La palude maledetta

Marshall Thompson lives on the edge of the Everglades and ekes out a bare living taking tourists in on flatboats. One day Willard Parker shows up, pays double his normal rate to take him in, goes a bit further with Thompson, and then returns with the briefcase he carries considerably lighter. He pays Thompson $50 instead of $20, tells him he'll be back. It's more than Thompson made the previous month. He soon discovers that Parker was involved in a bank robbery that netted $290,000, and strangers begin showing up: alluring Joan Vohs, menacing Jack Elam, and insurance investigator Leo Gordon.

There's some nice footage of the Everglades, but the acting is rather dull. I realized that Miss Vohs looks a lot like Lee Remick, striding around the swamp in a sun dress and heels.... but pretty as she is, she doesn't do much with words or physical acting, no more than Thompson. A nice story about greed and desperation is reduced to a rote movie.

Marshall Thompson stars as swamp boat operator, Simon Lewt, who becomes embroiled in a murder mystery. Lewt also finds himself pursued by a creepy man (Jack Elam), due to the contents of the murder victim's suitcase. A beautiful woman (Joan Vohs) also appears in town.

Who knew that swamp boating could be so exciting?

LURE OF THE SWAMP is an interesting crime thriller that makes good use of its soggy surroundings. Thompson is his usual, stern self, and Elam plays another of his great "heavy" roles. However, it's Ms. Vohs' character that steals the show!

There's also an unexpected finale. So, if you love treacherous treasure hunts filled with noir-ish goings-on, then this is worth your time...

Regal - the production company's name - means Enjoy in French. And I pretty much enjoyed this movie, at least as much as the other features: LURE OF THE WILDERNESS, SWAMP WATER and CRY OF THE HUNTED. Movies that could be confounded with this one, because of the title and topic, swamp, bayou settings. I was unfortunate enough to watch it in f....pan and scan. I HATE THIS more than anything else in my passion, more than a bad copy. Nothing is worst than Pan and Scan. So, this movie is very interesting, only by the presence of the likes of Jack Elam and Leo Gordon; I hardly noticed Marsh Thomson, very bland character. I don't care about the story, the supporting characters presence is far enough to me.

Director Cornfield helmed the heist sleeper Plunder Road (1957) shortly after directing this flick. Following that later film, he was hailed by some critics as a Kubrick in-the-making. This film, however, shows little of the later panache of Plunder. It's a decent enough thriller, seemingly filmed entirely in Florida's everglades, which does lend dramatic background. Seems Simon (Thompson) rents skiffs for swamp excursions. As a result he gets mixed up with bank robbers who hide their loot in the big muddy he takes them to. And, oh yes, there's a vampy blonde (Vohs) added for eye candy.

Anyway, I hope they paid Thompson double since I believe he's in every shot, not surprising since the cast is very small. He does a good job too. Catch his many nuanced reactions to events unfolding around him. But the real scene-stealer is, of course, wall-eyed Jack Elam who mugs it up Elam-style. There's been nobody like him before or since, and here he's in fine fettle. There're also some good production touches. For example, Simon wears the same sweat stained shirt throughout. In fact, he wears the same pants too, befitting a guy in the boondocks who's just scrimping by.

No, this little oddity is nothing to write home about. The main draw remains wondering who's a gang member and who isn't. Action may be slow to build, but is still not without interest. Too bad director Cornfield never managed to live up to his early promise.