he made and often he played the character of a more or less naive fool who is cheated on by his beautiful wife who wants to run away with the young guy, or his money .

Frank can't stand Gus's new wife at first (or so it seems) but secretly he is also crazy about Julie, when she finally seems to fall for him after a few advances he hatches a plan to get rid of Gus.

Hugo Haas dared to do something that many bigger film makers would rather avoid, and that is portraying the nastiness and evil of women, here that plot story is less extreme, especially the few twists in the plot towards the end that give this film that extra push that makes it just that little bit better than Hugo's other work.

The king of low budget film noir with cleavage, Hugo Haas, is to be commended. Haas had the knack for remaking classic films, like THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE, and with him starring as the old man in the way, accompanied by lovely femme fatale Cleo Moore.

Nice to see some of his films surface of late, a rerun favorite back in the days of black and white tv. HIT AND RUN is a campy gem, all about young hunk Vince Edwards working at Haas' garage and discovering flirtatious Moore. Haas (who plays Gus) gets run over (why not?) and Vince and Cleo live happily ever after --OR do they?

Let the grade-B suspense begin, and what a tangled web these two weave. I would bet even Hitchcock watched some of these films, getting ideas for his offbeat tv show, which had similiar mechanics. It fits.

Recommended late show stuff and with all the cheap trimmings. Some of Haas films are on dvd, but you have to do your homework. Double bill or box sets floating around. Check ebay for best results. Worth your time.

Writer-producer-director-star Hugo Haas offers his take on THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE, with psychotic Vince Edwards driven mad with lust for Haas' new wife, Cleo Moore. Haas is no dummy, and he has his own twist in store for them. In many ways, his work reminds me of the sort of paperback original novels of the era, with people murdering each other for sex at least as much for money. Whether this was an outgrown of film noir or a source of the film genre is hard to say. Possibly each egged the other on.

If you're looking for high cinematic art, this is not a movie for you. Haas paid for his own productions and then sold the finished project to a distributor, so it came out pretty much as he wanted within the limits of what he could afford. Still he knew what his audience wanted, like turbo-charged lion tamer Dolores Reed, who suggests to Edwards that he join her act.

This story isn't pretty, in fact it's downright scuzzy:

He's old and fat, with a bank account to match his belly. She's young and hungry, with too much peroxide and not enough scruples. Toss in a muscle-bound mechanic with a yen for faux-blonde skanks with alley cat morals and you can be sure that the postman who always rings twice will be heading for the doorbell again.

Welcome to the lower depth digs of Hugo Haas & Cleo Moore, a particularly grimy rung of the film noir inferno. Like most of their collaborations, it plays like a lurid, dog-eared pulp mystery paperback come to life, chock full of murder, mendacity, horny Hungarian junkmen with goulash for brains, Italian studs with sky-high pompadours, and femme fatales with bosoms the size of Tucker Torpedoes.

HIT AND RUN was the final collaboration between writer/director/star/gutter auteur Haas and his slatternly muse Moore. Along for the ride is Vince Edwards as the beefcake buddy who covets his best friend's bride. As with all Haas/Moore noirs, everything they touch turns to pig slop.

All told, it's one of Hugo's better efforts, a compelling, typically feverish riff on the DOUBLE INDEMNITY formula (albeit told from the perspective of the elderly cuckold) festooned with several oddball twists and turns and touches. Well worth seeking out. With Julie Mitchum, Robert's lookalike sister, as an undertaker's sassy wife.

The Hugo Haas Bio Deserves Attention from Anyone Interested in B-Movies, Especially of the Film-Noir Type,

that He Made His Specialty in the Last-Act of a Long and Rich Career in the Movies, that Ended where He Did Everything but Sweep the Floor.

In this one, He Follows the Film-Noir Mainstay that He Repeated Now and Then of an Older, Well-to-Do Man who Manages to Snare a Young, Pretty, Bad-Girl.

Only to be Set-Up for the Knock-Off by a Femme Fatale (Cleo Moore who made 7 Movies with her discoverer).

The Handsome-Hunk on the Side-Lines Willing and Able to Do the Deed is Vince Edwards (a smoldering, sexy, Body-Builder in real life), whose Claim-to-Fame was Playing "Ben Casey" on TV for 5 Years. (1961-66).

"Hit and Run" has a Number of Thrills (check out that lion tamer Dolores Reed), Twists, and Spills, and Like Always Hugo's Bang-for-the-Buck, Delivers.

This Would be Cleo Moore's Last Film After Giving Hollywood a Try in a Few Films with some Minor Success, but Never Hit the Big-Big-Time. Just Like Her Mentor Hugo.

Once Again Check Out His Bio. A Fascinating Immigrants Hollywood History if there ever was One.

He was one of the Most Hard Working Talents that was Chewed Up by the Movie-Industry that He Loved and was Dismissed as a "Bottom Feeder" and in Later Years was Given the Undeserved Nick-Name of the "Foreign Ed Wood".

He was Once Gregory Peck's , among others, Acting Coach for Heaven Sake.