Hit and Run

The king of low budget film noir with cleavage, Hugo Haas, is to be commended. Haas had the knack for remaking classic films, such as THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE as a prime example, and with him in them as the old man in the way, accompanied by lovely femme fatale Cleo Moore. It's nice to see some of his films surface of late as they were a rerun favorite back in the days of black and white tv. HIT AND RUN is a sleazy little 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. Recommended late show stuff and with all the cheap trimmings. Some of Haas films are on dvd, but you have to do your homework. There are also some double bill or box sets floating around. Check ebay for best results.

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.

Another highly original production by Hugo Haas with his one choice actress Cleo Moore, but this became her last film, but as usual her performance is memorable. It's the same old story again, an old fool gets enamoured with a young splendid blonde and marries her, while she after the marriage betrays him with another, and that other man is his closest associate, a fellow worker and mechanic at his garage, and it's actually he who insists on seducing her, while naturally her protests are not enough. There is a circus involved also, which appears towards the end, with a real bombshell for a female director, Dolores Reed, who brings some real titbits of sequences to the film. She even tries to seduce Cleo Moore's lover, which of course infuriates Cleo Moore who while drinking gives the whole plot away - there always seems to be a lot of drinking in Hugo Haas' films, which adds to their charm and comic touch, although Haas never reaches the height of the great jokes of Hitchcock. Still, Hugo Haas is brilliant in his own way, writing his own scripts and producing his own films and giving them a solid direction, and their plots are always ingenious. So don't miss any detail of this very carefully blended drink of a wondrous film thriller.

That Hugo Haas was a small gem of a producer/writer/director. "Hit and Run" is the second Haas film I've seen after "Pickup," and while I didn't like this one quite as much as the other one, mostly because this one has the misfortune of not starring Beverly Michaels, it's still a lurid and pulpy good time.

Haas is a really winning screen presence, and you end up rooting for him based on the strength of his charm. It helps that he's always a pretty decent guy who finds himself saddled with a no-good dame, who usually brings along with her some other bohunk who wants to do him harm. Cleo Moore is said dame in this one, and if she's not exactly a femme fatale, she also doesn't do much to stop the grisly proceedings carried out by said bohunk, played here by the smoldering Vince Edwards. Edwards comes across as a dim bulb, but good grief did that dude drip with sex, and the scenes with him and Moore have a real erotic charge.

"Hit and Run" is my favorite kind of noir, because it's cheap and tawdry. It also has a sense of humor, and I think one of the things I like best about Haas is that he never took himself or his films too seriously. That gives them a unique playfulness that sets them apart from other films of their kind.

Grade: A-

And it was their last film together. After "Hit and Run," Cleo married a multimillionaire, went into the real estate business, and never looked back. This potboiler also stars Vince Edwards.

Haas, a garage owner named Gus, meets Julie in the club where she works and gives her his card, telling her to call him about a car. You don't have to ask her twice. She shows up soon after. Before you know it, wedding bells.

From the beginning, there's a sexual tension between her and Hugo's helper Frank (Edwards). One night, Frank grabs her and declares his love. Julie is attracted to him, but tells him to leave town. Gus, meanwhile, catches on that there are some sparks.

This story has a little twist to it.

Cleo is stunning, and as usual, the focus is on her. Besides her looks, she had a strong presence. Edwards' looks normally don't appeal to me, but he is quite hunky here. Haas turns in a good performance. He was actually quite well known in his native country of Czechoslovakia.

Some trivia, the woman from the circus, whom Frank meets later in the film was Robert Mitchum's older sister. She retired after getting married.